Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir's recent comments at the Organization of
the Islamic Conference, in which he claimed Jews run the world, powerfully
crystallized the issue of Islamic anti-Semitism. So did the fact that 57
leaders from the Muslim world applauded Mahathir's Nazi lie. Is there
something inherently anti-Semitic within the Islamic religion itself? Can
Muslims shed themselves of anti-Semitism and remain devout Muslims?
To
discuss these and other questions relating to Islamic anti-Semitism with
Frontpage Symposium today, we are joined by Walid
Phares, Professor of Middle East Studies and Religious Conflict
at Florida Atlantic University and a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for
the Defense of Democracies. He serves as an Analyst on Terrorism and
Conflicts with MSNBC
Interlocutor: Welcome,
ladies and gentlemen, to Frontpage Symposium. Let's begin with the crucial
question: is anti-Semitism rooted in the Qur'an and Islamic tradition? Is
it possible to be a devout Muslim and
not to be anti-Semitic?
Phares:
Let me redefine anti-Semitism within the Arab-Islamic context. The
right concept would be anti-Judaism. For Arabs are Semites too but rarely
identify as such. In Arabic it would come as Mua'di lil Yahood
(anti-Jewish) instead of Mu'adi lil Samiya (anti-Semite). It is not about
pure faith (Judaism) as much as it is about the carriers of that faith
(Jews). As far as texts goes, including the Qur'an, most experts would
refer to two types of verses. The Meccan ones, which came when Mohammed
was struggling against the Pagan establishment. The Jewish tribes were
sympathetic to his struggle. The verses of that era were tolerant towards
the Jews, defined as people of the Book.
Then came the Medina verses which corresponded to the Hijra (emigration)
of early Muslims out of Mecca. As the Muslim state developed and sought
conversion of others, including Jews, to the new religion, tensions grew
between the two groups. The Medina verses had a number of paragraphs
negative towards the Jews. Those particular ones are part of Muslim
theology and could be used by Fundamentalists to mobilize against Jewish
entities in modern times. A devout Muslim theoretically can reject
anti-Semitism as a form of Human abuse. But for that to happen, a reform
must take place, so that devout Muslim can exist without being
Fundamentalist. That's the challenge. In a sum, Islamic Fundamentalists
can trigger anti-Jewish reactions from religious Muslims as long as
religious authorities within Islam haven't developed a historic
reformation.
Interlocutor: In terms of this issue,
what I could never figure out was that Muslims acknowledge Abraham as one
of the great fathers of their tradition. They acknowledge the prophets of
the Old Testament as the founders of their own religion. They say they
have great respect for Jesus. But Abraham, the prophets, Jesus etc. were
all Jews. How do Muslims reconcile their supposed great respect for the
Jewish origins of their religion with their anti-Semitism?
Phares: Muslim scholars,
both mainstream and Fundamentalists ironically have one common argument
with regards to the relationship to Judaism. They draw a line between the
Judaic faith as descended by God on them, and Jews as a people. While they
assert that the first is a component of the Islamic faith, they maintain
that the people who carried it have strayed away from the right path.
According to Islamic Fundamentalist thinkers, one of whom is Sheikh
Youssef al-Qaradawi, the Jews have subverted the sense of Judaism. In
other words, the Islamists argue that Islam and Judaism are basically one,
the latter being an early form of the new religion. They accuse the Jews
of rebelling against God and his Prophets, including Mohammed. Hence, to
be anti-Jewish is not in contradiction with Islam's self perceived roots
in Judaism. Besides, and for the sake of clarifying the debate on the
issue, Muslim theology does not "acknowledge the Prophets" of others
religions as the founders of Islam, rather it consider these particular
Prophets as Muslims and therefore consider those other groups as
non-capable of understanding that perception. For example Abraham is
considered as a Muslim Prophet, and Jesus is considered as a Prophet not
as a Messiah. So, it is not about accepting the beliefs of other
communities through honoring their Prophets in as much as it is claiming
those Prophets for Islam itself. The nuances seem to be minimal but an
iota of difference in theology could bring about dramatic differences in
History. But here again, a reformation can end this saga to the advantage
of religious coexistence. Till then, the theology of Islam can be easily
used by Islamic Fundamentalists against Jews.
