Reply #26: Here is an very interesting article [View All]

[Lithos]

Which talks about the problem from a Muslim perspective.

http://www.secularislam.org/articles/khawaja3.htm

There are two possible interpretations.

(1) The first is to see the Quran as condemning the Jews collectively and eternally for their failure to embrace Islam. On this interpretation, the differences between Judaism and Islam are more important than any similarities; thus, we should ignore the similarities and focus on the differences, regarding the Jews as enemies of Islam, whom Muslims are commanded to fight until the Day of Judgment.

(2) A second, more traditional interpretation holds that in criticizing Jews, the Quran is condemning specific transgressions by specific Jewish individuals or tribes, not collective sins committed by a race, ethnicity or creed. On this interpretation, the similarities between Judaism and Islam outweigh the differences; thus, Muslims should use the similarities as the basis for harmony between the two faiths, settling any remaining differences by discourse rather than violence. Obviously, these two interpretations of the Quran contradict one another, and Muslims must choose between them.

A second source of Arab/Muslim anti-Semitism is a skewed understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Far too many Arabs and Muslims grow up with the belief that God commands them to side with the Palestinians against the Israelis in that conflict. Thus without bothering to acquaint themselves with facts or context, such people come to believe that the history of the dispute consists of nothing but Israeli atrocities against Arabs.

In this view of things, the Arabs are nothing but victims, and the Israelis nothing but aggressors; the Arabs are responsible for nothing, and the Israelis are responsible for everything. From such a view, it's easy enough to slide into conspiracy theorizing, and from there to the belief that the Jews are a corrupt and diabolical race, while the Arabs are a noble and pure one. Unfortunately, this view of history has less to do with the pursuit of Palestinian rights than it does with role-playing, and does no one any real good, much less the Palestinians.

A third source of Muslim anti-Semitism is what I call "retaliatory bigotry," i.e., Arab/Muslim retaliation for bigotry suffered at the hands of Jews. In raising this issue, I don't mean to be making excuses for Muslim anti-Semites or to be blaming their victims. Bigotry is a moral failing for which its practitioners alone are responsible; nothing excuses it, and no one deserves it. But in criticizing Arabs and Muslims for their failings, we should not imagine that the sources of Arab/Muslim anti-Semitism lie exclusively within the Arab/Muslim community.

In thirty-odd years of life, I've been on the receiving end of a good deal of bigotry, much of it directed at me by Jews. As both victim of and witness to such bigotry, I resolved not to fall into the cycle of responding in kind to those who had perpetrated it. I did, however, watch others fail in that struggle, succumbing to the need to hit back at bigots by becoming bigots themselves. It's clear to me that such "retaliatory bigotry" is a large source of Arab/Muslim anti-Semitism. To combat it, we must see-and get others to see-that anti-Semitism does not exist in a vacuum; it's part of a vicious cycle in which anti-Muslim bigotry plays a role. We should, then, commit no trespasses against others, but overlook none against ourselves. Our task is to fight anti-Semitism from a spirit of justice, not of turning the other cheek.