A report released on Jan. 22, 2012 and written by scholars at the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, says: “[While] the popular uprisings in the Arab world do not represent a general change in attitude towards Israel, Zionism and the Jews it seems the anti-Semitic discourse and incitement have become more extreme and violent.”
It was long argued that bringing democratic freedom to the Middle East would greatly lessen or even eliminate regional Muslim hatred for the democratic West, and in particular for Israel and the Jews.
That theory was put to the test over the past year as dictatorships were toppled from Libya to Egypt to (almost) Syria. It did not receive a passing grade. Instead of softening their attitude toward Israel and the Jews, democratic freedom has led to the rise of Islamist forces and a seeming explosion of anti-Semitic discourse in the newly free nations.
“Charges of an international Jewish conspiracy have been a central motif in the anti-Semitic propaganda that has accompanied the Arab Spring uprisings. This motif has been emphasized in each of the countries especially by way of pointing a blaming finger towards Israel, Zionism and Jews conspiring against Arabs and Muslims.”
The paper provides a lengthy list of anecdotal evidence. In Libya, it points at rebel claims that the mother of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was Jewish as a way of defaming the slain dictator. In Syria, it cites insults made by the embattled government of Bashar Assad calling opposition forces “an army of donkeys in the service of the Mossad.”
As an example, the report pointed to the numerous libelous declarations by clerics affiliated with Egypt's new ruling parties, as well as religious edicts forbidding Egyptian Muslims from signing agreements with "monkeys," a common reference to Jews.
Meanwhile, the final tally of votes in Egypt's first free election since the ouster of former dictator Hosni Mubarak confirmed that the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist al-Nour Party will dominate the legislature. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won a commanding 38 percent of the vote for the 332-seat parliament. Al-Nour, which is arguably even more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood, won 29 percent of the vote.
Israel’s Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein said the report was a sad reminder that anti-Semitism is still alive and well in 2012. He added that new media has provided a new platform where hatred of Jews can flourish.
“This year anti-Semitism has been expressed in unbridled attacks and violence towards Jews in the Diaspora and Israel,” Edelstein said. “The accessibility of cyberspace and the freedom it grants to those who would use it to propagate the unprecedented dissemination of anti-Semitism [is worrying].”
The report covered anti-Semitic events across the globe from Latin America to Australia. It cited several high-profile instances of offensive comments made by celebrities in the past year, including by British fashion designer John Galliano and Danish director Lars von Trier. Also, it said old-fashioned cases of anti-Semitism persisted in places such as Ukraine, where the annual Rosh Hashana pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman drew biased coverage from local press.
Andrew Bostom, who wrote The Legacy of Jihad and The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism, was interviewed by frontpage.mag.com about the religious basis for the Arab objective to destroy the State of Israel.
This justification for the war to destroy Israel is embedded in a fatwa written January 5, 1956 by then Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Hasan Ma’moun, and signed by the leading members of the Fatwa Committee of Al Azhar, and the major representatives of all four Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence. This ruling elaborated the following key initial point: that all of historical Palestine—modern Jordan, Israel, and the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria, as well as Gaza—having been conquered by jihad, was a permanent possession of the global Muslim umma (community), “fay territory”—booty or spoils—to be governed eternally by Islamic Law.
Further Reading:
Bishop George Saliba expresses his hatred of Jews
November 25, 2011 in Cairo: one day we shall kill all the Jews
Egypt’s New Anti-Semitism Makes the Cover
New and Original Jewish Conspiracy Theory Created in Egypt
Egyptian Village Fights to Keep Jews Out
Egypt: Jews Drink Palestinian Blood
France Shuts Down Egyptian Anti-Semitic Broadcasts
The Destruction of Egypt's Jewish Community
Conspiracy Theory: Jews Want to Control the Nile
Jewish Conspiracy of the Week: The Swine Flu
Gaza Islamic University theatre group puts on anti-Semitic production
