Is Islam Anti-Semitic?

"Peace, like charity, begins at home."
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt


Is Islam anti-Semitic? The answer will reveal much about the world today; specifically the relationship between Islam and Judaism as well as hopes for peace in the Middle East. I recently stumbled upon a Jewish website that dedicated a portion of their forum to certain Jewish ‘experts’ who have unanimously declared Islam as fundamentally ‘anti-Semitic.’ They conveniently conclude that Islam will never tolerate a Jewish state and therefore, peace is impossible with the Arabs. Later, I typed in “anti-Semitism” and “Islam” into the Google search engine, and Lo and behold – there are dozens of Jewish forums making the same claim. Though the content of these sites is questionable, I decided to take a step back and face some painful truths.

It was in Saudi Arabia - when I was ten years old – that I first learned about the State of Israel – and that too by accident. I was flipping through the pages of World Book Encyclopaedia in our school library when the pages in question were heavily censored with black marker. The flag bearing the Star of David had been crossed out, and skimming through the article the word Israel had been replaced hastily with pen with the word Palestine. Teachers, not students, did this. Later that year, when the great Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who did more for peace than any Israeli in history was assassinated by a Jewish dissident, our school assembly hall resonated with chants of “God is Great,” - while the rest of the world mourned his loss.

The perception amongst many Muslims in the world, whether educated or not, is that the Jews ‘rule the world’ and are the enemies of Islam. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are labelled as Jewish entities and are boycotted by a large number of Muslims. Those, like me, who feel that there are few things more pleasurable in life than having a cold glass of Cola, are reprimanded by some and accused of betraying the ‘Muslim cause.’ Our driver here in Pakistan claims that cigarettes are a Jewish conspiracy to make Muslims addicts’ and destroy their health. Another ‘educated’ Arab I know passes out copies of Henry Ford’s famous ‘The International Jew’ at dinner parties, “proof,” he says, “of the International Jewish conspiracy.” Where is all this coming from? What does it accomplish? What are its consequences? The answers need to be honest in order to better understand our cousins (The Jews) and so as to make progress and create tolerance so that we one day may live in peace.

After these experiences in Saudi Arabia, a sort of brainwashing – I grew up despising the Jewish race. Though family and cousins reprimanded me, I stuck to my bigoted ways – until I turned fourteen and moved to the United States. There, I befriended some wonderful people whom I later learnt were Jewish. To my surprise, they didn’t resemble the dark Satan like image that I had pictured in my mind – they were…. human! And as we grew older, and became more politically aware, we had our debates, our fair share of disagreements – but our discussions always allowed us to learn more about one another. This dialogue allowed me to appreciate the fact that the Jews have suffered countless atrocities in their long history.

The Jews have been persecuted for nearly three thousand years – not under Muslims, but mainly by the Christians who have raped, looted, maimed, tortured and killed Jews in the millions from the Crusades to the time of Hitler because the Jews were responsible for killing God (or one third of Him anyway) and for other obscure objectives, mainly political. Compare this to the condition of Jews and Christians when ruled by Muslims and historians will confirm a more tolerant and just society where non-Muslims had freedoms to practice their religion.

In reality, the conflict between the Muslims and Jews did not commence till the 20th century and that too not over religion – but over land. When the Zionists colluded with the British to betray the Palestinian promise of a homeland, it resulted in five wars and the subsequent occupation and displacement of the Palestinians who had resided on those lands for nearly two thousand years. The arguments for and against the State of Israel are many but the time for this discussion has long passed. The State of Israel is a political and geographical reality and instead of staggering on with this useless debate, it would be more fruitful for both parties to discuss the present dilemma.

To work towards peace requires an acceptance of criticism from both sides. Unfortunately, the scars on the psyche of the Jews have not healed, and they remain a widely paranoid and sensitive people to any statement comment or action they perceive to be anti-Semitic. Yet the Jews haven’t been able to differentiate between anti-Semitism and criticism. When the U.N. passes resolutions against illegal Israeli actions, they are quickly dismissed as anti-Semitic. Likewise, when the International court ruled the barrier the Israelis are building on Palestinian land as illegal – the Jewish lawyers declared it an anti-Semitic decision. If a woman criticises any Jewish organisation, she is anti-Semitic. If a child cracks a Jewish joke, both he and his parents are anti-Semitic. If a girl is robbed in the streets of Berlin, it is no robbery but it’s an anti-Semitic attack. This abuse of the term anti-Semitism has gone on for far too long, and this self obsessive nature of the Jewish people who have hundreds of websites and organisations which are quick to report any thing which is perceived to be anti-Semitic is dangerous. It only fuels cynical comments, conspiracy theories and wariness of Jewish propaganda amongst most people of the world.

Take another example of the absurd lengths that many Jews will go to suppress debate from outside commentators. A group of Jews recently protested in large numbers in regards to Google’s search engine. Apparently, when you type the word “Jew” into the text box, Google’s search reveals many “anti-Semitic” websites – as if Google itself had manufactured the websites and posted them in that order. However, Google quickly issued an apology, posted a disclaimer, and is working with Jewish groups to shut down ‘hate forums.’ The problem does not exist today.

