Although anti-Semitism is a fact of Arab life, most individuals prefer to describe it as political animosity and religious polemic. This explains why my study has only drawn from works on the subject by Western historians – because no Arab historian has even acknowledged that it exists, let alone written about it. In this study I compare and analyze the different views my sources have on some matters related to the subject of Jew-hatred among Arabs; these are Zionism, the origins of Arab nationalism, the legendary age of tolerance in Al-andalus (Muslim Spain) and the treatment of Jews in the Quran. In most of my sources I find that: For Arabs, Zionism and Jewishness are one and the same thing. The influence of Nazi ideals and prejudices on Arab nationalism and the paranoid attitudes of the region’s leaders effectively stymie any chances of reconciliation between the two peoples. Historical evidences show that the much-praised racial harmony of Al-andalus has been exaggerated for political purposes. The negative image of Jews in the Quran has been deliberately misinterpreted in order to keep hatred of Jews alive among Arabs today. To see just how effective anti-Semitic indoctrination has been on reasonable, educated people, I sent a simple question to my Arab friends around the world asking them to say what they really think of Jews, hoping to get some candid answers. But to my great disappointment, not one of them replied.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hgo-616 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Bohme-Shomari, Wiji |
| Publisher | Högskolan på Gotland, Institutionen för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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