Dear Erose,
This is a complex issue, and I am not sure that there is one answer
conclusive answer to it. On the one hand, as I will demonstrate, there
is some connection between the two, and especially - Dudester's
assumptions regarding Bin-Laden's propaganda and doctrine are
inaccurate here. On the other, Dudester (or anyone else for that
matter), who will claim that European antisemitism has very different
roots than the current wave, will be also correct. In any case, it is
just the case that I am involved in a project that is related to this
theme.
You mix here several different issues:
- doctrine of present day middle eastern terrorists;
- the belief in a global jewish conspiracy (if I understand correctly,
the contemporary one);
- anti-zionist propaganda stemming from academic and religious
literature from european axis allies of WWII
Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism
=============================
"Anti-Zionist" is not the same as "Antisemite". Antisemite refers to
haterd agaisnt Jews. Anti-Zionist refers to the view that there should
not be a Jewish national movement, or a Jewish state. A Jew could
oppose Zionism, claiming that Jews are not a nation (but a religion),
or that forming a state before the coming of the Massiah is wrong.
Both these views exist among Jews, and see for example:
Neturei Karta - Orthodox Jews United Against Zionism
<http://www.nkusa.org/>
A "gentile" (someone who is not Jewish) could also be anti-Zionist
without being antisemite: the mere belief that the territory shouldn't
be a "Jewish" state (but, for example, a binational one), or that Jews
should be considered a "nation", but be integrated as full members
into their relative societies, does not turn a person into an
antisemite. On the contrary: a person who believes that Jews are equal
parts of his or her society and shouldn't be discriminated or looked
upon as belonging to a different nation, could hardly be described as
someone who hates Jews. Here, even our main topic of analysis is not
homogeneous: not all terrorist organisations have the same view
regarding Judaism, even if they resist Zionism as an ideology. Some
Palestinian organisations, for example, reject Jewish nationalism but
would (theoretically) accept Jews as part of the Palestinian State.
Nevertheless, while anti-Zionism is not always antisemitism, there are
of course those who'd deny the Jews their right to form a collective
national identity (and therefore a state), while granting it to other
nations. In addition, some would claim that pin-pointing Israel, and
discussing Israel's failures as a state so frequently also represents
a hidden antisemitic agenda: similar cases of occupation, that
according to human rights organisations are even worse in their
repression, are not granted the same attention; similar violent acts
of resistance against occupation, that involve terror against
civilians, are not so easily justified - for example - in Chechnya or
Northern Ireland. Organisations that are basically non-violent, like
the Tibetian resistance to Chinese occupation, receive much less
attention than militants in the Middle East.
So, in other words, anti-Zionism could - but does not always - reflect
antisemitism.
Historical Roots of the Influence of Nazi and European Antisemitism on
Contemporary Middle East Terrorism
=============================================================================
As not all terrorist organisations are homogeneous in their doctrines
and ideology, it is difficult to define their connections to National
Socialist propaganda. However, there are some common features.
First, something should be said regarding the status of Jews in
traditional Islam. Because Jews are considered "People of the Book" in
Islam, they can theoretically live in the Muslim state, without having
to convert (heathens/pagans would have to convert, or will be
killed/chased away), as "Dhimmi", as subordinated to the Muslims. That
doesn't mean that Jews (or Christians) were not discriminated, or that
there weren't any antisemitic incidents, but that the general attitude
of Islam was different than that in Church-controlled Europe.
In Europe, modernisation changed the justification for antisemitism
from a religious one, to a "secular", nationalist, one: Jews are not
part of the nation, or part of the European race, so it has been
claimed, and should be maltreated consequently. The same development
has skipped most Mulsim societies, and instead of developing
independent ideas regarding the modern state, European ideas have been
imported: Socialism, nationalism/nation state, and also - European
style antisemitism. Already in the mid 19th century, Muslims in
Demaskus conducted a "pogrom", because of Blood Libel, part of the
Christian/European antisemitic narrative, not the Muslim/Arab one.
Nazi propaganda infiltrating the Middle East in the 1930s has found,
therefore, fertile ground for its incitement. The cooperation between
Nazis and Arab militants go back to the Second World War, when the
Germans held close connections with several Arab journalists and
leaders, and they spread Nazi-style antisemite propaganda in the
Middle East. So it would be untrue to claim, that current antisemite
views held by Middle Eastern terrorists have nothing to do with the
innfluence of Nazi propaganda:
"Who was the Grand Mufti, Haj Muhammed Amin al-Husseini?", Palestine
Facts <http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_mandate_grand_mufti.php>
(note: Palestine Facts is a pro-Israeli site; however, in this case I
find the informatin approriate and unbiased).
