European Muslim Antisemitism

Günther Jikeli

Description

Read an excerpt from Chapter 9: Perceptions of the Holocaust

Antisemitism from Muslims has become a serious issue in Western Europe, although not often acknowledged as such. Looking for insights into the views and rationales of young Muslims toward Jews, Günther Jikeli and his colleagues interviewed 117 ordinary Muslim men in London (chiefly of South Asian background), Paris (chiefly North African), and Berlin (chiefly Turkish). The researchers sought information about stereotypes of Jews, arguments used to support hostility toward Jews, the role played by the Middle East conflict and Islamist ideology in perceptions of Jews, the possible sources of antisemitic views, and, by contrast, what would motivate Muslims to actively oppose antisemitism. They also learned how the men perceive discrimination and exclusion as well as their own national identification. This study is rich in qualitative data that will mark a significant step along the path toward a better understanding of contemporary antisemitism in Europe.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. European Muslims: Between Integration and Discrimination
2. Debates and Surveys on European Muslim Antisemitism
3. An Empirical Study: Interviews with Young Male Muslims in Europe
4. Patterns of Antisemitism
5. "Classic" Modern Antisemitism
6. Antisemitism Related to Israel
7. Antisemitism Related to Islam, Religious or Ethnic Identity
8. Antisemitism Without Justification or Rationalization
9. Perceptions of the Holocaust
10. Sources of Antisemitic Attitudes
11. Positive Examples: Rejecting Antisemitism
12. Conclusion
Appendix
Notes
References
Index

Sujets

• Jewish Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Islam
• Discrimination
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 16 février 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253015259
• Langue: English

Extrait

European Muslim ANTISEMITISM
STUDIES IN ANTISEMITISM
Alvin H. Rosenfeld, editor
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Bloomington Indianapolis

