14 thoughts on “Jesus ‘n’ Mo ‘n’ anti-Semitism”

  1. Unfortunately most people don’t realize that the Arabs are also semites; are only the biological anthropologists and linguists aware of this?

    1. Unfortunately, you seem to be totally unaware (which most of people are aware of, especially in Europe) that the word “antisemitismus” was coined by a German, Wilhelm Marr at the end of 19th century (1879, to be exact) to replace the word Judehasse” (hatred of Jews) which was deemed not scientific and refined enough. German highly educated people who hated Jews, didn’t want to use this plebeian word and gladly embraced the word antisemitism. Arabs, who adored Hitler and where until today “Mein Kampf” is a bestseller, never thought this word had anything to do with them. They knew perfectly well that in spite of being Semites the hatred was (and is) directed toward Jews and not toward them.

      1. I am completely aware of that unfortunate history; ironically the scientific terminology is at variance. That was all I was pointing out; akin to the public claiming that evolution by natural selection is some sort of guess because we scientists call it a “theory”

        1. So how did you come to this strange conclusion that people are unaware about Arabs being Semites (they are aware) and why did you write about this (mistaken) conclusion under the story of Jesus and Mo talking about antisemitism gaining popularity again?

          1. It’s not a strange conclusion. Most people (who have never analysed it) probably think it refers exclusively to Jews.

            I think there has also been, for centuries, a prejudice against Arabs. Though I’m not aware that anyone ever bothered to invent a word for it.

            cr

          3. Yes, they do, these days. But I think that’s a relatively recent development. And I agree, it’s not the correct usage.

            cr

          4. The term “antisemitism” means “Jewhatred” and nothing more. It was the meaning given to it by the man who coined the word, by people who embraced it and by people who condemned it. It was never meant to encompass Arabs. So it’s right and proper that people think it refers exclusively to Jews. It does just that. Which doesn’t mean that people do not know that Arabs and Jews are related. If they don’t know etnographic and linguistic studies they know (at least if they ever looked at the Biblie) about Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael and can suspect that two people who according to the legend have the same ancestor (Abraham) are cousins.

          5. I know of only two categories of people who try to push the idea that antisemitism concerns Arabs as well as Jews. One, the genuine ignorant who do not know about the origins of the term; two, people who dislike Israel or/and Jews and knowing that antisemitism has a very bad reputation as it’s led to the Holocaust, try to dilute its meaning. By saying that Arabs are also Semites and therefore antisemitism is directed not only against Jews but also against Arabs, they achieve two things: one, a secular equivalent to theological supersessionism in which Jews as victims are replaced by Arabs as victims (which also allows one to forget that Israel is a state of refugees from European and Muslim antisemitism which lasted for centuries); and two, rejection of all information about rampant antisemitism in Arab world with statement that “Semites cannot be anti-Semitic”. If a Semite, like Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi says that the next Holocaust will be from the hands of Muslims, a claim that an Arab cannot be an anti-Semite is very, very convenient.

Comments are closed.