anwer.mooraj@tribune.com.pk
There has always been a certain amount of anti-Semitism in England, though it was not always apparent except among the fascists of Oswald Mosley. In Europe and the New World, it was more vocal. As a child in Berlin, I grew up in an atmosphere of fierce anti-Semitism. We were told that after the First World War, when many Germans were hungry and scrounging for food, the Jews were gobbling up property at prices considerably below the real value. At St Peters, my boarding school in India, where we had eight Jewish students from the United States and Iraq, I did not detect any anti-Jewish feelings whatsoever. In fact, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish students ate at the same table, attended church on Sundays, were part of one big family and beat the hell out of the ethnic Hindu, Muslim and Parsi boarding schools in boxing, soccer and cricket. In Pakistan, I also haven’t come across any specific examples of anti-Jewish sentiments, though the Zionists in Israel have been regularly hauled over the coals in the press for their grossly unfair treatment of the Palestinians.
Anti-Semitism appears to have existed from the early days of recorded history. Pre-Christian anti-Judaism in Greece and Rome were primarily ethnic in nature. Christian anti-Semitism, on the other hand, which extended to modern times, was essentially religious in character. In fact, the political, social and economic anti-Semitism of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment period laid the firm groundwork for racial anti-Semitism, which culminated in the wave of anti-Jewish feeling in Nazi Germany. In Russia, the pogroms germinated after the assassination of Czar Alexander II. In 1939, Fritz Julius Kuhn, a Bund leader and bitter critic of President F D Roosevelt and his New Deal, addressed 20,000 supporters in Madison Square Garden and pointed to a growing Bolshevik-Jewish conspiracy in the United States.
France was not far behind in the condemnations. The Jews were blamed for the collapse of the Union General Bank and the French Suez Canal operation –– and the defeat in the 1870-1871 war –– when the army of the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck routed the soldiers of Emperor Napoleon III. Remember the notorious Captain Dreyfus case? In its classical form, traditional Muslim anti-Semitism was remarkably mild and portrayed the Jews as a protected class. This was brought out clearly in Professor Hitti’s excellent book The Arabs, where the followers of Abd-ur-Rahman I and Abd-ur-Rahman III built public baths and vast libraries in Cordoba and other cities in Andalusia at a time when Charlemagne was learning to read and the University of Oxford maintained that washing was a dangerous custom. What eventually happened to the Arabs is another story, one upon which I do not wish to dwell.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (18)
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@anwer mooraj: Dear answer mooraj, From an academic point-of-view you bring up an interesting situation when you compare Zionism and Semitism. From what I gather one can be a Zionist without being Jewish, and one can be Jewish without being Semitic. For example,as a general rule Ashkanazi Jews do not have the correct DNA to be Semitic, hence their blue eyes and other non-Semitic features, whereas Arabs do have Semitic DNA. Obviously, one cannot adequately explain the theory of Zionism and Semitism in a few simplistic words, and I for one do not fully understand it, but it is an interesting concept. It is probably like asking English people who they descend from, Saxon, Viking or Celt. However, I would have thought that a Zionist, would as a general rule, be Jewish?
@Yahudi Arabia: You are the one who is confusing the two mate.I am fully aware of the difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. And we certainly know the difference between the two.
@Sexton Blake Totally agreed. the mere fact that we have to restrict our views on the jews and the holocaust in many countries is a testament to the power and control of Zionists over major countries. Russian forces move into Ukraine - US cries for peace. However when Israel kills un-armed Palestinians, no one so much as bats an eye.
@numbersnumbers: Dear unbelievable, It bothers me to get down to your low levels of discourse so I am at a disadvantage. I know they say that, "when in Rome do as the Romans do", but there is a limit. You obviously rely heavily on, and believe, doubtful media outlets for your information. I do not intend to endlessly compete with the never ending, meaningless, but popular sound bites which you continually flood the Tribune with.
I think the author is confusing anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It was Zionist British bankers who crashed the Papermark in Weimar and it was Zionist bankers money that brought Hitler into power twice. Also Zionist made the Transfer Agreement with Adolf Hitler mentioned in a book by Edwin Black.
The Jews and the Muslims have more in common then the Christians and Muslims.
In the city of Berlin, and I assume elsewhere also, the Jews and Muslims have a common slaughterhouse for their Halal meat.
A few months ago there was a fierce debate in many countries to ban Halal meat because of the cruel method of slaughtering their animals. Funnily Jews and Muslims were protesting together on the roads against this ban.
The custom of circumcision is also a Jewish tradition, which was inherited from the Muslims.
They have similar ideas of faith and religion and their rites are similar with daily prayers, purity rules when eating, e.g consuming pork is a sin. Both religions regard themselves as God's chosen faith communities and must follow detailed rules in order to please their God.
We still find Jews living in Turkey, Tunis, Morocco and Egypt.
So sad that Muslims of Pakistan hate diversity in life, love living a drab existence and therefore have banished all other religions from their country.
Only 2% Jew population of USA determine the politics in the White House.
