The Mainstreaming Of Anti-Semitism
By Abraham H. Foxman
National Director of the Anti-Defamation League
This article originally appeared in the Jewish Week on
October 31, 2003
Much is appalling about what took place in Kuala Lumpur at the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
It is appalling that the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in effect called for holy war against the Jewish people and charged that the Jews "rule the world by proxy."
It is appalling that leaders of the 57 participating countries stood as one and applauded Mr. Mahathir.
It is appalling that even after criticism surfaced, many leaders in attendance defended the Malaysian leader's comments.
It is appalling that Mr. Mahathir said days later that condemnation of his remarks by some world leaders proved the truth of his claim that Jews ruled the world.
It is appalling that some in Europe, particularly French leaders, did everything to prevent a clear and unequivocal condemnation of Mahathir's remarks as vicious anti-Semitism by the European Union as a body.
Amid these depressing realities, it is important to take cognizance of several hopeful signs. The United States again led the effort to condemn Mahathir in direct, forceful language, from President Bush to the State Department to Congress. Some European Union countries, notably Italy, Spain and Germany, sought a strong and quick European condemnation. And it should be noted that The New York Times' editorial focused not so much on Mahathir's hateful words but on the failure of any of the government leaders in attendance to condemn his remarks, rather to give his overall speech high approval through a standing ovation.
The challenge for the Jewish community is to understand the significance of this event and determine where we must go from here. I think it is fair to say that what took place that day in Malaysia — the statement, the forum, the timing, the reaction — was the most serious public display of anti-Semitism since the Holocaust.
Our efforts for decades since that great tragedy of the Jewish people were to keep anti-Semitism on the fringes, fighting it by exposing the dangers of such hatred and what it could lead to, and calling on reasonable people to reject such ideology.
At Kuala Lumpur that day we saw the stark manifestation of a trend that has been at work in many parts of the Islamic world: the mainstreaming of the crudest forms of anti-Semitism.
Mahathir's comments did not take place in a vacuum. They were the product of 2,000 years of demonization of the Jews, mostly in Christian societies, where Jews are seen as alien beings to be held responsible for the major ills of society. His words reflected the increasing acceptance of those theories about Jews in the mainstream of the Islamic world. The Jew as conspirator! The "Big Lie" that Jews or Israelis were responsible for 9-11, not Osama bin Laden, is believed by tens of millions in the Islamic world.
Jewish control! The belief that Jews were able to concoct a story about the alleged murder of 6 million to win support for a Jewish state is rampant in Islamic media and intellectual circles.
The Jew is the source of all evil! Jews are depicted in Arab media as drinkers of Muslim blood, as Nazis, as persecutors of Muslims, as murderers of Jesus.
If this ugly event and its revelation of the mainstreaming of anti-Semitism could serve any useful purpose, it is as a wake-up call to the Jewish community, and beyond as well. We need to mobilize ourselves; we need to mobilize our friends; we need to mobilize people and leaders who may not have been such good friends but who must understand what happens to democratic societies whenever Jews are under such a concerted attack as took place in Malaysia.
Every Jew in America and around the world should express his or her indignation at those leaders who supported Mahathir or who hesitated to condemn him. We should commend those who stood up.
We, together with our friends in the non-Jewish community, must say that none of us seek conflict with or have animus toward the Islamic religion. However, when 57 leaders under the banner of Islam appear to support such hatred, it requires that leadership to declare that this is not what Islam is about.
We must insist to world leaders to not only say that Mahathir's remarks are unacceptable, but they must think long and hard about the role their one-sided criticism of Israel has played in creating an environment where vicious anti-Semitism is now acceptable.
I continue to believe that the world today is a more dangerous place for Jews than any time since the Holocaust. At the same time, Jews are not powerless or alone as we were back then. We have Israel, we have America, and we have ourselves and our allies. The challenge is to mobilize these assets.
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
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