Another statistic that will highlight the state of paranoia is the number of attacks against Jewish individuals in the year 2002 was nearly two hundred across the globe. These include discriminations, and ‘anti-Semitic’ behaviour as described by the organisation, which does an overview of every country in the world. The report concludes that anti-Semitism is still running ‘rampant’ across the world.

Compare this to the number of similar cases against the Muslims as reported by CAIR, and the figures are in the thousands, exact number are difficult, and taking into account the fact that many Muslims simply do not bother to report such encounters. An affiliate organisation concluded that the figure must be close to ten thousand. These figures are only in relation to the United States, other Muslim organisations across the globe do not have the resources to maintain records.

But this is no contest to see who has been screwed the most, yet its safe to say that both Muslims and Jews are victims of history. Both have suffered different calamities; the Jews were persecuted for who they were and the Muslims were conquered by where they lived. Most people long for peace, and they are great efforts underway to bring about reconciliation. Yet, there are bigots on both sides of the border who undermine this cause. And while it is important for each side to reprimand the bigots, I do want to take issue with certain Jewish sites that are promoting Islamophobia:

Front Page Mag, has published a forum where Jewish experts on Islam gathered to discuss the issue of Islamic anti-Semitism. I encourage all people to read the ‘debate’ (hardly one so, as everyone agreed). Here is the link:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.as p?ID=10581.

The ‘experts’ on Islam conclude that Islam from its inception has been anti-Judaic. They cite several hadeeth, one from Saheeh Bukhari whose authenticity is not in doubt, but fail to balance their argument by citing other religious texts that paint a different view. Using one verse of the Quran and a narrow interpretation that is out of context, they have declared that all Muslims think that Jews are descended of pigs and apes.

Without a doubt there are Muslims in Palestine who feel this way but I hardly expect Palestinians to have a positive view of their ‘neighbours’ at the moment. Its like John coming to Peter’s 5 bedroom house, throwing Peter into the wash room, while enjoying the T.V., radio and warm, comfy beds. While Peter starves in the wash room surviving only on water, John is feasting on steak and expensive cheese. So when Peter concludes that John is a pig, and a rat - does John have the right to cry foul? It is important to apprecitate both positions, and the fact that this sort of prejudice was non-existant in centuries past. What is needed isn’t vague declarations from both sides stating that either Islam or Judaism as a religion cannot except peace. By doing so, the bigots on both sides declare the works of thousands as useless, and in a span of a sentence, render the hopes of millions as delusional.

If some Jewish experts have accused some Mullahs and Arab opinion of being bigoted what about the following statements made by Jewish Prime Ministers, War heroes and Rabbis:


"[The Palestinians are] beasts walking on two legs." -- Menahim Begin, Israel Prime Minister, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, "Begin and the Beasts". New Statesman, 25 June 1982.


"There was no such thing as Palestinians, they never existed." Golda Meir Israeli Prime Minister June 15, 1969


"It is forbidden to be merciful to them, you must give them missiles, with relish — annihilate them. Evil ones, damnable ones," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef about the Palestinian people [Source: The Times, UK - 4/10/01]


"One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail." -- Rabbi Yaacov Perrin, Feb. 27, 1994 [Source: New York Times, Feb. 28, 1994, p. 1]


My Jewish brothers, should I assume that all Jews are anti-Islamic based on the above remarks? There is a book full of these quotations that I can present at any time if you wish to see the bigotry that your own leaders have spread. Alas, if a Muslim leader comes close to comments like this, he would be hanged. The recent criticism of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir received world-wide condemnation, but all he said were that the Jews ‘ruled the world.’ – and infact went on to urge Muslims to take the Jewish example in unity and hard work.

At the same time, the Muslim world needs to bring about changes in their mindset of the many who have a deep prejudice towards the Jewish people. It is only by interfaith dialogue and asking the deep and honest questions that we can get somewhere. But all the dialogue in the world will prove useless unless followed by action. Moderate Muslims find it hard to fight their case when their Palestinian brethren are residing in the World’s largest prison.


CONCLUSION

Though there are many Muslims who call for the destruction of the State of Israel, they can only be classified as unreasonable, bigoted and at best self-deluded. Its not going to happen, the State of Israel is a reality, and it is best for Muslims to accept it and to work towards bringing a change in wide-spread Muslim prejudices. But as my father always says, it takes two hands to clap. So if Israel really believes in peace then it is time for a Palestinians state – not tomorrow, not after the terrorists stop attacking, not after Arafat is replaced, not after Iran dismantles its nuclear program, not after every Arab country recognises Israel – A PALESTINIAN STATE IS NEEDED NOW. Just as the Blacks fought for civil rights, just as Nelson Mandela and the ANC battled apartheid, just as Mahatma Gandhi tamed the mighty British – the Palestinians need justice with no strings attached.

For those who want to join their Jewish counterparts to promote interfaith dialogue and bring justice to the Palestinians there are several organisations you can contact:

Jews against the occupation: www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org

And Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc), headed by the great Israeli Politician and peace activist Avi Uvnery, whose columns on the injustice in Palestine feature prominently in newspapers across the globe. I urge everyone to visit this website and see for themselves the large number of Jews who are fighting for the Palestinians. www.gush-shalom.org


"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
-- Mohandas K. Gandhi