The Arab/Muslim Nazi Connection, Christian Action for Israel
<http://christianactionforisrael.org/antiholo/arabnazi.html> (note:
Christian pro-Israel site).
Tell Children The Truth - Photos and Documents
<http://www.tellthechildrenthetruth.com/gallery/>
Snorri G. Bergsson, 1997 "MUFTISM AND NAZISM " , essay written at the
University of Leicester,
<http://notendur.centrum.is/~snorrigb/muftism.htm>
Jewish Virtual Library, The Mufti and the Führer,
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/muftihit.html>
After the war, while Nazi propaganda was outcasted as foul by the
West, antisemitic Nazi-style propaganda continued to be featured, in
Middle-Eastern narratives. Few examples would be:
Blood Libels:
" * The Matzah Of Zion was written by the Syrian Defense Minister,
Mustafa Tlass in 1983. The book concentrates on two issues: the
alleged murder of Father Toma in Damascus, Syria in 1840, and the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion. On October 21, 2002, the London based
Arabic paper Al-Hayat reported that the book was undergoing its eighth
reprint and was being translated into English, French, and Italian.
* In 2001 an Egyptian film company produced and aired a film
called Horseman Without a Horse, partly based on Tlass's book. The
book was cited at a United Nations conferences in 1991 by a Syrian
delegate.
* Some Arab writers have condemned these blood libels. The
Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram published a series of articles by Osam
Al-Baz, a senior advisor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Amongst
other things, Osam Al-Baz explained the origins of the anti-Jewish
blood libel. He said that Arabs and Muslims have never been
anti-Semitic, as a group, but accepted that a few Arab writers and
media figures attack Jews "on the basis of the racist fallacies and
myths that originated in Europe". He urged people not to succumb to
"myths" such as the blood libel. (Source: Al-Ahram Weekly Online,
January 2-8, 2003 (Issue No. 619), [2]"
(SOURCE: Wikipedia, Blood Libel, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel>).
Hitler's Mein Kampf:
Mein Kampf in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority (Jewish Virtual Library)
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/mein.html>
David Pryce-Jones, "Their Kampf", from the July 29, 2002, issue of
National Review, <http://www.nationalreview.com/29july02/pryce-jones072902.asp>
Holocaust Denial:
"As a result, spokespersons for the IHR and other denial groups have
been travelling to the Middle East in an attempt to forge closer ties
with radical extremist groups there. IHR spokespersons have been
reported to be meeting with Arabic figures who have been suspected to
have ties to known terrorist groups. [2] [...] In the Middle East, the
Syrian government, as well as the Palestinian Authority regularly
publish and promote Holocaust denial literature. These works are best
sellers in many Arab nations. Denials of the Holocaust have been
regularly promoted by various Arab leaders and in various media
throughout the Middle East.[4]
(http://www.adl.org/holocaust/Denial_ME/in_own_words.asp)[5]
(http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=egypt&ID=SP7700)
In August 2002 the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-up, an
Arab League think-tank whose Chairman, Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahayan,
served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, promoted
a Holocaust denial symposium in Abu Dhabi. [6]
(http://www.likud.nl/extr225.html) Hamas leaders have also been
promoters of Holocaust denial; Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi held that the
Holocaust never occurred, that Zionists were behind the action of
Nazis, and that Zionists funded Nazism. A press release by Hamas in
April 2000 decried "the so-called Holocaust, which is an alleged and
invented story with no basis" [7]" (SOURCE: Wikipedia, "Holocaust
Denial", <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial>).
Current Influence/Comparison in Doctrine
========================================
The last part discussed, among others, the concept of the Dhimmi, and
of the Jews under Islamic rule. This, however, is not demonstrated in
the doctrine of many Middle Eastern terrorist organisations, viewing
Jews as a collective "evil", spreading antisemite propaganda or acting
indiscriminately against Jews because of their religion and without
link to their possible affiliation with the state of Israel.
Conspiracy theories regarding the "role" of the Jews in world economy
flourish and justify attacks against the West, and esepcially against
the United States. (See, for example, my answer for " What are we
fighting for?", <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=62999>).