Interlocutor: What impact does Islamic
anti-Semitism have on relations between Israel and the neighboring Arab
states?
Phares: Islamist
anti-Semitism, or technically anti-Jewish trends within the Muslim world
are a major reason for the decline of the Peace Process between Israel and
a number of Arab countries. Although realist leaders such as Sadate were
able to sign the Camp David agreement with Israel, strong anti-Jewish
ideologies within Egypt froze those agreements and reduced their ability
to normalize, hence endangering their future. Similar doctrinal trends
within the larger Wahabi-Salafi movement worldwide made it impossible for
the Islamist-based movements to accept the principle of a Jewish state in
the Middle East.
While secular Arabs and Muslims were (and would be) able to accommodate to
the concept of coexistence with Israel, the Jihadist paradigm cannot by
essence accept that idea. Hence forces as diverse as Hamas, Islamic Jihad,
Hizbollah, the Khumainists and the two Baath parties had the anti-Jewish
doctrine in common. Ant agreement regulating Peace and normalization
between Israel and its Arab neighbors is constantly jeopardized by this
doctrine. Even after a full withdrawal from the 1967 territories, it is
expected that the so-called anti-Semitism would continue to thrive. Here
again, only a historic reformation can undue this doctrine.
Interlocutor: How come there are Jews
who work to perpetrate anti-Israeli policies and cry out in defense of the
Palestinians, but you never hear about Muslims crying out in defense of
Israel? How come there is no organization
Muslims for Israel?
Phares: When such
organizations would develop in the Arab world , anti-Semitism would have
receded. It is a chicken and the egg. Who would come first? Jews who are
critical of Israel are not so different from Americans who are critical of
the United States or Westerners who are critical of the West. Because of
the social and intellectual revolutions in the West, such criticism is
possible and accepted within these societies. Many Israelis took that
right to support the claims of the Palestinians. Some of them went as far
as supporting Hizbollah.
The stretching of freedom of expression reached as far as the crushing of
the freedoms of others, that is when many in the Israeli media refused to
acknowledge the suffering of Lebanese communities in south Lebanon, just
because those Israeli intellectuals hated their own state and wished
victory to Hizbollah. That is an end product of legitimate freedom on the
one hand and of loss of identity on the other hand. But such phenomenon
doesn't exist -or wasn't allowed to exist on the other side. Not one
demonstration for Peace was ever registered in the Arab-Islamic Middle
East. No "Salaam Now" movement ever existed, or was allowed to exist.
Reasons abound. 1) The dominant ideologies (Baathism, Jihadism,
Khumainism) have suppressed the basic freedoms to start with. 2) The
dominant political culture still rejected the idea of a non-Arab and
non-Muslim state therefore nullifying the idea of Peace with such non
legitimate entities. 3) It is to note that the anti-Peace attitude was
also predominant vis a vis other minorities. For example, not one single
expression of solidarity was ever noted with regards the sufferings of the
Kurds, Berbers, Southern Sudanese and Lebanese Christians when under
attack by regimes. However, there are spasms of change taking place in the
underground. One can see it on some revolutionary web sites in Arabic.
Very limited though.
Interlocutor: The Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir's recent speech brought back memories of some of
Hitler's basic themes. What common denominators do Islamic and Nazi
anti-Semitism share?
Bat Ye'or: Both have a
racist pathological obsession with Jews, which they see as the embodiment
of evil. For both, Jews focus hatred, envy and frustrations. Both share
the same inhumanity and contempt for life, human rights and dignity. They
spread lies and defamations that subvert the truth.
Phares:
One, they both claim that the main problems of their nations are
produced by the Jews. Two, that the Jews are a world problem. Three that
Jews have diverted from Judaism . And four that a solution must be found
to that problem. While under Nazism, Jews were to vanish, in the context
of the Jihadist ideology, the Jewish state is the one to vanish.
Interlocutor: Walid Phares, thank you, we
are out of time. It was an honor to have you here and to listen to your
wisdom. We hope to see you again soon. Take care