This book is a publication of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2015 by G nther Jikeli
Publication of this book was supported in part by grants from the following: the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation; The Hans-B ckler-Foundation, a non-profit German foundation committed to the advancement of democracy and the improvement of people s working lives on behalf of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB); and the Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jikeli, G nther, author.
European Muslim antisemitism : why young urban males say they don t like Jews / G nther Jikeli.
pages cm. - (Studies in antisemitism)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-01518-1 (cl: alk. paper) - ISBN 978-0-253-01525-9 (eb) 1. Antisemitism - Europe, Western - History-21st century. 2. Jews-Europe-Public opinion. 3. Public opinion - Europe, Western. 4. Muslim youth - Europe, Western-Attitudes. 5. Muslim men-Europe, Western-Attitudes. 6. Urban youth-Europe, Western-Attitudes. 7. Europe, Western - Ethnic relations - History-21st century. I. Title.
DS146.E85J56 2015
305.892 404-dc23
2014029057
1 2 3 4 5 20 19 18 17 16 15
This book is dedicated to my parents, who taught me to speak out against bigotry.
Barbarism is not the inheritance of our prehistory. It is the companion that dogs our every step.
ALAIN FINKIELKRAUT
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 European Muslims: Between Integration and Discrimination
2 Debates and Surveys on European Muslim Antisemitism
3 Interviews with Young Muslim Men in Europe
4 Patterns of Antisemitism among Interviewees and Beyond
5 Classic Modern Antisemitism
6 Antisemitism Related to Israel
7 Antisemitism Related to Islam or Religious or Ethnic Identity
8 Antisemitism without Rationalization
9 Perceptions of the Holocaust
10 Sources of Antisemitic Attitudes
11 Positive Examples: Rejecting Antisemitism
Conclusion
Appendix A: Working Definition of Antisemitism
Appendix B: List of Interviewees
Notes
References
Index
Acknowledgments
I have received support from a large number of individuals and institutions, and this book would not have been possible without their help. I am most grateful to all of them.
But it is only thanks to Alvin H. Rosenfeld that I was able to publish this book in its current form. His encouragement and support as well as comments and suggestions on earlier versions have been invaluable. My stay at IU s Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism as the Justin M. Druck Family Visiting Scholar in Spring 2014 semester led to substantial improvements of the manuscript, and a grant from the Justin M. Druck Family helped to support the publication of the book.
I also want to thank Janet Rabinowitch from Indiana University Press for her careful reading of the manuscript. M. Alison Hunt, David Szonyi, and Eric Schramm did a great job of reviewing the manuscript.
I am proud that three important organizations valued this study and supported the research project financially: the Fondation pour la M moire de la Shoah, the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance from 2013), and the Hans-B ckler-Foundation.
Research for this book relied on the cooperation with a number of institutes and individuals. At the Center for Research on Antisemitism, Technical University Berlin, I would like to thank Wolfgang Benz, who encouraged, advised, and supported me throughout my years there, as well as Werner Bergmann and Juliane Wetzel, who not only gave me valuable advice from the very beginning, but who also helped me discuss the results of my research in conferences and academic publications.
I am also grateful to the following institutions and their staff members: the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Wiener Library, the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University, the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, the Groupe Soci t s, Religions, La cit s/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Centre d anthropologie sociale at Toulouse University, the Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism, the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at Hebrew University, the research group Jews Color Race at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, and the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. They gave me the opportunity to discuss results of my study in their seminars and informally with colleagues during the time I have spent there. I want to thank especially Jo lle Allouche-Benayoun, Ben Barkow, Chantal Bordes-Benayoun, Lars Breuer, Diane Druck, Hagai van der Horst, Metin Irencin, Josefine Jikeli, Stephanie Jikeli, Serdar Kaya, Doris Kr ger, Doerte Letzmann, G tz Nordbruch, Yves Pallade, Dina Porat, Jessica Ring, Antonia Schmid, Efraim Sicher, Charles Small, Philip Spencer, Roni Stauber, Karin St gner, Kim Robin Stoller, Richard Timmis, Esther Webman, and Robert S. Wistrich for their help, critiques, hints, and, last but not least, their moral support. I am also grateful to the participants in the study for their time and honest responses regarding their views and private lives. For any errors or inadequacies that may remain in this work, of course, the responsibility is entirely my own.
Introduction
Antisemitism in Europe has increased Dramatically since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Antisemitic parties, although still a minority, are now members of the European Parliament and some national parliaments. Antisemitic stereotypes meet with high approval rates in surveys, and in some countries the majority of the population shares these views. Antisemitic acts have increased and become radicalized; violence has become more frequent and many Jews in Europe feel under threat. In recent years, the most violent antisemitic acts have been committed by individuals of Muslim background. However, little is known about their views of Jews and why many have negative views of Jews.
In 2004 and 2005,I was involved in educational projects in Berlin, Germany, that aimed to combat antisemitic attitudes. We worked with students from different backgrounds, including many Muslims. Young Muslims were not the only students who exhibited worrisome antisemitic attitudes, but my colleagues and I knew the least about both their views of Jews and their rationales and motives. I was professionally interested in the kinds of tropes young Muslims use so that we would be able to work on them with the students. I participated in meetings with other educators from across the country - and even from other European countries - to learn from their experiences. Many educators have come to deal with antisemitism among Muslim students. In these years I emerged as one of the few experts on antisemitism among young Muslims and was invited to inform German president Horst K hler on that matter before his first official trip to Israel.
I read the literature on contemporary antisemitism and spoke to scholars in the field to find that almost no studies had dealt with antisemitism among Muslims living in Germany or in other European countries. One valuable early resource proved to be the report by Werner Bergmann and Juliane Wetzel from the Center for Research on Antisemitism entitled Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in the European Union; First Semester 2002. They noted: Physical attacks on Jews and the desecration and destruction of synagogues were acts mainly committed by young Muslim perpetrators mostly of Arab descent in the monitoring period. 1 Since this report, however, few scientific studies have investigated the sources of antisemitism among Muslims in any European country. Nevertheless, the issue has drawn public interest. Public debates have taken place with regard to cases of violent assaults on Jews perpetrated by youths of Muslim or Arab background. In summer 2014, during the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, many pro-Palestinian rallies turned antisemitic with slogans and, at times, violence. Many perpetrators had a Muslim background. Allahu Akbar became a battle cry, and during some of these rallies Jews and Jewish institutions were directly targeted. This led to a brief public outcry and strong condemnation of antisemitism by political leaders. One of the most infamous cases, however, is the 2006 torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris by a large group of mostly Muslim youths; 2 but there have also been a number of relatively less violent incidents, such as the violent attack on a rabbi and his six-year-old daughter in