Jews are not viewed by those groups as a group that could live as
subordinate in coexistence with Islam, but as one that should be
vanished. Few of those connections, between contemporary Western
antisemite groups and the Hamas (or othe Middle Eastern radical
elements) have been briefly discussed before. Here are several more
examples:
Matthias Küntzel, "Islamic Antisemitism And Its Nazi Roots", PNews,
<http://pnews.org/art/10art/ROOT.shtml> - excellent article on the
links between the Nazi propaganda and Bin Laden's doctrine. I was
lucky enough to meet and hear Dr. Küntzel on few occassions: he is
very torough in his analysis.
Bin Laden, for example, called (1998 onwards) for the killing of all
Jews and Americans (See, for example, Steven Emerson, "Inside the
Osama Bin Laden Investigation", <http://www.iacsp.com/itobli.html>).
In an interview (2001) with a Karachi based newspaper, he spreads
again the conspiracy theory against the Jews: "It is clear that the
American people are themselves the slaves of the Jews and are forced
to live according to the principles and laws laid by them" (SOURCE:
Carol A. Valentine , Bin Laden: AUTHENTIC INTERVIEW, October, 2001 ,
Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum ,
<http://www.public-action.com/911/oblintrv.html>).
Another point of comparison is the de-humanising of the Jew, used both
by Nazis as well as by Bin Laden. Jews were sometimes presented in
Nazi propaganda not as human, but as mice, insects and other
"despicable" animals. Bin Laden and other extremists, too, made this
comparison:
"Saudi Government Official on Bin Laden as a Hero: "He Did Not Present
a Distorted Picture of Islam to the West" American Jews are "Brothers
of Apes and Pigs" Special Dispatch, 08. Februar 2002 translated by
MEMRI, <http://memri.de/uebersetzungen_analysen/themen/islamistische_ideologie/isl_bin_laden_08_02_02.html>
Michael Powell, "Bin Laden Recruits With Graphic Video" Washington
Post, 27 September 2001,
<http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/binladenRE.htm> - "The film refers
to Jews as "dogs" and "pigs." The faces of Clinton and members of the
Saudi royal family are often superimposed. The message, Bulliet notes,
is simple: The Jews are killing your men, women and children, backed
by complicit Arab rulers and the United States."
Naturally, the murder of Daniel Pearl was also an example of
indiscriminate attacks against Jews as such.
Regarding HAMAS:
Cal Thomas, "Bin Laden points at Lebanon", Town Hall, November 1, 2004
, <http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20041101.shtml> -
"In a Sept. 10, 2004, sermon carried on Palestinian TV, Sheikh Ibrahim
Mudeiras, who is said to be a young cleric identified with the
terrorist group Hamas, said, "There is no one in the world who loves
the Jews . because they destroy everything and everyone wants to take
vengeance on the Jews, to take vengeance on those pigs. And that day
will come when we are victorious over them.""
Prof. Benny Morris mentioned in an interview that "The basic Hamas
Covenant, which was issued in 1988, accuses the Jews of wanting to
spread over the whole region from the Nile to the Euphrates. It
accused the Jews of the French and Russian Revolutions, of the First
World War, the Second World War, the founding of the UN. In other
publications the men of Hamas and Jihad equate the Jews with apes,
regularly. From their perspective, the Jews and Israel are one. They
identify Israel completely with Judaism, and Judaism bears
responsibility for all the evil in the world. " (SOURCE: Sever
Plotzker, "Talking Heads: The New Antisemitism" Yediot Ahronot. Dec.
28, 2001. Sabbath Supplement. P. 10. , Translation by Jonathan
Silverman, <http://www.mideasttruth.com/antisemitism.html>).
To summarise, these are the foundations of any comparison between Nazi
propaganda and the terrorist organisations: conspiracy theories,
de-humanisations of the Jews, and attempt to annihilate all Jews.
However, there are several points, where one must say that this
comparison is problematic. The main point is that not all Middle East
terrorist groups have the same goals, motives, or thoughts about the
Jews. The Kurdish PKK, for example, hardly ever refers to the Jews as
such. Other organisations, while fighting against Israel/USA (and
killing Israelis or coalition forces in Iraq indiscriminately), do not
extend this doctrine to Jews outside Israel, or to antisemite views
against Jews in general.
I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it. |
