Israel’s
war on Gaza has polarized the world in an inconceivable
way; one of its outcomes being the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Both
are extremely dangerous and have led to a spike in hate crimes, especially in
the West. According to the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), there
has been an “appalling” rise in reported anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias
incidents in the month since violence erupted between Israel and Hamas.
اضافة اعلان
It said that it had
received 1283 requests for help and reports of bias in the month since October
7, a 216 percent increase compared to the previous year. The organization said
that in 2022 it received an average of 406 complaints in a 29-day period.
A week after Israel waged
war on Gaza, a 71-year-old man stabbed and killed a 6-year-old American
Palestinian child and attempted to kill his mother near Chicago. He was charged
with murder and hate crimes. Investigators determined the victims were
“targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle
Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
Earlier this week, three
Palestinian university students were shot in Burlington, Vermont, in what
authorities described as a "hate-motivated crime". Police
characterized the gunman, who was still at large, as "a white man with a
handgun.” Police have confirmed that although no official motive has been
announced, two of the three young adults shot were wearing the traditional
Palestinian kaffiyeh. Two were in stable condition and one suffered more serious
injuries.
To portray the Palestinian tragedy and struggle for liberation as a religious war is shameful and insulting.
Perhaps the most reported
case of hate crime was when a former Obama administration adviser, Stuart
Seldowitz, was caught on video harassing and insulting an Egyptian halal cart
vendor in downtown New York. Several videos captured the former diplomat
harassing the vendor about his Egyptian roots and Islamic faith. He was later
arrested and is facing one count of aggravated harassment of race or religion
and four counts of stalking as a hate crime.
Many of those marching in
support of the Palestinians in the US and Europe were harassed and accused of
justifying terrorism and supporting Hamas. Some Western governments made things
worse by labeling such peaceful protests as anti-Semitic and as “hate marches”.
Likewise, anti-Semitism
cases have spiked since October 7. According to CNN, a wave of global hatred
directed against Jews has intensified by Israel’s indiscriminate response in
Gaza to Hamas’ attack and killing of Israelis. Reuters reported that the Jewish
advocacy group the Anti-Defamation League reported that anti-Semitic incidents
had risen by about 400 percent in the two weeks following the 7 October
attacks, compared with the same period last year.
Similarly, there has been
a 1350 percent increase in hate crimes against Jewish people in the two weeks
following October 7, according to London’s
Metropolitan police. Ade Adelekan, the deputy assistant commissioner,
described the rise as “significant” and said Islamophobic offenses in London
were up 140 percent over the same period, from 42 in 2022 to 103.
Social media platforms
saw numerous cases of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate speech, which often
went unreported. The rise in hate speech was fueled by horrific images being
shared on social media of the
carnage in Gaza, especially where children were
involved, and the devastation and loss suffered by Israelis in the South in the
wake of the Hamas attack.
The incendiary language
used by a number of Israeli officials, describing
Gazans as “human animals” or
claiming that “there are no innocent civilians” there as well as suggesting
that Israel can
drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza or threatening to turn Khan Younis
into a parking lot, has added fuel to the fire and stoked anti-Semitism and
Islamophobia at the same time.
Many Israelis, full of
rage, have threatened to “kill the Arabs”, while American and European bigots
used the Palestine issue as an excuse to express Jewish hatred. This is a case
where the two sides are wrong and dangerous.
To portray the Palestinian tragedy and struggle for liberation
as a religious war is shameful and insulting.
Hamas, a militant group with Islamist ideology, is not a representative
of the Palestinian people. Its 17-year-old rule of the Gaza Strip is both
complicated and controversial. Until October 7, its popularity in the besieged
strip had reached record lows. Israel has used Palestinian divisions to its
benefit with the clear intent of weakening the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Likewise, the PA had become a dysfunctional political entity and it too had
become unpopular in the West Bank. Palestinians had not voted for a legitimate
representative since 2006.
The Palestinian struggle for liberation is about justice, freedom, and the rule of law, and those supporting that right come from all walks of life, from every faith, race, and nationality. The emotional expressions of humanity and empathy towards the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza, are in no way a direct support of Hamas and its strategy. Those who support one side against the other, for whatever reason, should not be used by sinister forces to stoke the fires of hate speech, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.
The Palestine/Israel
conflict is not a religious one and has never been. Until the Zionist
colonization of Palestine, Muslims, Christians, and Jews coexisted peacefully
for centuries. The PLO charter calls for the establishment of an independent,
secular, and democratic state. Palestinians are against Zionism, not Jews. The
now sidelined Palestinian National Council (PNC), which acted as a Palestinian
parliament in exile, included Jewish members who were anti-Zionists
The complexity of the
Palestine/Israel conflict notwithstanding, it should never be used by
extremists and fanatics on all sides to ignite religious hatred and racist or
ethnic slurs. It is unfortunate that the biggest supporters of Israel today are
certain branches of US Evangelical Christians whose loyalty towards Zionism is
rooted in Biblical beliefs.
Zionism must not be
conflated with Judaism or the Jewish people, and those standing against it,
including many Jews, cannot be described as anti-Semites.
The Palestinian struggle
for liberation is about justice, freedom, and the rule of law, and those
supporting that right come from all walks of life, from every faith, race, and
nationality. The emotional expressions
of humanity and empathy towards the suffering of Palestinians,
especially in Gaza, are in no way a direct support of Hamas and its strategy. Those who
support one side against the other, for whatever reason, should not be used by
sinister forces to stoke the fires of hate speech, anti-Semitism, and
Islamophobia.
Anti-Semitism is a European scourge that is alien to the people
of the Middle East. The Palestinians, of all people, should never be dragged
into this distinctively Western syndrome that has resulted in pogroms and
massacres of Jews in Europe, only to lead to resolving this at the expense of
the Palestinians.
Politicians, academics, influencers, and religious leaders are
responsible for calming people. The message must be that supporting the
Palestinian right to self-determination is not and should not be perceived as
anti-Semitic, just as supporting Israel must not be used to trigger
anti-Islamic hate speech.
There are those, powerful individuals and governments, who want
to cancel others by labeling them. Hate speech will lead to hate crimes and
innocent people will suffer at the hands of bigots and fundamentalists. Sober
leadership is needed at all levels to make sure that neither anti-Semitism nor
Islamophobia deflects attention from the real issue which is ending the
occupation.
Osama Al Sharif is a journalist
and political commentator based in Amman.
Disclaimer:
Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Jordan News' point of view.
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