“Islamophobia” and antisemitism
Posted on November 14, 2007
There is no such thing as Islamophobia. Phobias are irrational fears. There is nothing irrational about fearing and disliking people who blow up your buildings, trains, buses and nightclubs. And since the 7/7 atrocity in Britain — which was committed by Muslims who seemed to be well-assimilated into British society — it is reasonable to fear or be wary of ALL Muslims. Nobody can tell which Muslim might be the next mass-murderer. It could be your neighbor or workmate and you could be among the victims.
So the term “Islamophobia” is just another attempt by Leftists to stigmatize normal attitudes. “Homophobia” is similarly misapplied. People who dislike or disapprove of homosexuality do not at all need to FEAR homosexuals. They may simply be disgusted by the thought of it — as many are — or they may think that the behaviour is simply wrong for one reason or another.
The term “Islamophobia” is useful for Leftists in many ways, however. There seems to be a fashion — particularly in Europe — to equate “Islamophobia” with antisemitism — which is brain dead. I concede that many antisemites are perfectly rational people in general but it remains true that antisemitism is roughly as irrational as “Islamophobia” is rational. Only a Leftist would be unable to see the difference. Where Muslims are largely parasitical on Western civilization, Jews are great contributors to it, for instance.
A recent article in the WSJ makes similar points to what I have said above but makes that a jumping-off-place for discussing yet again the origins of antisemitism. The explanation favoured by the author — Uriya Shavit — is however a rather fanciful one. It is, somewhat amazingly, an attempt to show that there ARE important commonalities between “Islamophobia” and antisemitism. Shavit claims that both Jews and Muslims have territorial loyalties as well as religious loyalties. Jews are loyal to the land of Israel and Muslims are loyal to the Muslim “world” or “Ummah”.
It is difficult to know where to start in commenting on that. For a start, it is a classic antisemitic slur to say that Jews have dual loyalties. I suppose it is true of some Jews to an extent but Shavit seems to be endorsing it as being true of Jews in general. And the claim that people are fearful of Muslims because of dreams in Muslim heads rather than because of what many Muslims actually DO is extraordinary.
I wonder if Shavit and A.B. Yehoshua (the writer to whom Shavit attributes his ideas) have ever talked to any actual antisemites. I spent some years doing so (see here, here and here) and found that most of the usual explanations for antisemitism were correct: Envy, scapegoating, a need for explanation etc. I also however found that the rather tribal morality that a subset of Jews practice was known and objected to (See here). So there is some minor rationality in antisemitism of that sort. Anybody who cannot see the difference between peaceful Jews and the actively hostile Muslims is not being serious, however.
As always, reality is complex but the reality Shavit discusses is one of the central issues of the day so dreamy simplifications of it do us all a great disservice.
So if “Islamophobia” is a myth, what expression should we use to describe wariness towards Muslims? Perhaps not surprisingly, we lag behind Germans in the matter. The two German terms “Judenhass” and “Muslimhass” are short and to the point: Translatable as “Jew-hate” and “Muslim-hate”. Both terms are however exaggerations. I do know some antisemites who really do hate Jews and I have no doubt that some Germans hate Muslims but there are also many people who are simply wary or distrustful rather than actively hating anybody.
I think therefore that we should avoid ALL simplifications of this important matter. If we are talking about hatred of Muslims we should say “hatred of Muslims” and if we are talking about distrust of Muslims we should say “distrust of Muslims”. Treating all negative attitudes towards Muslims as the same is a denial of reality.
I have also gone to great length to distinguish different negative attitudes towards Jews (See here and here) but I acknowledge that the term is too useful as shorthand for it to be abandoned.
Leftist “anti-Zionists” do however object to being called “antisemites” and they are correct in doing so. Some of them are stupid enough to believe all the old conspiracy theories of classical antisemitism but most hate Jews and Israel simply because both are successful and flourishing. They hate America and “the rich” for the same reason. So even use of the term “antisemitism” does obscure important truths. Unlike “Islamophobia”, however, “antisemitism” does not embody false claims about mental health, so is much less pernicious.
Footnote: Being an incorrigible academic, I cannot resist noting that the term “antisemitism” (Antisemitismus) was coined in 1879 by a German (oddly enough!) named Wilhelm Marr — who was hostile to Jews even though (because?) he was married to one!
(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here.)
» Filed Under ACLU, History, News, War On Terror
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6 Responses to ““Islamophobia” and antisemitism”
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Syndicate Me
If you fear all Muslims then your fear is irrational. If you just fear violent criminal Muslims it is not.
If you fear that ‘moderate’ muslims are going to stand by
and do NOTHING to bring down the radicals, much like
the German population stood by and let the Nazis take over
(the same Nazis whom loved islam so much, btw), then your
fear is rational.
American citizens stand by and do nothing as 1/5th of each years children are slaughtered while still in their mother’s wombs so I would say the Germans and Muslims action are normal human nature. Don’t condemn your own mentality.
fear and collective judgements of groups of people is never irratational
If there are very real pattern of noticeable harmful behaviors in that group
. Harmful behaviors that are higher or more likely in that group than others.
Saying it is wrong to take notice of these things is political correctness gone mad.
This is something that does not just apply to Muslims, but also for example, blacks
Is it wrong to take notice of the fact that they are always vastly overrepresented
in violent crime rates? Is it wrong to notice that their cites are always likely
to be extremely crime ridden and dangerous? So called anti semitism also can be
irrational, but people do have some very real criticisms of jews, as well. Like the fact
that they are also vastly overrepresented in nearly every leftist movement that is
responsible for making this nation and other western nations into what they are today.
Looking at certain truths is never wrong or immoral. It is just plain stupid to
live your life blind to certain realities.
Crystal,
What percentage of the group must exhibit the very real pattern of behavior before we can pass judgemnt?
Just like Muslims, as a group are many times more likely to have terrorists among them and this
is something that is dangerous to overlook in the name of political correctness, so is it dangerous
that other minority peoples are more likely than others to exhibit certain behaviors. There doesn’t have to
be a specific number just a noticeably trend that has proven itself to be true over and over again