Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism

Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2008 by Abraham, A J

Schenker, Hillel and Zaid Abu-Zayyal (eds.). Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2006. 199 pp.

Of all the books that I have reviewed over a period of about twentyfive years, this study by Schenker and Abu-Zayyal is the most complex and difficult that I have encountered. It deserves a great deal of attention.

Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism by Schenker and Abu-Zayyal, both co-editors of the Palestine-Israeli Journal, is dedicated to clarifying and advancing the peace process in the Arab-Israeli Conflict; they have joined with Markus Wiener Publishers to produce this excellent and unique publication. The book is extraordinary for its honesty and insights into its subject area.

The main thrust of the study can be summarized as the results of stereotypical views of Moslems and Jews that breed hatred and inhibit, complicate, and exacerbate serious attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These stereotypes of Jews and Moslems fan the flames of fear and, thus, to fear or not to fear, that is the question that this book raises.

This absorbing study is quite original in its organization and content. It shows that both Jews and Moslems have served as "scapegoats" for die failures of the West. This compendium hosts Israeli and Palestinian scholars who present their views in five separate sections. These parts cover: Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, Images of the Other, Education and Textbooks, and concludes with Approaches to a Better World. I am in almost full agreement with the findings of this small but powerful book.

My only criticism of Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism is, however, based upon its presumptions or presuppositions not its content. It is, therefore, incomplete in my view, not by accident or omission, but by design. It treats the "Christian West" as the only culprit in both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia to exonerate the issues described in the book. Let me explain.

The "new" anti-Semitism is not like the "old" anti-Semitism. In the past ignorant Christians blamed the Jews for the crucifixion of the Christ simply put, the Jews were the "Christ Killers," to be hated forever; others called the Jews a biological contaminant of a pure Aryan race; and still others saw the Jews as disloyal, traitors, more faithful to the nation of their faith than mat of their birth. All nonsense!

Today's anti-Semitism is not based on those factors, but primarily upon anti-Zionist and Anti-Israeli feelings which are inflamed by the growing Arab Moslem populations in Europe and America, based upon the plight of the Christian and Moslem Palestinian Arabs. The Palestinians remain under Israeli occupation, exiled from their homeland or in United Nations "concentration" camps called refugee camps. However, anyone who criticizes Israeli policy or actions is labeled as one of the old anti-Semites to avoid dealing with the Palestinian issues. This factor should have been addressed in the chapter on anti-Semitism.

Islamophobia is the fear or hatred or Moslems. Clearly, in Europe and America there is at present a fear of Islamic fundamentalism and its adherents. This is largely a result of a hand-full of extremists involved in attacks on innocent people in Europe and the United States, and elsewhere. (In Europe there is also a long memory of the Arab and Turkish conquest of some of its areas and this may be an additional factor in the European response to its Moslem citizens.)

The violence associated with Moslem fundamentalism is, however, not the only issue at play; the West has become fearful of Islamic culture. There is an unfair attitude problem below the surface and a lack of understanding on certain topics.

Moslem immigrants to Europe and America have more man sufficient freedom of religion and cultural independence to live well and prosper, certainly more man others who came before them from the non-Moslem world. Nevertheless, their presence in the United States and Europe is not a call to alter western culture or change it to a dual western and Islamic culture and legal system. Thus, the real problem is acculturation, and assimilation. Biculturalism and a dual legal system produces separatism and fear, and not freedom or multi-culturalism.

These are the most commonly deceived attitudes and events that have led to Islamophobia in the West:

1. Fear of terrorists hiding in Moslem communities where they can move about unnoticed.

2. Moslem areas appear more like "colonies" man ethnic-religious neighborhoods. Non-Moslems are made to feel unwelcomed mere.

3. The attempts to gain national acceptance of Islamic law along with western law has raised numerous incompatibilities between them.

4. In Spain, a Moslem Imam (clergyman), Mohammad Kama) Mustafa, was sentenced to jail for attempting to explain wife beating in his book Women in Islam.

5. Female circumcision is considered mutilation in the West, but it is advocated for Moslem women in the West to protect family honor and increase marriageability.

6. In France, Moslem and non-Moslem women were attacked by Islamic fundamentalists for wearing clothing that exposed their arms and legs. They were attacked and publicly insulted and their families who were Moslem were berated. This led to riots in France.