Given the ubiquity of antisemitism in today’s Arab region, many outsiders misconstrue it as an anciently authentic facet of regional culture.
By AHMED CHARAIUS President Donald Trump signs an executive order adopting the internationally recognized definition of anti-Semitism at the White House Hanukkah party in December 2019.(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Jersey City shootings – along with the executive order applying Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to Jews in order to combat rising attacks on Jews on US college campuses, whatever you may think of its wisdom – reminds us that antisemitism remains a part of the American scene. While obviously a predominantly domestic phenomenon, I am sorry to say that the Arab region has contributed to it. How so?Given the ubiquity of antisemitism in today’s Arab region, many outsiders misconstrue it as an anciently authentic facet of regional culture. It is true that religion-based anti-Jewish attitudes date back millennia in the region, but the virulent strand that prevails today draws some of its bile from the West.Some Arab intellectuals in the early 20th century adopted arguments that twinned hated European imperialists with Jewish bankers. Henry Ford’s antisemitic rantings on “The International Jew” in The Dearborn Independent made their way into the region in the 1920s, along with the infamous czarist forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Nazi antisemitic literature arrived in the 1930s with the help of local allies.A range of local ideologies, from Ba’athism to the Muslim Brotherhood, drew texts and inspiration from European fascist movements. This toxic brew became fully weaponized in the context of Arab opposition to Zionism. During the Cold War, Soviet forms of antisemitism masquerading as anti-Zionism deepened the swamp even further.Nearly a century of brainwashing later, this toxic cocktail has become a multi-generational legacy. It is so widespread and common – so streamlined, popularized and pseudo-intellectualized – that it has now been re-exported back to its sources. Those in the West who hate the State of Israel, whether from the Left or the Right, regularly imbibe the region’s antisemitic propaganda as if it were gospel truth.The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, provides a prime example. On the fringes of American political discourse, from David Duke’s visit to Assad-ruled Syria to Louis Farrakhan’s engagement of a range of Arab rulers, regular cross-pollination and mutual reinforcement of American and Middle-Eastern bigotry proceeds apace. That is why it is not far-fetched to see Arab antisemitism as a contributing, if indirect factor in inspiring attacks on Jews in Pittsburgh, Jersey City and elsewhere.THE GLOBAL interconnectedness of contemporary antisemitism means that the effort to confront and roll it back must also be global. Arabs who recognize the damage antisemitism has done to their own societies should also recognize that on the right-wing fringes of American racism, Arabs and Muslims fare little better than Jews in the pantheon of those most vigorously despised and demonized. Americans, for their part, should see that Arab antisemitism is also their problem, and bear up to the responsibilities of fighting it.But how? What is the American role in fighting antisemitism in Arab countries – and who are America’s natural allies in that struggle?The most common answer one hears revolves around the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – and with good reason. The conflict exacerbates the problem – and an eventual resolution, in my judgment by way of a two-state solution – will clear much of the swamp in which Arab antisemitism festers.After generations of a US diplomatic focus on high politics to resolve the conflict, Jared Kushner, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has placed new emphasis on the economic dimensions of the challenge. Creating new business partnerships based on “win-win” outcomes for Israelis and Palestinians alike could in due course augment traditional diplomacy and help build the range of viable Palestinian institutions necessary for sustainable governance.
But functional approaches by themselves are no panacea. We must not forget that among the September 11 hijackers were several well-educated and well-heeled young people. Their extremism flowed not from economic disadvantage but from a cultural pathology of brainwashing. To expunge that pathology, Arab autocrats – beginning with those allied with the US – must at last expunge this vile content from the schools, mosques and media they control.A difficult truth about political life is that while it usually takes two or more parties working together in good faith to advance brotherhood and peace, it often takes only one to block or tear down that work. That is why our efforts to build a better world cannot rest. It is also why, as the God of Abraham is our witness, fighting antisemitism as well as anti-Islamic and anti-Arab bigotry is ultimately one seamless fight that must involve people of good will everywhere. Arabs and Jews simply must stop hating each other so that together we can face the truly dangerous people who hate us both.The writer is a Moroccan publisher. He is on the board of directors of the Atlantic Council and an international counselor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