@numbersnumbers: Dear numbers, Unfortunately I cannot reply to you in detail because I live in a controlled Western country which would put me in prison if I replied to your missive explicitly. I have written all that is possible, and anything further would jeopardize my freedom. I think you are well aware of the situation and therefore are just baiting me. It is quite obvious that you have ignored the terrible treatment meted out to the Muslim Palestinian people, or that it does not bother you. It is also quite obvious that the Western world, which pretends that it is concerned about the welfare of down-trodden people, has a blind eye when it come to Palestinians specifically, and Muslims generally. .
@Sexton Blake: Hahaha, since WHEN has any western government "made it illegal to be unduly critical of or deny Jewish statements"???? Pleeeeze list those laws that you say exist! There are laws in some European countries against "Holocaust Denial", but that is the extent of any such restrictions dealing with statements about Jews! Any reader can go to Wikipedia and search for "Holocaust Denial" to see a discussion of those laws!
The authors article reminds me of the story of two jews who escaped from Europe from antisemit campaign and landed in New York. They were walking on the x avenue one late at night and saw a lighted enterence to a church from where the wagner music could be heard. They stopped and saw at the enterence a signage offering 50 dollars if one is prepared to accept the christian religion. They agreed to try it out one by one and the older one first went in and after a lapse of 30 minutes returned all excited and explained that he was very well treated, given a good drink and very tasty snack with it. The Younger one enquired, about the cash offer? The older one propmptly replied, that this is what he does not like about the Jews! They are always greedy and after money.
Rex Minor
Reading the author's version of Jewishness sounds very reasonable on the face of it, but is a little like reading British history. Totally unrelated to the facts. For example, nobody asked the Ashkenazi to replace the Arabs in Palestine, and rightly or wrongly this has created much resentment of the Jews in the Muslim world, and probably will forever. Also of course Zionism has taken control of most Western Governments who have made it illegal to be unduly critical of or deny Jewish statements so there is a groundswell of sullen, but quiet resentment in the West also. The Governments are helped in this with a compliant media. ET may not print this?
In Pakistan, I also haven’t come across any specific examples of anti-Jewish sentiments, though the Zionists in Israel have been regularly hauled over the coals in the press for their grossly unfair treatment of the Palestinians . In Pakistan the terms Jew and Zionist are interchangeable. Almost all Pakistanis have a negative view of Jews - yet most Pakistani's have never even met a Jew. Pakistani's have limited knowledge of Jews or Israel - not even knowing that Muslims constitute more than 20% of Israels' population and they have a better std of living that the vast majority of Pakistani's - they also have the right to vote, hold office and otherwise live in peace - something that minorities in Pakistan can only wish for.
@ajay gupta: Sadly the same goes in the case of India. It is in a book where your ex-PM said that the biggest threat to India comes from the innumerable numbers of extremist organisations that exist in India than from Pakistan, least to say the inhuman way the women of India are treated!!!
I tend to agree with the author . Judaism , the Jewish religion , has been systematically persecuted by the Christians for centuries . Entire recorded history of over a thousand years of Europe is full of instances where Jews in Country after Country , Poland , Russia , France , England and of course Germany were severly persecuted . During this time the Jews living in Middle East , places like Bagadad , Cairo , Beirut were well integrated within the local communities . India had large Jewish settlements in Cochin and Mumbai of Jews who had fled the persecution from Christians in Europe . The horrors of holucast during the Nazi were inflicted on Jews by the Christians of Germany . The point I am making is that for nearly 2000 years Jews were at the receiving end from the Chritians . If I look at 1300/1400 years of Islam Jews and Muslims peacefully coexisted all over the Middle East and in the Indian sub continent . It was only after the creation of Israel that Islam and Judaism came in to conflict with each other . The western (Christian ) control of the media and the narrative is so strong that the Muslims and Jews are convinced that they are civilizational enemies instead of realizing that their conflict s just 60/70 years old and is being manipulated by the Christian west .
Well perhaps not in the bubble you live in, but given that all other minorities are struggling on a daily basis, one can imagine a few Pakistanis who voluntarily identify themselves wont end up any better. Thanks for the history lesson.
It is true that for a long time Europeans have been anti-Semitic. However today a great deal of the anti-Semitism in Europe is not coming from natives but from Muslim immigrants. Referring to a recent survey, the Guardian noted that:
"First, the fact that, according to its victims, a significant degree of antisemitism is perpetrated by European Muslims. Of the Jews in the survey who reported experiencing negative statements about the Jewish people in the previous 12 months, 51% identified the perpetrator as Muslim. Of those who reported serious cases of harassment in the past five years, 40% identified the perpetrator as "someone with Muslim extremist views"."
Today the most anti-Semitic people can be found in the Muslim world and communities, not among the European natives, though pockets of virulent anti-Semitism can be found in Eastern parts such as Hungary
It appears the author has lost contact with reality. To defend Muslims, he is willing to ignore the fact that most of Muslims talk about Jews with such negative expressions that sometimes the words they use are not printable.I have heard them talk about America 'which is ruled by Jews' and TV shows 'too many jews there' All this as if Jews are not human but only evil. Talk to many about how they suffered under nazis and others before WW2, they claim that it is all fabrication. Jews I have met in my life were warm hearted and tolerant. In other words as bad or good as anybody else. Compared to others, although fewer in numbers, have achieved excellence in many fields and have more noble prizes recipiants than any other groups. History was yesterday, talk about today, where even one Pakistani tennis player was attacked for having a Jewish partner, something unheard elsewhere.