35 Fall 2023 bodies and property and are allowed to observe the customs of their religion, so long as they accept Muslim political authority and the resulting social and political limitations. At the same time, the Qur'an and other Islamic sources contain harsh assertions regarding Jews that serve as the basis for negative religious, economic, and social attitude toward Jews. Consequently, Jews have been persecuted by Muslim rulers and dynasties based on their religious background – both in the Sunni world and in the Shi’ite world.4 In the nineteenth century, translations of antisemitic European writings into Arabic, often undertaken by ArabChristians, operated as the primary vehicle of disseminating the “classical” Christian-European antisemitism throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds. A striking example of such antisemitism was found in the blood libel of Damascus in 1840, which accused Jews of murdering a Christian monk and his Muslim servant in order to use their blood for baking matzah. The intervention of Jewish dignitaries such as Moshe Montefiore and members of the Rothschild family, led to the acquittals of the accused, but similar affairs occurred in the following years and were accompanied by attacks against Jews throughout the Middle East.5 The twentieth century witnessed revelations of antisemitism on a racial basis in the Middle East. This was aggravated on the eve of, and during, World War II by Nazi propaganda spread by Arabic-language radio broadcasts, as well as by German diplomatic representatives in the Middle East. Preaching for the fight against the common Jewish enemy played a central role in this propaganda and led to the 1941 Farhud riots in Baghdad. In the following years, murderous riots against Jews took place in Egypt in 1945, Syria and Libya, and Aleppo and Aden in 1947.6 Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem and the leader of the Supreme Palestinian Arab Committee who lived in the Axis countries during World War II, served as a purveyor of the Nazis’ antisemitism. In this context, it is worth mentioning his promise that after ensuring that Jews would not live in Palestine, he would work with Germany to lead a holy Islamic war against world Jewry that would finally end the “Jewish problem.”7 Antisemitism in the Arab world underwent a revival upon the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Manifestations of antisemitism were based on the racial and religious elements in “classic” European antisemitism, but also included uniquely Islamic motifs. The version of antisemitism fostered by the Arab regimes became widespread in the Arab world and even served as a weapon for Arab nations in the propaganda war waged by the Arabs against Israel. The Internet and Social Networks: The New Purveyors of Antisemitism The information revolution, the emergence of TV satellite channels, the internet, and social media networks, have all given impetus to increased manifestations of antisemitism. Social networks generally lack oversight and control, and allow for the expanded circulation of books, articles, films, and radio broadcasts. They thus provide an uncensored and unmonitored arena for the unchecked spread of hatred. It is no wonder that antisemitic and anti-Israeli motifs find diverse forms of expression through the content uploaded by Arab internet surfers. The most direct and obvious are open expressions of animosity towards Jews and explicit calls for their extermination. Alongside this, there is an indirect form of antisemitism that concerns the casual classification of Jews as obscene, scheming, malicious, or destructive.8 An additional element in the modern ecosystem of Arab antisemitism is the lack of initiative among Arab regimes to address antisemitism within their own society. Their absolute abstention from condemning antisemitism gives their respective societies a green light, even if only implicitly, to continue engaging in their hatred. It seems that the regimes see these revelations as a way to release or regulate internal pressures that might otherwise be directed against them. 4. Mark R. Cohen, “Muslim Anti- Semitism: Old or New?” in A HISTORY OF JEWISH-MUSLIM RELATIONS: FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT DAY, Abdelwahab Meddeb and Benjamin Stora, eds. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), 546-558, available at https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849130045 5. Ronald Florence, BLOOD LIBEL: THE DAMASCUS AFFAIR OF 1840 (New York: Other Press, 2006). 6. Edwin Black, THE FARHUD: ROOTS OF THE ARAB-NAZI ALLIANCE IN THE HOLOCAUST (Washington D.C.: Dialog Press, 2010). 7. Jeffrey Herf, “Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Nazis and the Holocaust: The Origins, Nature and Aftereffects of Collaboration,” 26(3/4) JEWISH POLITICAL STUDIES REV. 1337 (2014). 8. Emily Schrader, “Arabic social media campaign compares Jews to coronavirus,” JERUSALEM POST (Apr. 29, 2020), available at https://www.jpost.com/opinion/arabic-socialmedia-campaign-compares-jews-to-coronavirus-626332
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzNzA=