Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism

Transcription

OCTOBER 2001
Jerusalem
Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - SICSA
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
SICSA Annual Report 2001
1
Contents:
3†
Arab and Muslim Antisemitism Today: Traditional or Contemporary
Dalia Ofer
7
The “highest wave of antisemitism since 1945” - is it so?
Simcha Epstein
9†
An Attempt to Internationalize Denial of the Holocaust
Goetz Nordbruch
12
Theorizing about Antisemitism, the Holocaust and Modernism
Shmuel Almog
16† Research
19
ACTA
21† Conferences and Workshops
2
24
The Felix Posen Bibliographic Project on Antisemitism
27
Publications
Arab and Muslim Antisemitism Today:
Traditional or Contemporary
Dalia Ofer
T he academic year 2000-2001 in Israel began with a
great setback – the new wave of violence known as
the al-Aqsa intifada. Many Israelis and Palestinians
had come to believe that the long conflict between
their peoples was coming to an end and the renewed
violence and aggressive anti-Israel and anti-Jewish
rhetoric left many of them confused.
Just one week before the academic year opened
at the Hebrew University, the Vidal Sassoon
International Center for the Study of Antisemitism
convened a workshop on the Image of the Jew in
Public Discourse in Post-Communist Countries. We
discussed the impact of the new social and political
environment in these countries. The discussion
related to issues such as the democratization of
political life and the legitimization of freedom of
expression, the rise of national solidarity and images
of the “other” within the new national body and
within the economic trends of globalization. One of
the goals of the workshop was to follow both the
continuity and the break between traditional images
of the Jews – both negative and positive – and new
images that emerged in recent public discourse. Our
research centered on the post-Communist countries
because of the long tradition of antisemitism there,
which preceded communism and continued after
World War II in the political anti-Jewish policies of
the communist governments. These societies offered
a kind of laboratory in which to examine the effective
factors against the background of their new social,
political, and cultural conditions.
As we were thus engaged in Jerusalem, an
unexpected wave of anti-Jewish attacks on
synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, and Jewish schools in
France and other European countries was unleashed.
These attacks were led by Muslim and Arab
immigrants, and had been instigated and supported
by a number of local Islamic leaders, who repeatedly
described the Jews as “enemies of Allah.” Participants
at the workshop noted that such manifestations
of antisemitism were not taking place in Eastern
Europe, where the Muslim population is smaller,
and despite the importance of the Islamic republics
that are part of the Commonwealth of Independent
States. This demonstrated the connection between
political issues and the messages delivered by certain
religious institutions.
The Muslim population of Western Europe,
in France in particular, has increased dramatically
in recent years. Today some 20 million European
residents identify themselves as Muslims, and Islam
is the fastest growing religion in Europe and in
the United States. Muslims in Europe represent an
important political force despite the fact that many of
them are new immigrants and foreign workers. Many
of the second generation are fully integrated into
society and are involved in its social, cultural, and
economic activities. They support various political
and social ideologies and interpret their religious
values in more then one fashion. Nevertheless,
Muslims in Europe and the United States are often
stigmatized as homogeneous, despite the fact that
they represent a range of Muslim traditions and
national cultures. They lead a dialogue between
their own Islamic tradition and the values of the
societies in which they live. As others have become
acquainted with their Muslim neighbors, they have
come to respect such things as the emphasis on
strong family ties and the religious requirement
to care for those less fortunate. Yet some Muslim
traditions (such as halal slaughtering methods or
women wearing hijab [modest dress]) have been
criticized, and some extreme Right groups have even
denied the right of Muslims to become citizens.
Muslim refugees in Germany, for example, have
frequently been a target of violent attacks by neoNazis and other racists.
The anti-Jewish attacks in the fall of 2000
erupted as a consequence of difficulties in the peace
talks between Israelis and Palestinians, after the
Camp David meeting and alongside the violence
and killings that took place at the Temple Mount/
Haram al-Sharif that alarmed Arabs and Muslims
throughout the world. Since a major issue that
hindered the progress of the peace talks was
Jerusalem and the sovereignty over the Temple
Mount, the visit of Ariel Sharon, then the leader
of the right-wing opposition in Israel, to the holy
site was understood by Muslims as a provocation,
and was thus intentionally used by the heads of the
Palestinian Authority to invoke anger and attacks
against Israel, dragging the discussions and media
reports into viewing it as a religious dispute.
Anti-Jewish attacks connected to the tension in
the Middle East are not new in the history of the
Arab-Israeli conflict. Since the 1970s, the tensions
and violence in Israel have also taken a toll in acts of
violence against Jews outside of the Middle East. The
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leading forces in these attacks represented extreme
factions of Arabs and Muslims who forthrightly
declared that all Jews, and not only Israelis, were
their targets. It is worth noting that in recent violence,
Jewish community centers, schools, and religious
institutions have been targeted,
In the reality of continued
and not Israeli embassies and
violence, armed conflict,
other institutions.
and the occupation,
Political crises and social
Islamic fundamentalist
transitions often encourage
organizations such as
antisemitism. Using the Jew as
Hizballah and Hamas
a scapegoat to account for the
encourage and legitimize
ills of society has been a tool
anti-Jewish attacks.
for political manipulation since
the Middle Ages. The fact that Arab and Muslim
antisemitism has emerged as a result of the political
crisis between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
and that a religious dimension was given to the crisis
as a tool for political manipulation does not decrease
the danger of such anti-Jewish upheavals.
The methods and rhetoric employed in antiJewish acts demonstrates the influence of traditional
antisemitism and the slogans of Europe’s extreme
Right. Moreover, activists of the extreme Right were
happy to join in, despite their usual anti-Muslim,
anti-foreigner stance. We see that antisemitism can
make very unholy alliances.
After the peak in the autumn of 2000, this
wave of anti-Jewish attacks receded, though it did
not disappear. However, the insertion of religious
elements in the anti-Israel rhetoric is a worrying
factor. Sermons recorded at the Friday prayers
(and widely distributed) have included extreme
language against Judaism as a religion, drawing on
negative classical interpretations of the Quran that
depict the Jews as corrupters of their own religion,
hypocrites, and cowards. Sometimes images derived
from European antisemitism are added as well. Rivka
Yadlin’s study, An Arrogant, Oppressive Spirit:
Anti-Zionism as Anti-Judaism in Egypt, (Oxford:
Pergamon, 1989), showed the widespread use of
caricatures, anti-Jewish content in press reports and
feature articles, and in discussions and debates aired
on Arabic television in the 1980s. Media reports of
the 1990s and during the recent intifada confirmed its
continuation (Seif ‘Ali Al-Jarwan, “Jewish Control
of the World Media,” Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 2
July 1998; Sheikh ‘Ikrima Sabri, the Palestinian
Authority-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem, to
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Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, 9 Nov. 2000; all quotes and
more in www.memri.org).
There is, however, an attempt to permit other
voices in the media. On May 15, 2001, Al-Jazeera
television station of Qatar, for example, took issue
with extreme anti-Jewish allegations in a program
on Zionism and Nazism (summary of the program,
www.memri.org 15 May 2001). Israelis have also been
interviewed by Al-Jazeera. Some central religious
leaders in Egypt and Jordan have opposed the suicide
bombings in Israel and presented these acts as
opposing Islamic values, opening up a debate about
the role of shahid (holy sacrificer) in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict (Beliefnet, www.beliefnet.com 5
August 2001).
In May 2001, Syria’s President, Bashar Assad,
welcomed Pope John Paul II in Damascus with a
speech that included the traditional indictment of
the Jews for killing Christ, and added a rarely-made
accusation that Jews also attempted to murder the
Prophet Muhammad. The Jews, he told the Pope,
“try to kill the principles of all religions with the
same mentality with which they betrayed Jesus
Christ” (U.S. News and World Report, 21 May
2001). “The Jews are killing the principle of equality
when they speak of God creating people who are
superior to others,” Assad continued. The Pope did
not respond to these remarks, but only continued
with his prepared speech.
Radical expressions accelerate or decline in
relation to the political events and crises in the
Middle East. In the reality of continued violence,
armed conflict, and the occupation, Islamic
fundamentalist organizations such as Hizballah and
Hamas encourage and legitimize anti-Jewish attacks.
Unfortunately, the large stock of anti-Jewish and
anti-Israeli images and slogans are widely available
and widely used.
One must recognize that hate rhetoric against
the Palestinians also increased in certain segments
of the Israeli population as part of the debate over
the Oslo Accords and the placement of some of
the occupied territories under Palestinian Authority
control. This appears among certain groups – some
of them outlawed, such as the late Meir Kahane’s
Kach party – and in the preaching of some leaders of
Israel’s religious nationalists. In addition, the vocal
support of Israeli Arabs for their Palestinian brothers
was one element in the tragic events of October
2000, in which Israeli police fired on Israeli Arabs
reasoning that “the enemy of my enemy is my
who were demonstrating violently in the Galilee.
friend” – hence expressing both anti-British and
Thirteen were killed and many others injured. This
anti-Zionist feelings.
break in trust between Jewish and Arab Israelis
Thus, the coexistence of anti-Israeli or anticreated a tension that has not abated, even after the
Zionist expression that is a part of Arab national
establishment of an independent investigation of the
rhetoric, and anti-Jewish or antisemitic discourse,
events.
makes it difficult to separate between them. It is also
In this complex and fast-moving situation,
difficult to separate between political manipulation
it has been difficult to separate the animosity
and the use of propaganda to recruit mass support,
that has emerged in the context of the intensified
and the authenticity and depth of antisemitic concepts
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and deep anti-Jewish
and images among Arab leaders and intellectuals.
feelings. Israeli scholars have been reluctant to
Of course, in times of conflict, the opposing
define as antisemitic the anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli
parties assault each other with passionate rhetoric
expressions by Arab leaders and the media. Already
and derogatory images of the other in order to
in the 1970s, the late Yehoshafat Harkavi, studied
persuade the population to fight the enemy. In this
the use of antisemitism by Arab regimes, and
context, it is easy to portray the violent rhetoric
among Arab intellectuals and religious leaders. He
as merely a form of political manipulation, and
recognized that there is an anti-Jewish tradition in
therefore downplay its true significance and impact
Islamic scholarship, and he found the combination of
on the parties. Those who believed that anti-Jewish
present day anti-Israeli rhetoric and the anti-Judaism
propaganda and rhetoric did not hinder the ability to
of Islam to be quite disturbing.
create a meaningful dialogue took the peace accords
In the aftermath of the peace agreement with
with Egypt and Jordan, and the Oslo agreement,
Egypt, and again, after the Oslo Accords, politicians
as proof. Many concluded that the images and
and intellectuals downplayed such expressions, and
stereotypes – whether authentic or manipulative –
emphasized that, unlike in Christian Europe, Islamic
would eventually give way to new perspectives of
societies had not demonized the Jew and were
each other by Jews and Arabs.
respectful of the “People of the Book.” Jews and
The alarming events that have occurred since
Muslims had lived in harmony in most parts of
October 2000 call for a broader and more serious
the Arabic-speaking world. Much of the antisemitic
investigation of the nature of anti-Jewish writing and
rhetoric and, demonization, and violent attacks against
oral expressions, beyond anti-Zionist propaganda
the Jews were said to be imports from the West.
and political manifestations. One of the lessons
The rise of both modern nationalism and
of history is that a massive negative propaganda
modernization, along with the
campaign, even when it is only
Israeli scholars have
processes of colonization that took
instrumental, may penetrate deeply
been reluctant to define as
place throughout the 19th century,
into public awareness, and its impact
antisemitic the anti-Jewish
led to new tensions between Jews
will not readily disappear.
and anti-Israeli
and their Arab and Muslim
Moreover, an examination of the
expressions by Arab
neighbors. Sometimes, under
messages that appear in Arab and
leaders and in the media.
colonial regimes, Jews enjoyed
Palestinian textbooks reveal the use
more rights than Muslims e.g.,
of anti-Jewish images and concepts
after 1870 in Algeria. In the late 19th century in
throughout the educational system. This, of course,
Palestine, European Jewish immigrants enjoyed the
is great cause for worry.
protection of Western consuls.
Holocaust denial in Arab countries contains
During the period of the British Mandate, Arab
many contradictions: Jews are accused of “inventing”
nationalists, led by both Christians and Muslims,
the Holocaust, and inflating the number of victims.
were supportive of extreme anti-Jewish ideologies
Hitler is praised for his attempt to exterminate the
and regimes. Young nationalists in Egypt, Iraq,
Jews; at the same time, the West is accused of easing
and the Palestinian leadership, such as Haj Amin
its guilty conscience over the murder of the Jews by
al-Husseini, established ties with Nazi Germany,
supporting the establishment of the State of Israel.
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Israelis are accused of initiating a “Holocaust” and
of committing crimes similar to, or even exceeding
those of the Nazis.
An “academic” conference of Holocaust deniers,
sponsored by the Institute for Historical Review and
Vérité et Justice, was to have taken place in Beirut in
May 2001. A number of Arab intellectuals opposed
the conference, which was cancelled by the Lebanese
Prime Minister. Apart from some Arab intellectuals,
however, Holocaust denial remains quite popular
among the general population.
Another manifestation of this approach is
shown by the efforts of Arab states and Arab NGOs
to renew the UN declaration that Zionism is a form
of racism at the World Conference Against Racism
in Durban, South Africa in August 2001. At the
time of writing, it is too early to assess the results
of this attempt, which was opposed by some of the
participating countries.
One pressing need is to encourage a respectful
and energetic dialogue between Islamic and Jewish
religious leaders. It seems clear that few Muslims
worldwide understand the deep historic attachment
that Jews feel for the land of Israel and the Temple
Mount, for example. Few Jews are aware of the
Muslims’ love of Jerusalem as Islam’s third holiest
city as expressed in Arabic poetry and literature.
A serious dialogue, similar to that which has taken
place between Jewish and Christian bodies may serve
to strengthen common values, and clarify theological
and scriptural points of difference. Because both
Jewish and Islamic traditions include a vision for
the establishment of a righteous society in which
justice prevails and the disadvantaged are cared for,
any religious dialogue will necessarily include some
discussion of this deeply-held ideal.
The Vidal Sassoon International Center for
the Study of Antisemitism, in conjunction with
the Truman Institute of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, will sponsor research projects by
established researchers, and masters and doctoral
candidates to broaden our knowledge of this complex
topic. The scholars will look not only at Middle
Eastern and North African countries, but also
Europe, the United States and elsewhere where Jews
and Muslims live together and associate. Some major
themes of study will be:
• Jewish-Muslim political discourse in Europe
• Jewish-Arab political discourse
• The use of new technologies for spreading
and disseminating anti-Jewish literature
• Study of the approach and attitudes of major
Arab and Muslim intellectuals on the issue
of Jews and Judaism and the re-interpretation
of traditional texts
• The image of the Jew in Arab literature and
poetry
• Images of Jews and Judaism in Islamic
movements
Scholars from other universities in Israel and
abroad, as well as Muslim and Arab scholars, are
cordially invited to contribute. For information
on submitting proposals, please go to the Call for
Papers and ACTA pages of this issue of the Annual
Report.
As this issue of the Annual Report was sent to press, the horrifying attacks on the World Trade Center in
New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. took place. The attacks, which took the lives of thousands of
people, were planned and conducted by extremists who view Western civilization as their arch enemy. Alongside
the worldwide wave of sympathy for the victims, shared by all of us at the Center, we have also witnessed
expressions of hatred for America and the West, and ideological justification for the crime.
As we face the consequences of these attacks, and while many questions hang in the air, we may draw one lesson:
in addition to the responses of the United States and other governments, it is of utmost importance to further
the study of the origins and motivations of the extremists, who acted against the most basic religious and social
values asserting the sanctity of human life.
6
The “highest wave of antisemitism
since 1945” – is it so?
Simcha Epstein
T he
al-Aqsa Intifada, which began at the end
statements are reliable or not. To answer, we must
of September 2000, had an immediate impact
go back to the ground of sociological and historical
on the Jewish communities in the Diaspora. It
realities and compare the fluctuations that have
generated a wave of anti-Jewish incidents aimed
characterized antisemitism from 1945 to October
at synagogues and community
2000.
Our first comparison should
centers throughout the world,
Our first comparison should be
be with the cyclical “highs”
especially in European countries
with the cyclical “highs” in
in antisemitic activity in
hosting strong Muslim and Arab
antisemitic activity in Western
Western societies
minorities, like France. It also
societies, i.e., the “Swastika
generated a flow of hostile antiepidemic” of 1959-1960, the wave
Israeli, anti-Zionist, and quite frequently, antiof the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the wave
Jewish, discourse, the “pearls” of which were brought
of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The figures
to public attention by the Israeli and the Jewish
published concerning the incidents of October 2000
press. The general bias of the media dealing with
are certainly high, but they belong to the same
the Middle East in the first months of the outburst
ranges as the figures concerning the earlier waves.
increased the sense of anxiety and trouble that were
As an example, the number of reported incidents
shared – and that are still shared, as this report is
during the January-February 1960 crisis climbed
being published – by many Israelis and Jews. Last
to 2,500, which seems to be more than what was
but not least, the Middle East events themselves, let
reported for October-November 2000. One should
us not forget, have been painful to bear.
also remember that the Swastika epidemic was of
As is natural, all these gloomy factors stimulated
less intensity than the two following waves – as
in Jewish ranks a dramatic upsurge of verbosity:
mentioned above – a point which may also contribute
words adjusted to feelings, theories conforming
to invalidate the assertion that the antisemitic events
to emotions, reactions demonstrating fear. Some
of October 2000 were the most devastating since
orators went so far as to claim that the number of
1945.
synagogues “hit” by desecrators in October 2000
Our second comparison should be more specific,
was as great as the number of synagogues “hit”
and focus essentially on other eruptions of hostility
during the Kristallnacht pogroms of November
directly linked to the Arab-Israeli conflict. We have
1938. Declarations such as this are unacceptable for
seen such flare-ups after the Six-Day War and after
obvious reasons, and fortunately, the use of improper
the Yom Kippur War. We have seen them during the
parallels were soon set aside.
Lebanon War of 1982, and at the beginning of the
The main idea, propagated by numerous officials
first Intifada at the end of 1987 and into the first few
and commentators, was that
months of 1988. For understandable
we were confronted with “the
Our second comparison
reasons, each convulsion in the
highest wave of antisemitism
should be more specific,
Middle East generates violent and
since the Second World War.”
and focus essentially on
passionate reactions in Arab and
Such a statement did not suggest
other eruptions of hostility
Muslim countries, as well as
any similarity to the intensity
directly linked to the
amongst Arab and Muslim
of violence of the Hitler era and
Arab-Israeli conflict
immigrant communities in Europe.
therefore sounded appropriate,
These reactions frequently lead to
and even convincing. It expressed the gravity of the
violent acts against Jews or to vicious verbal assaults
situation, without having recourse to the linear Nazi
against Judaism, since many do not seem able to
analogy. As far as statistics are concerned, it meant
differentiate between Jews, Zionists, and Israelis.
that more attacks have been committed than at any
This is as true today as it was twenty or thirty years
time since 1945 against Jewish targets worldwide. As
ago.
far as discourse is concerned, it implied that horrible
Thus, looking at the figures and reading press
things are being said against the Jews, more than any
clippings from the siege of Beirut in June-August
time since 1945.
1982 and the Sabra and Shatila tragedy (September
The question we may ask is whether these
1982), there is no way of becoming convinced that
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Contemporary or Traditional:
Arab and Muslim Antisemitism Today
fall 2000 was more “anti-Jewish” than summer 1982.
And this is true on two levels. First, the attacks
in 1982 combined vandalism and desecrations with
terrorist shooting, bombing, and killing, whereas in
2000 there were only (thank God) aggressive acts
of the first category. From this point of view, the
October 2000 incidents were less lethal than what
we saw in 1982. Secondly, no objective and scientific
research has yet established that there is more antiJewish rhetoric today than there was in 1982, or
that this rhetoric is any more ferocious than it
was formerly. It may be true, but it needs to be
confirmed, and any new investigation in that field
– like the research our Center is now promoting –
should be a welcome advance.
By the way, people in 1982 also said that they
were coping with the “highest wave since 1945...”
A closing word about the so-called “antiracism” conference in Durban. Such a festival of
anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hatred brings us back
to the days of the UN’s 1975 “Zionism = Racism”
resolution. But we have to stand firmly as we stood
then, and continue to denounce racism wherever it
emerges.
Although now out of print, the studies by Ronald Nettler and Rivka Yadlin, funded by the Center in the
1980s, pointed to important trends within the Arab world whose import was not truly appreciated
until the disastrous events of September 2001 in the United States.
Other resources on Islam and the Jews can be found by searching the Felix Posen Bibliographic
Database on Antisemitism, available online at http://sicsa.huji.ac.il
Emmanuel Sivan, Islamic Fundamentalism and Antisemitism. Booklet no.6 of the series “Present-Day
Antisemitism.” Jerusalem: Study Circle on World Jewry in the Home of the President of Israel, Vidal
Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1985.
Ronald L. Nettler, Past Trials and Present Tribulations: A Muslim Fundamentalist’s View of the Jews.
Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1987. ISBN 0-08-034791-6 [out of print]
Rivka Yadlin, An Arrogant, Oppressive Spirit: Anti-Zionism as Anti-Judaism in Egypt.
Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1989. ISBN 0-08-034973-0 [out of print]
Rivka Yadlin, Anti-Zionism as Anti-Judaism in Egypt. (in Hebrew)
Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 1988. ISBN 965-227-050-4
8
An Attempt to Internationalize
the Denial of the Holocaust
Goetz Nordbruch
“May the leaders of the Muslim states hear the Palestinians’ and the revisionists’ appeals!
Our ordeals are similar and our Intifadas identical.”
Robert Faurisson
T he background of the proposed conference “Revi(The West, War and Islam, 1979). Solidarity with
sionism and Zionism” (originally planned for March
the Arabs – and especially the Iraqi regime and the
30 to April 3, 2001 in Beirut) were widely covered
Palestinian resistance movement – was also widely
by the media in Arab countries. Despite the cancelexpressed by various segments of the European
lation announced by its two organizers – the AmeriRight during the Gulf crisis and war in 1990-1991.
can Institute for Historical Review (IHR) and the
The seriousness of the support for Iraq was demonSwiss Vérité et Justice – after the conference was
strated by the offer of armed troops grouped around
banned by the Lebanese government, the debate
the German neo-Nazi Michael Kühnen. Despite the
about it offered an insight into perceptions and views
contradictions with regard to the racist fundamenof the Western extreme Right in Arab countries.
tals of these movements, several voices from the
Invited speakers were to include Roger Garaudy,
extreme Right openly demanded a review of their
Robert Faurisson, and the German neo-Nazi, Horst
traditional stances toward Arabs and Arab political
Mahler. As public controversy over the conference
movements. Franz Schoenhuber, former leader of
surfaced, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
the German Republikaner party, declared that “the
described it as merely “rumors on the Internet,” yet
Arabs, suppressed and humiliated like we Germans,
it remains unclear who the Lebanese sponsors for
are natural allies” (Nation und Europa, no. 11-12
the gathering were. Rumors focused on the Shi’ite
[1999]). Consequently, Jürgen Graf described HoloHizballah, since it is known that both Robert Faucaust denial as an important Arab issue. In a preface
risson and the exiled Swiss teacher, Jürgen Graf have
for an Arabic translation of his book The Holocaust
found support from Iran. Graf is said to have been
under the Scanner, he pointed out the mutual need
invited by Iranian scholars to Teheran (IHR statefor efforts undertaken by international Holocaust
ment, “Beirut Conference,” 24 Dec. 2000; al-Hayat,
revisionists. The revision of Holocaust historiogra19 March 2001). Other partners may have come from
phy “allows the Arabs to understand the real reasons
a range of religious and nationalist spectra. There
for the political support for the Jews in Europe and
are extensive links between the IHR and Islamists
North-America” (The Holocaust under the Scanner,
affiliated with the exiled Moroccan Ahmed Rami, of
Paris/Damascus/Beirut, 1995). Further justifying
Radio Islam in Sweden.
this spirit of a common struggle, Graf wrote in a
As an outstanding attempt to approach the
recent publication that those “who are constantly
Arab-Islamic public, the interlying about ‘gas chambers’ and ‘six milnational conference reflects
Solidarity with the Arabs –
lion’ are the same ones who relentlessly
ongoing discussions within
and especially the Iraqi
vilify Iran and the Islamic revolution.
the Western New Right about
regime and the Palestinian
They are, incidentally, the same people
their relationship to Islam
resistance movement –
who propagate abortion, gay rights,...
and Arab nationalist movewas also widely expressed
hard-core pornography, and similar
ments. Already during the
by various segments of
abominations” (Holocaust Revisionism
late 1970s, the German-Canathe European Right during
and Its Political Consequences, Tehedian Holocaust denier Ernst
the Gulf crisis and war
ran, 2001).
Zündel approached a number
in 1990-1991.
The ongoing controversies in the
of Arab-Islamic personalities
Arab media reflect the popularity of
to join his struggle against Zionism, international
these ideas and the theses put forth by the conferbankers, and communists. In a small pamphlet, he
ence’s organizers and participants. The decision of
argued, that while “the world bankers act in perfect
the Lebanese Council of Ministers itself makes it
harmony with the Talmud, they act in perfect deficlear that the official ban on the conference derived
ance of the Koran, for their wealth is based upon
neither from concerns about the political identity of
usury and not earned by honest, productive work”
its organizers, nor from a rejection of their aims.
9
Rather, the discussion mirrored the contradictory
motivations that led to the decision. While those
ministers who argued in favor of the conference
pointed out the importance of discussing the “Israeli
robbery in relation to the Holocaust,” especially in
light of the ongoing state of conflict with Israel,
those opposing it made it clear that their opposition
should not be understood as “defending Israel and
its use of the Nazi Holocaust for the financial exploitation of states.” In view of Lebanon’s anticipated
receipt of U.S. financial assistance, and the potential
damage to Lebanon’s public image from reports in
the Zionist media, government officials were limited
in how they could deal with the conference and its
aims (an-Nahar, 20 March 2001).
Reactions to the ban in the general Arab media
reflected the concerns about damage to Lebanon’s
reputation with very little opposition expressed to
the conference’s agenda. Much discussion was generated about Holocaust denial in general, but there was
an insistence on criticizing all sorts of “Shoah-business,” and charging that there is an instrumentalization of the Holocaust (al-Wasat, 26 March 2001).
Representative of the more outspoken criticism,
a notable letter to the Lebanese government prepared
by fourteen Arab intellectuals (including Adonis,
Mahmud Darwish, and Edward Said) distinguished
this controversy from previous ones. They strongly
opposed the offer of support from the extreme
Right (Le Monde, 15 March. 2001) A similar
stance was taken by commentators in Arab newspapers. Joseph Samaha firmly criticized the “conference against the truth”: “In the name of the
Palestinian and Arab victims,
The ongoing controversies
[this conference] defends the
in the Arab media reflect
Nazi executor and its crime
the popularity of these
against the Jews and others”
ideas and the theses put
(al-Hayat, 13 March 2001).
forth by the conference’s
Similarly, Radjah al-Khuri
organizers and
expressed concern over the
participants
background to the conference,
an attempt “to bring down the
sin which Nazism left to the general European conscience” (an-Nahar, 23 March 2001).
While comments such as these primarily emphasized the damage caused by an Arab approach to the
European extreme Right, other writers vehemently
criticized these objections. Especially harsh were the
reactions to Joseph Samaha’s editorial and the open
10
letter to the Lebanese government. In a letter to alHayat, Samaha was accused of “making himself a
lawyer for the great Satan Israel.” The writer called
on Samaha not to give in to Israeli pressure from
its media campaign; Samaha should read the publications of David Irving and Kurt Waldheim, and
repent of his mistake (al-Hayat, 22 March 2001).
In a similar way, Ruuf Shuhuri accused those who
signed the open letter of “joining the terrorist attack
of thought which was launched for decades and generations by Zionism against everyone who opens
his mouth to criticize anyone or anything Jewish.”
He goes on to say that the long list of victims of
this “muzzling and psychological, intellectual, economical, financial, as well as public terror” includes,
among others, Henry Ford, Roger Garaudy und
Abbé Pierre. The writer speaks of the “continuous
Jewish robbery attack” by pointing to the ongoing
debate over compensation for slave-laborers during
the Nazi period. Finally, Shuhuri urges the signers
to pressure the Arab public to “establish a central
Arab institution which [would gather together some]
of the great Arab jurists and intellectuals and [other]
specialists...to list and take stock of the compensation payable to the Arabs from Lebanon, Syria,
Iraq, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries who have suffered from the new Nazis known
today by the name Zionism” (al-Anwar, 21 March
2001). Muhammad Hegazi went even further in his
sharp criticism of Hariri’s decision not to allow the
conference to lead to any further “political and diplomatic attacks in the media against Lebanon” (anNahar, 23 March 2001). Speaking of “a great service
to the Shylockian enemies of Lebanon,” Hegazi
charged Hariri of submitting to the “new Holohoax
religion” and of a sellout of Lebanon to “international Zionism” (al-Shaab, 30 March 2001).
In the light of these reactions, it was not surprising to learn that the Jordanian Writers Association (JWA) arranged a public forum entitled “What
happened to the Revisionist Historians Conference
in Beirut?” Justifying it as a defense of freedom of
expression and research, the JWA invited the public
to assist its efforts to enable the convening of the
conference. As the “careful reading of revisionist
historians indicates that they seek to liberate the
Jews and the rest of humanity from Zionism,” the
organization strongly rejected any charges against
its organizers (Official Statement of the JWA, 10
April 2001).
is also linked to increasing demands for compensaDespite the cancellation of the Beirut contion, and charges made against former prime minference and the postponement of
ister Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon
the Amman forum, which had to
for crimes against humanity.
Garaudy’s book claims to
Thus, the selection of Garaudy,
be rescheduled for May 13, 2001
uncover both the essence of
Faurisson and Mahler as central
following massive governmental
the state of Israel and the
speakers for the planned conferobjections, the organizers of both
“truth about the Holocaust,”
ence reflects the variety of arguevents can rely on the ongoing
and offers outright denial
ments articulated in Arab media.
popularity of Holocaust denial.
of the existence of the gas
Increasingly, the discourse in the
The goal of the IHR – to spread
chambers along with claims
Arab media is shifting from classic
the view of the Holocaust “as a
about the influence of
Holocaust denial to charges that
key propaganda tool of Israeli“Jewish lobbies.”
Zionists have instrumentalized it,
Zionist interests” (IHR statement
and equating Israeli government policy with that
“Beirut Conference,” 24 Dec. 2000) – has obviously
of the Nazis. In offering this variety of arguments,
proved to be quite successful. Following the gaththe revisionist discourse seems more and more
ering in Amman, the discussion gained even more
mirrored within a growing segment of the Arab
attention during a talk show on the popular Qatari
public.
TV channel Aljazeera (15 May 2001) that focused
on the question “Is Zionism worse than Nazism?”
Reproducing the arguments forwarded at the forum,
Goetz Nordbruch studied Social Science in Marburg and
Faurisson himself was given the chance to express
Berlin, Germany; and Arabic at Jordan University.
his views via phone. Following the overwhelming
popular acclaim for French Muslim Roger Garaudy’s
The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics (1996), several American and European Holocaust deniers
already became well-known and publicly acclaimed.
Garaudy’s book claims to uncover both the essence
of the state of Israel and the “truth about the Holocaust,” and offers outright denial of the existence of
the gas chambers along with claims about the influence of “Jewish lobbies.” More recently, accusations
of an instrumentalization of the Holocaust within
Israeli politics gained further impetus in the reactions to Norman Finkelstein’s book, The Holocaust
Industry, which was reviewed in a number of Arab
papers, and is being translated for publication by the
Lebanese press Dar al-Adab. This book’s appearance
triggered another wave of denunciations of using the
Holocaust for “blackmail.” Of course, classic revisionist thinking continues to be circulated as well,
ranging from denying the existence of gas chambers
to questioning the actual number of Jewish victims.
In addition to various Arab editions of Garaudy’s
book, one can find the Leuchter Report (a now-discredited report on the Auschwitz gas chambers) and
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Following the
outbreak of clashes in the West Bank and Gaza, one
finds in the Arab media frequent equating of Israeli
government policies with those of the Nazis. This
11
Theorizing about Antisemitism,
the Holocaust and Modernism
Shmuel Almog
We
may rightfully call antisemitism “the longest
hatred” as did Robert Wistrich a few years ago, 1 yet
the systematic study of this subject has a surprisingly
short history. It began mainly with the rise to
power of Nazism in Germany, and did not gather
momentum until after the Holocaust. Although Jewhatred was prominent enough at the end of the 19th
century to warrant a name of its own, antisemitism,
it was not regarded as a proper object for academic
research. It belonged to the street, to everyday
politics and was not respectable enough to justify
more than a polemic approach. Even when great
scholars discussed it, as they did in 1879, during
the Berliner Antisemitismusstreit, they engaged in
public debate, not in a scholarly endeavor. 2
To be sure, biblical scholars were involved in
the study of the Old Hebrews; medievalists did not
completely ignore the tribulations of the Jews in
Christendom. Yet a persistent discrepancy pointed
to the borderline between the world of science, so to
say, and mundane public affairs.
Perhaps rightly so: we too feel uneasy about
the use of the current term “antisemitism,” when
referring to the older phenomena of anti-Judaism.
Add the enormous respect for objective science that
encompassed all academic disciplines then and you
may visualize the gulf between historical Jew-hatred
and modern antisemitism.
Modern antisemitism was almost a
contradiction in terms: did not the Great French
Revolution put an end to the discrimination against
the Jews? The growing trend towards universal
emancipation of the Jews made antisemitism look
like a remnant of the Dark Ages. Jew-hatred was
attributed mainly to clerical bigots and absolutist
reactionaries. Only ex-revolutionaries like
Dostoyevsky and Wagner were bold enough to
announce their antisemitic beliefs. 3 They, and smaller
luminaries of the same ilk, made the unsettling
discovery that the real enemy was not the old-type
Ghetto Jew, but rather the assimilated, modern Jew.
Here was the dividing line between two opposing
trends of Jew-hatred: one rejected the unassimilated
Jew because he was conspicuously different; the
other condemned the assimilated Jew as a sham
gatecrasher. Liberals of course rejected all this out
of hand, as did socialists and other supporters of
Jewish emancipation. Decent people, Jews and nonJews alike, did not attribute much weight to the
12
so-called “Jewish Question.”
Enlightened people usually believed in the
inevitability of progress. Despite the inroads made by
Romantics and Neo-Romantics in the 19th century,
progress still reigned supreme; whether as a process
of gradual advancement, thanks to education, or
the improvement of society through economic and
political means. Even the struggle of the working
class was incorporated into the march of progress.
Some die-hard reactionaries may have been fighting
a rear-guard action against the inevitable, clinging
to their outdated privileges. They were doomed of
course to end up on the mythological dust-heap
of history. Notwithstanding the personal antipathy
some liberals may have felt toward Jews, they still
entertained the hope that everything would come
out right at the end. The so-called Jewish Problem
would eventually be solved, as should all other
outstanding issues: the Eastern, the Social, or the
Agrarian questions.
The triumphant march of progress came to
a complete standstill only with the takeover of
Germany by the Nazis. This event refuted all
theories about an ever-growing reign of reason, or
social justice or, if you will, human kindness in
the world. General confusion accompanied every
successful step of the new German regime. Statesmen
and simple folk, philosophers and artists were
highly impressed by the sweeping audacity of this
heightened sacro egoismo. Some were frightened,
others were taken in by the power and glory; many
had mixed feelings.
Among the first to analyze the far-reaching
implications of the new situation in Europe was the
Frankfurt school, known for its Critical Theory. On
the eve of Hitler’s downfall, two of its members,
Adorno and Horkheimer, made the first
breakthrough, doing away with the old Marxist
clichés, that had long served them as an explanation
for both Nazism and antisemitism. 4 Jew-hatred was
no longer a mere class struggle in disguise. The Third
Reich ceased to be one more manifestation of the
death pangs of Capitalism. The two authors doubted
the happy-end that awaits us all at the fulfillment
of the historical process. They cast a shadow on the
hallowed tradition of the Enlightenment. There and
in later writings Horkheimer and Adorno established
a link between Auschwitz and modernity, and gave
rise to a new evaluation of both.
In their footsteps followed Hannah Arendt,
good and evil, between the Judeo-Christian
who placed antisemitism in the context of totalitarian
civilization, on the one hand, and the revaluation of
society. She saw antisemitism as being intertwined
all values (to use a famous saying) on the other. 8 The
terrible fate of the Jews is no longer meaningless,
with imperialism and totalitarianism, all three
according to Steiner. For him, no banality of evil
phenomena reflecting the downfall of traditional
was at play during the Holocaust.9 On the contrary,
bourgeois values. 5 Hannah Arendt wrote in the midst
of the Cold War and enlarged her scope to transcend
his is a clear distinction between the good Jews and
Auschwitz, referring to a larger variety of oppressive
their evil enemies. Unlike his predecessors, Steiner
regimes. Her outlook was universal and not at all
does not place his confrontation in the context
confined to a particular Jewish viewpoint. Arendt
of the thirties, or even during the 19th century.
undertook to lay bare the origins of totalitarianism,
Jewish contribution to civilization, as he sees it,
and inadvertently enhanced the importance of the
encompasses Jewish history in its entirety. Thus JewJewish Question. She went back to 19th century
hatred turns into an age-old struggle between good
antisemitism, and presented the entry of the Jews
and evil. It somewhat approaches the traditional
into European society as a test case of sorts.
image of Israel as a sheep, surrounded by seventy
A completely different approach was that of
wolves.10
Steiner is an enthusiastic proponent of
George Steiner, who presented the Jewish tragedy
spirituality and morality as the outstanding qualities
under Nazism as a clash between two sets of
of Judaism. Despite the apparent similarity, however,
opposing values. Jews were persecuted and killed,
he is quite remote from the teachings of Hermann
he claimed, because they exemplified principles that
Cohen or Franz Rosenzweig. These thinkers were
were rejected by the Nazis, such as monotheism, early
interested in the innate values of Judaism. 11 Steiner,
Christianity and social Messianism. 6 In Arendt’s
analysis, on the other hand, Jews played no lofty
on the other hand, raises the banner of spirituality
role. Hannah Arendt used the catchphrase “between
as a dividing line between Jews and their enemies. In
Pariah and Parvenu” to portray the Jew as a symbol
any event, he too – like those eminent predecessors
of the declining nation-state. According to her, the
of his – keeps his distance from Jewish nationalism.
new era of imperialism and totalitarianism just made
Moreover, one could detect a common feature in
7
the Jews redundant.
Horkheimer, Adorno, Arendt and
Not only did they attempt to
All these ideas sprung from
Steiner: despite their preoccupation
explain a world-shaking
the heads of German-Jewish
with Jewish issues, they usually
occurrence
that
contradicted
intellectuals, whose double
entertained a tenuous relationship
all previous theories.
identity was challenged by the
with Jews as a group. Indeed,
They were out to find the
terrible events. They tried to
they may all perfectly fit Isaac
significance
of
the
find some sense in the fate that
Deutscher’s classification of the
disproportionate prominence
had befallen them, while at the
“Non-Jewish Jew.” 12 Their attitude
Hitler bestowed upon the
toward the Jews, as well as their
same time extracting from it a
negligible “Jewish Problem.”
approach to the Holocaust, shows
universal message. Not only did
a preoccupation with universal
they attempt to explain a worldissues and not so-called parochial interests.
shaking occurrence that contradicted all previous
Now, George Steiner still has much to say to
theories. They were out to find the significance of
this day. He keeps dazzling worldwide audiences
the disproportionate prominence Hitler bestowed
with his brilliance, but his ideas on the Jewish
upon the negligible “Jewish Problem.” Each would
contribution to civilization are rarely heard today.
come up with a different answer, but all alike referred
Hannah Arendt is reread and much admired now.
to two fundamental questions: how had Europe
This unsettling thinker left many marks on the
returned, as it were, from civilization to barbarity,
intellectual scene of our time. Yet it is not her analysis
and why were the Jews chosen as the primary
of antisemitism that attracts the attention. Strangely
victims.
enough, it is the rather cumbersome book by Adorno
George Steiner offers some consolation to
and Horkheimer, “Dialectic of Enlightenment,” that
Jewish readers. He depicts a confrontation between
13
regains popularity nowadays. Half a century after
its appearance it has found new readers and more
importantly: new interpreters. The message that was
difficult to grasp at the time apparently found its
proper climate of opinion at the close of the 20th
century.
Events that occurred in the second half of
the 20th century led to a
Jews hardly fit today the image
renewed interest in the
of a collective victim, and the
Adorno-Horkheimer
remembrance of their past
approach. The exposure of
sufferings is often resented,
the Stalinist terror at the
whether overtly or covertly
twentieth conference of the
USSR Communist party,
and the works of Nobel Prize winner Solzhenitsyn,
made the Gulag into a striking symbol, of similar
magnitude to that of Auschwitz. The two symbols
alike are now at the forefront of Western public
discourse. Furthermore, the so-called Sixties brought
about a mental revolution, which gradually changed
our outlook in many respects. The present generation
tends to put on the same footing all atrocities
committed against the “Other,” past and present.
Intellectuals nowadays are eager to find the culprit,
and accuse him of all injustices. The blame is usually
put on Western civilization, symbolized by the
specter of the “White Man.” All that went wrong
supposedly originated in the Enlightenment and its
corollary, the idea of progress.
A very able exponent of the new trend is a
Leeds sociologist of Polish-Jewish origin, by the
name of Zygmunt Bauman. He alludes to his own
family experience in a book entitled Modernity and
the Holocaust.13 Bauman is of course not alone
in attacking the Enlightenment legacy, but he is
particularly pungent and direct. He sees a straight
line emanating from the 18th century philosophes to
the 20th century atrocities. On the face of it there
is some resemblance between Bauman`s approach
and Jacob Talmon’s “Totalitarian Democracy.” 14
Yet Talmon confined himself to a certain thread
in 18th century political history. He did not reject
modernity as such out of hand. And lest we forget:
in the forty years that had elapsed between the two
books, many idols of civilization “as we know it”
have fallen crumbling down. This must have changed
the outlook of us all, even unawares.
More recently, Bauman published an essay
which makes short shrift with the Enlightenment
14
that had supposedly laid the foundation to the 20th
century “camps.” Beside Auschwitz and the Gulag,
he enumerates many ugly events, such as happened
in East Timor, Rwanda and the like. Eventually,
Bauman points to the large number of Blacks that
fill American prisons as an example of “totalitarian
temptations – endemic in modernity.” 15 This great
sweep may even remind you of the shock reaction
caused some two hundred years ago by the French
Revolution.
Then, as now, not only dyed-in-the-wool
conservatives, but also moderate reformers were
appalled by the turn of events. A personage of the
stature of Edmund Burke condemned the French
Revolution, because it believed in the ability of man
to forge his own destiny. He made a mockery of the
revolutionaries, who were speaking of “Philosophy,
Light, Liberality” and the “Rights of Man.” 16 Not
unlike present-day critics, Burke condemned the
employment of “geometric demonstration” in human
affairs. 17 This idea goes back at least to the 17th
century, when Pascal distinguished between “l’esprit
de géométrie et l’esprit de finesse.” 18 In the same
vein, but with a vengeance, Bauman portrays the
20th century as an endless series of rigid systems
that defy the human spirit, subjecting it to absolute
uniformity. The “camps” are part and parcel of the
system, as is persecution and extermination.
Bauman sees anyone as a target for exclusion
from society: in one case it might be done on
racial grounds, in another for economic, cultural
or political reasons. The choice of the victim and
the specific blemish in each particular instance are
rather trivial in his eyes. Suffice it to say that
according to Bauman (and here he uses a quote from
Cynthia Ozick, of all people), the Jewish Holocaust
is compared to “the gesture of an artist, removing a
smudge from the otherwise perfect picture.” 19
Now we have come full circle to the point
of departure, prior to the understanding that
the Holocaust was different in kind from other
calamities. The targeting of the Jews is presented
as an arbitrary choice. By the same token it
could have been anyone at all. The history of
antisemitism thus becomes completely irrelevant. In
fact, history itself is reduced to a mere rhetoric: the
Enlightenment pronounced certain ideas, and these
were implemented in turn, even if it took them two
centuries to mature. Ideas seem to be floating in the
air, awaiting an appropriate moment to be executed.
May I remind you that Bauman set out to criticize
the application of abstract ideas to life. Yet his own
approach suffers from the same lifeless theorizing,
which he condemns so harshly.
At this point one may ask, what is the
importance of Zygmunt Bauman; how many people
have read his paper on the 20th-century camps; why
dwell so long on this writer? The answer is that
I have chosen this particular author as a test case,
because he best exemplifies a certain trend prevalent
among Western intellectuals. Although he happens
to be familiar with the study of the Holocaust,
he tends to trivialize it within an overall picture
of modernity and its discontents. This rhymes in
with a rather widespread quest for a better sense of
perspective, in view of so much injustice and violence
committed in our time. Let us remember that this
is the age of the underdog. Various underprivileged
groups strive for recognition as the victim who
suffered the most. Jews hardly fit today the image
of a collective victim, and the remembrance of their
past sufferings is often resented, whether overtly or
covertly.
Besides, the wholesale rebuke of the
Enlightenment, so popular among present-day
critics, is rather ironical. Attributing to the
18th-century philosophes any responsibility for sins
committed in the 20th century dispenses with the
rather real shortcomings of the Enlightenment itself.
Did not the great luminaries, who fought against
bigotry and discrimination, stop short before the
traditional “Other,” the Jew? Not only were the
Jews continually kept as outcasts, but such figures as
Voltaire and Diderot held them in great contempt. On
top of all the long-standing charges against the Jews,
those philosophers also made them responsible for the
infamy they themselves attributed to Christianity. 20
Did Voltaire’s antisemitism transcend his time
and affect generations to come? This is an interesting
question, but there are no means at our disposal to
answer it in the affirmative, one way or another. Yet
Bauman and his like would have us go beyond that
supposition, and make the 18th century responsible,
as it were, for all the ills of our time. Thus, various
factors that may have come into play in the meantime
are not accounted for at all. The lumping together of
past and present, under the heading of “the camps,”
meaning imposed uniformity and the suppression of
individuality, offers no satisfactory explanation.
Moral indignation against all kinds of evil
does not clarify the issue at hand. Eventually, one
can find no way to better understanding than to
painstakingly delve into historical reality. A good
theory, may I add, helps you to make sense of the
facts, but not just explain them away.
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Robert S. Wistrich, Antisemitism, the Longest Hatred
(New York 1990).
Walter Boehlich, ed., Der Berliner Antisemitismusstreit
(Frankfurt a/M 1965).
Shmuel Almog, Nationalism and Antisemitism in
Modern Europe 1815-1945 (Oxford 1990), 24-26.
Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Dialectic
of Enlightenment (New York 1944).
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
(New York 1960), ix.
George Steiner, In Bluebeard’s Castle (London and
Boston 1978), 36-41.
Arendt, ibid., 14-15.
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, ed. Walter
Kaufmann (New York 1968), xvii.
See Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, A Report
on the Banality of Evil (New York 1963).
Esther Rabba, section 10, p. 5.
E.g., Paul Mendes-Flohr, “Franz Rosenzweig`s
Concept of Philosophical Faith,” Leo Baeck Institute
Year Book 34 (1989): 368-69.
See Shmuel Almog, “The Non-Jewish Jew,” SICSA
Annual Report 1998, 8-12.
Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust
(Cambridge and Oxford 1991), vii-viii.
J. L. Talmon, The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy
(London 1952).
Zygmunt Bauman, “The Camps, Western, Eastern,
Modern,” Studies in Contemporary Jewry, 13 (1997): 39.
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the French Revolution
(Chicago 1955), 167.
Ibid., 246.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées (Paris 1960), 52 (section 1,1).
Bauman, “The Camps,” 35.
C. Lehrmann, L’Elémént juif dans la littérature
française, vol. 1 (Paris 1960), 136; Arthur Hertzberg,
The French Enlightenment and the Jews (New York
1968), 310-12.
15
Research
Five new research projects approved by the Academic Committee for the academic year
2000-2001.
Dr. Hanna Wegrzynek
(Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw)
The Origins of the Blood Libel Accusations in
Poland
Dr. Wegrzynek, author of “Czarna Legenda” Zydów:
Procesy o rzekome mordy rytualne w dawnej Polsce
(The “Black Legend” of the Jews: Court Proceedings
of Blood Libel Charges in Old Poland), will
continue her research in this area, based on new
archival findings. She will address the origins of
the anti-Jewish blood libel and its correlation with
mid-16th to mid-17th century religious and cultural
transformations. She will be working with primary
sources, mainly from the Vatican archives, and
fiction from the 16th-18th centuries.
Dr. Leonid Katsis
(YIVO and Russian State University for
Humanities, Moscow)
The Beilis Case and Russian Blood Libels
This research project will examine the religious
aspects of the Beilis trial, drawing on the history of
the blood libel accusation in Russia, and in relation
to Russian Orthodox writings on Judaism and the
alleged use of Christian blood by “Jewish sects.” To
clarify the substratum and continuity of the antiJewish accusations, Dr. Katsis will analyze Talmudic
descriptions of the Temple sacrifices that were used
in the debate surrounding the Beilis Affair, and will
also examine the references that were made to the
writings of important Russian Orthodox thinkers
such as Rozanov and Florenski.
Prof. Joel Kotek
(Free University of Brussels, Belgium)
Antisemitism in Belgian and French Comic Strips
(1933-2000)
Comics have usually been regarded as merely
innocent entertainment for children, without political
or social weight. Dr. Kotek will take a deeper
look at political tendencies, ethnic prejudice, and
stereotypes found in popular French and Belgian
comics such as “Spirou” and “Tintin.”
16
Prof. András Kovács
(Institute and Graduate School of Sociology and
Social Policy, Budapest)
The Perception of Antisemitism among Jews in
Contemporary Hungary: Results of a Survey
Based on a recent sociological survey on Jewish
perceptions of antisemitism, the study will analyze
the data on some larger topics: the perception and
interpretation of antisemitism among Hungarian
Jews; the perception of antisemitism in Hungarian
history and politics; opinions about the relationship
of politics to antisemitic phenomena; views on the
Holocaust and the political and social discourse
surrounding it; opinions on the effect of antisemitism
on the everyday interaction of Jews and non-Jews.
Dr. Kovács will explore the relationship of the
perception of antisemitism, views on antisemitism
and how to combat antisemitism, and the relationship
with the content and depth of the respondent’s
Jewish identity.
Dr. Danny Ben-Moshe
(University of Melbourne, Australia)
Holocaust Denial in Australia
Drawing on Australian primary sources, this study
will focus on the nature of Holocaust denial activities
and its history in Australia. The research will look
at publications, the main organizations, and their
links with overseas deniers, and the resonance of
Holocaust denial with other organized racist groups.
In addition, the study will consider the impact
of Holocaust denial in the wider community, and
public reaction to it, with an analysis of the impact
of the Internet on the growth of the phenomenon in
Australia.
Second Year
Dr. Olaf Blaschke
(Universität Bielefeld, Germany)
Jews and Catholics in the German Empire
In this reevaluation of the nature of relations and
conflicts between German Catholics and the Jews
in the period of the Third Reich, Dr. Blaschke is
looking at three approaches: the issue of Jewish
integration in German society, the real reasons for
conflict and animosity between the two groups, and
the Jewish perception of Catholic antisemitism.
Philippe Oriol
(Université de la Sorbonne-Nouvelle. Paris III)
Bernard Lazare and Antisemitism
Drawing on many new and previously unavailable
sources, this study will describe and analyze the
relationship between the evolution of Bernard
Lazare’s Jewish identity, his efforts to explain
and fight antisemitism, and his involvement with
the Dreyfus Affair. In the background stands the
position taken by the French Jewish community,
the Zionists and Jewish nationalists, as well as the
attitude of the anarchists, Dreyfusards, and antiDreyfusards.
Continuing Projects
•
Jean Ancel, Antisemitism vs. Nationalism –
Romania 1942
•
Melinda Jones, The Role of Law in
Overcoming Antisemitism in Australia
•
Shaul Baumann, The Attitude of the Eranos
Circle to Jews and Judaism
•
•
Jacob Borut, Antisemitism in Jewish
Everyday Life in the Weimar Republic
Jonathan Judaken, Theorizing Antisemitism:
Confronting Modernity and Modern
Judeophobia
•
Benjamin Braude, The Image of the Jew in
the Literature of Eastern Travel, 1350-1650:
Power and the Transition to Antisemitism
Horst Junginger, The Study of the “Jewish
Question” and Its Academic Setting in
Germany, 1933-1945
•
Victoria Khiterer, Anti-Jewish Pogroms in
Ukraine, October 1905
•
James Mueller, Jews and Judaism in Early
Christian Literature
•
José L. Rodríguez-Jiménez, The Extreme
Right, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism in
Spain (1931-1982): The Political Use of the
“Conspiracy Theory”
•
Vygantas Vareikis, From Prejudice to
Destruction: Antisemitism in Lithuania at
the End of the 19th Century and during the
First Half of the 20th Century
•
•
Oleg Budnitskii, Russian Jews between the
Reds and the Whites: Jews and the AntiBolshevik Movement
•
Patrick Cavaliere, Antisemitism in Fascist
Italy: The Intellectual Origins of the Racial
Laws of 1938
•
Daniel Gutwein, Antisemitism in England
1882-1914: Economic and Political Factors
•
Brian Horowitz, Russian-Jewish Interaction,
1880-1913: Cultural Cooperation in an Epoch
of Antisemitism
17
Felix Posen Doctoral Candidates
Applications Approved by Academic
Committee, 2001
Katelle Berthelot
(University of Paris, Sorbonne-Paris IV, France)
The Accusation of Misanthropy Formulated against
the Jews during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods
and Its Jewish Responses
Stephanie Courouble
(University of Paris-Denis Diderot, France)
Denial of the Holocaust and Its Reception in the
Public Sphere: France, England, Germany, Canada,
and the United States
Michal Frankl
(Charles University, Czech Republic)
Czech Antisemitism 1879-1900 in the Context of
European Antisemitism
Nicola Wenge
(University of Köln, Germany)
Integration or Exclusion? Antisemitism and the
Relations between Jews and non-Jews in Köln
1918-1933
Arkadi Zeltser
(Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
The Jews of North-Eastern White Russia between
the Two World Wars (1917-1941)
Ulrich Bernard Herbeck
(Free University of Berlin, Germany)
The Bolsheviks and Antisemitism in the Russian
Civil War 1917-1921
The following research projects
have been completed:
Second Year
Anthony Kauders
Democracy and Antisemitism in Munich,
1945-1965
Dana E. Katz
(University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Between Privilege and Perfidy: Portraying the
Jew in 15th-Century North Italian Painting
Max Likin
(Rutgers University, USA)
Engaged in History–Cecile Brunschvicg, René
Cassin, and Raymond Aron in 20th-Century France
Catherine Poujol
(Paul Valéry Montpellier III University, France)
Aimé Pallière (France 1875-1949), a Noachide’s
Itinerary
Claudia Ursutiu
(Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania)
Jewish Issues in the Romanian Parliament in the
First Decade of the Interwar Period
18
Jurgita Verbickiene
(Vilnius University, Lithuania)
Jews in the Society of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:
Aspects of Coexistence
Alan T. Levenson,
German Philosemitism before Hitler
Anna Szalai
Jewish Characters in Hungarian Literature of the
Nineteenth Century (in Hebrew)
The following research projects are slated
for publication:
•
•
Andrei Oisteanu, The Image of the Jew in
Romanian Traditional Culture (English
translation)
Leon Volovici, Project Coordinator:
Jews and Antisemitism in Public Discourse in
Post-Communist European Societies
ACTA
Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism
This unit analyzes local and national changes, as well as regional influences on public opinion,
the arts, the mass media, and ideological and political movements. The unit compares trends
worldwide, pinpointing serious potential threats.
ACTA is engaged in accumulating data on current antisemitism. Analyses are published as a
series of occasional papers and full text is in available online. The following titles appeared in
1993-2001:
1.
2.
3.
Barry Rubin: The PLO between Anti-Zionism
and Antisemitism, Background and Recent
Developments. 1993.
10. Shlomit Levy: Israeli Perceptions of
Antisemitism. 1996.
[OUT OF PRINT]
11. Rotem Kowner: On Ignorance, Respect and
Suspicion: Current Japanese Attitudes
towards Jews. 1997.
Simon Epstein: Cyclical Patterns in
Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Anti-Jewish
Violence in Western Countries since the 1950s.
1993.
Theodore H. Friedgut: Antisemitism and Its
Opponents in the Russian Press: From
Perestroika until the Present. 1994.
4.
Herta Herzog: The Jews as ‘Others’: On
Communicative Aspects of Antisemitism.
1994.
5.
Leon Volovici: Antisemitism in PostCommunist Eastern Europe: A Marginal
or Central Issue? 1994.
12. Laslo Sekelj, Antisemitism and Jewish
Identity in Serbia after the 1991 Collapse
of the Yugoslav State. 1998.
13. Victor A. Shnirelman, Russian Neo-Pagan
Myths and Antisemitism. 1998.
14. Liudmilla Dymerskaya-Tsigelman and
Leonid Finberg, Antisemitism of the
Ukrainian Radical Nationalists: Ideology
and Policy. 1999.
15. José L. Rodríguez-Jiménez, Antisemitism
and the Extreme Right in Spain. 1999.
6.
Tali Tadmor-Shimony: Antisemitism on the
Information Superhighway: A Case Study of a
UseNet Discussion Group. 1995.
7.
Daniel Perdurant: Antisemitism in
Contemporary Greek Society. 1995.
17. Goetz Nordbruch, The Socio-Historical
Background of Holocaust Denial in Arab
Countries: Reactions to Garaudy’s
The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics. 2001.
8.
Simon Epstein: Extreme Right Electoral
Upsurges in Western Europe: The
1984-1995 Wave as Compared with the Previous
Ones. 1996.
18. Anat Peri, Jörg Haider’s Antisemitism .
2001.
9.
Gilad Margalit: Antigypsyism in the
Political Culture of the Federal Republic of
Germany: A Parallel with Antisemitism? 1996.
16. András Kovács, Antisemitism in Hungary
Today. 1999.
19. Yaakov Ariel, Philosemites or
Antisemitism? Evangelical Christian
Attitudes towards Jews, Judaism, and the
State of Israel. 2001 [forthcoming]
19
Anat Peri
Jörg Haider’s Antisemitism
Abstract
New
Haider’s antisemitism is a typical example of postwar
antisemitism in the German cultural sphere. Haider,
born after the war to parents who were both ardent
Austrian Nazis, identifies deeply with his parents
and their generation, and sees them as victims.
Loyalty to one’s parents and country is his highest
value, and those who do not maintain this value are
considered traitors. Haider’s antisemitism is strongly
connected to his view of the Holocaust, and serves
as a strategy to cope with guilt feelings over the
Holocaust. He is strongly influenced by German
Revisionist conceptions of the Holocaust, claiming
that the bombing of German cities during the
war and the expulsions of Germans from Eastern
Europe after the ware were worse crimes than
the Holocaust, and that one should compensate
the Germans for their suffering just as Holocaust
survivors are compensated. At the same time, he has
accused several Holocaust survivors of cooperation
with the Nazis and admiration of them, trying to
blur differences between victims and murderers.
Goetz Nordbruch
The Socio-Historical Background of
Holocaust Denial in Arab Countries:
Reactions to Roger Garaudy’s
The
The Founding
Founding Myths
Myths of
of Israeli
Israeli Politics
Politics
Abstract
Historical revisionism and Holocaust denial are
widely encountered in Arab countries. References to
the Holocaust as a “Zionist myth” are continuously
expressed in public discourse, coming to a height in
1996 when numerous articles were published about
Garaudy’s book, The Founding Myths of Israeli
Politics. Articles denying the historical reality of
German crimes against the Jews during the Nazi
period are often regarded as mere “curiosities” and
explained away as being merely an instrument used
to deligitimize the existence of the State of Israel.
This paper reconsiders that assumption. Given the
presence and vigor of Holocaust denial in the Arab
media, an analysis of the reactions to Garaudy’s
book can reveal some of the far-reaching social and
historical origins of Holocaust denial. Irrespective
of its function within specific social conflicts, the
dissemination of antisemitic codes – which includes
Holocaust denial – has to be explained within the
context of more general ideological developments.
This study, therefore, provides new approaches to
the analysis of the elements of Arab antisemitism
through tracing antisemitic thought back to its
socio-historical interaction with nationalism, and
contemporary Islamist thought, reviewing both
content and cause. This way, the origins of antiJewish expressions in Arab public discourse can be
concretized.
Research proposals for the ACTA series may be submitted to the ACTA staff.
The information and documentation service of ACTA enables researchers and students to easily access articles,
reports, surveys, and specialized journals that deal with current antisemitism. Advice and assistance is provided
by the ACTA staff. Inquiries are welcome.
Sara Grosvald
972-2-5882123
E-Mail: MSGROS@mscc.huji.ac.il
20
International Workshop
“Jews and Antisemitism in Public Discourse of the
Post-Communist European Countries”
Held at the Mt. Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on October 24-26, 2000, the workshop
was based on a joint project headed by Dr. Leon Volovici. Participants included researchers from the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania, as well as from Israel. We were honored to have present
the Czech, Slovakian, and Polish ambassadors, who attended many of the sessions. A selection of the papers
presented at the workshop is currently being prepared for publication.
Upcoming Conference
The Media and the Jew: Images and Stereotypes
A n international conference on “The Media and the Jew: Images and Stereotypes” is being planned for fall 2003.
Invited participants will provide a historical perspective on the dissemination of anti-Jewish images as part of
political propaganda. The conference will also address ongoing issues regarding the representation of Jews and
other minorities in the print media, film, television. The attitude of the media during the present confrontation
between Israel and the Palestinians will be of particular interest, as well as the attitude of the media in Arab
countries and in Muslim communities worldwide.
Lectures
22 November 2000
“An Unshadowed Past: Building a Picture of the Past in German Children’s Stories”
Prof. Zohar Shavit of Tel Aviv University spoke about her recently published study on the image of the Third
Reich in children’s books published in the Federal Republic of Germany. Also participating in the evening’s
discussion was Prof. Dalia Ofer of the Center, Prof. Gabi Motzkin, Dean of The Faculty of Humanities at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr. Gulie Ne’eman Arad of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
20 December 2000
“Paul and the Origins of Christian Antisemitism”
Prof. John G. Gager of Princeton University presented a noteworthy new interpretation of the teachings of
Paul, who is often viewed as bringing a distinct anti-Judaism into early Christian thought. The lecture was
sponsored by the Ben-Zion Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History in cooperation with the Vidal Sassoon
International Center for the Study of Antisemitism. The lecture was chaired by Dr. Simcha Epstein.
17 January 2001
“Neighbors: Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne on July 10, 1941”
Prof. Jan Tomasz Gross, whose book Neighbors has stirred painful memories of the past in Poland, spoke about
the murder of the Jews of Jedwabne by their Polish neighbors in 1941, and the controversy and soul-searching
that is taking place today following publication of his study. Also participating were Prof. Dalia Ofer, and Dr.
Daniel Blatman of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
27 March 2001
“America, Its Jews, and the Rise of Nazism”
Dr. Gulie Ne’eman Arad of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev presented an overview of her recently
published study America, Its Jews, and the Rise of Nazism, in which she describes how the ambiguous historical
experience of American Jews shaped their political responses to the rise of Hitler. Also participating in the
evening lecture were Prof. Dalia Ofer and Prof. Eli Lederhendler of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
21
Seminars on Research
Monthly seminars featuring research on antisemitism are held during the academic year.
13 November 2000
“The Changing Face of Hate: 2001”
Mark Weitzman (Director, Task Force Against Hate, Simon Wiesenthal Center, New York Branch)
11 December 2000
“Jörg Haider’s Antisemitism ”
Anat Peri (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
15 January 2001
“Political Theosophy: Esotericism and Anti-Judaism in the Wake of the Cold War”
Prof. Steven Wasserstrom (Reed College, Portland, Oregon)
6 March 2001
“Strategies of Dealing with a Troubling Past: Jan Tomasz Gross’s “Jedwabne” in Polish
Intellectual Debate
Dr. Joanna Michlic (University College, London)
23 April 2001
“Anti-Jewish Stereotypes in Soviet Belorussia in the 1920s and 1930s”
Arkadi Zeltzer (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
14 May 2001
“The Extreme Right in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, and Its Impact on the Jews: A Historical
Perspective”
Prof. Sandra McGee Deutsch (University of Texas at El Paso)
4 June 2001
“The Holocaust in the Arab Media: Reactions to Roger Garaudy’s The Founding Myths of Israeli
Politics”
Israeli
Politics”
Goetz Nordbruch (Humboldt University, Berlin)
Call for Research Proposals
The recent period of crisis in the Middle East and wide-ranging changes in the Arabic-speaking world
have highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of the image of the Jew in Arab thought, and
in Arabic literature and media. The Center wishes to foster research in this area and invites academic
researchers to submit proposals to the Academic Committee.
Our website http://sicsa.huji.ac.il provides a listing of previous research in this area sponsored by the
Center, as well as annotated listings of publications on the subject in the Felix Posen Bibliographic
Database.
Information on submitting proposals is found on the back cover of this publication.
22
Recent publications by Center affiliates or
researchers
Simon Epstein, Les Dreyfusards sous l’Occupation
(Paris: Albin Michel, 2001)
A number of well-known figures in French life were
Dreyfusards at the end of the 19th century and antiracist and philosemitic during the interwar period,
yet became prominent antisemites under the Vichy
regime. Dr. Simon (Simcha) Epstein’s study attempts
to understand how this transformation took place.
This volume was awarded a prize of the Académie
Française.
Andrei Oisteanu, Imaginea evreului în cultura
româna (The image of the Jew in Romanian culture)
(Bucharest: Humanitas, 2001)
The Imaginary Jew reconstructs the image of
the Jew as recorded in ancient and traditional
Romanian folklore and myths, as well as in Christian
iconography, assisting us to trace the popular and
religious background of modern antisemitism in
Romania. An English translation of this study is in
preparation.
Awards
Dr. Graciela Ben-Dror has received an award for excellence in the category of Writer’s First Published Book
(Jewish History) from Israel’s Ministry for Science, Culture, and Sport for her study, The Catholic Church and
Antisemitism, Argentina 1933-1945 (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem: Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study
of Antisemitism and Zalman Shazar Center, 2000). An English edition of the book is in preparation.
Prof. Dalia Ofer was invited to work on her study of “The Individual and the Collective in East European
Ghettos during the Holocaust” by the Rockefeller Foundation at the Study and Conference Center in Bellagio,
Italy.
Courses taught by Center personnel
The following courses and seminars are
offered at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
taught by the Center’s academic staff:
Prof. Dalia Ofer, Dr. Leon Volovici
• Antisemitism in Historical Perspective: Major Issues of Research
Dr. Simcha Epstein
• Antisemitism as a Social and Political Phenomenon
• Antisemitism in the World since 1945
Prof. Shmuel Almog
• What happened to the “Jewish Question”
Congratulations
The Center is very pleased to congratulate Joanna Michlic, recipient of a Felix Posen Fellowship, who has been
awarded her doctoral degree by University College, London. Her dissertation was on “The Myth of the Jew as
the Threatening Other: Polish Nationalism and Society in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.”
23
The Felix Posen Bibliographic Project
on Antisemitism
Soon after the founding of the Center, the bibliography on antisemitism became one of its major
ongoing research projects. The purpose was to create a reference bibliography for scholars
and students engaged in research on antisemitism. Today, after almost fifteen years of listing
and annotating works on antisemitism, the bibliography can truly be called an essential guide.
The comprehensive, detailed subject and author indexes, and the table of contents allow
access to the material in a variety of ways.
The Felix Posen Bibliographic Project on
Antisemitism comprises an online database accessible
through Israel’s university library network (ALEPH),
the Internet and printed volumes.
The bibliography includes works published
throughout the world about antisemitism – books,
dissertations, masters’ theses, and articles from
periodicals and collections. It does not include
newspaper articles, reviews, and works of fiction,
nor does it cover antisemitic publications.
The project has two parts:
• the ongoing annotated bibliography (1984
to the present)
• the retrospective bibliography listing
books and articles published prior to 1984
(presently includes works published from
1970-1983).
The long-term goal is to compile a
comprehensive listing of all extant works written
about antisemitism.
For the purpose of this bibliography,
antisemitism is defined as antagonism toward Jews
and Judaism as expressed in writings (e.g., the New
Testament, polemical works, literature), in the visual
arts (e.g., art, caricatures, films), and in action (e.g.,
pogroms, blood libel accusations, discriminatory
legislation, the Holocaust).
The references are divided into three sections:
• Bibliographies and Reference Works
• Antisemitism throughout the Ages
• Antisemitism in Literature and the Arts
The listings are compiled mainly from the holdings
of the Jewish National and University Library in
Jerusalem. The works listed come from a diverse
range of disciplines – history, psychology, sociology,
anthropology, literature, and art.
A staff of academic abstractors continually
catalogs new material. Two additional staff members
retrieve information in response to requests received
from around the world, in addition to assisting
faculty, students, and researchers at the Hebrew
University. Bibliographies on specific subjects – for
workshops, conferences and study groups – are
retrieved on request.
There is also a database on “The ‘Jewish
Question’ in German-Speaking Countries,
1848-1914” of approximately 4,500 references. This
database is currently being expanded to cover events
up to 1933.
Thanks
The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism would like to express its
appreciation to the Conference on Material Claims against Germany, Inc. for the November
2000 grant of $50,000 awarded to the Center to expand its computerized database of
annotated articles and books on the Holocaust. This project is part of the work of the Felix
Posen Bibliographic Project on Antisemitism.
24
Publications of the Felix Posen
Bibliographic Project
•
Antisemitism: An Annotated Bibliography,
Senior Editor: Susan Sarah Cohen
Vol. 1 (1984-85).
New York: Garland, 1987.
xxix +392 pp. ISBN 0-8240-8532-9
•
Vol. 2 (1986-87). New York: Garland, 1991.
xxxiv + 559 pp. ISBN 0-8240-5846-1
•
Vol. 3 (1987-88). New York: Garland, 1994.
xxxiv + 544 pp. ISBN 0-8153-1282-2 1994.
•
Vols. 4-6 (1988-1990). Munich: K. G. Saur
Verlag, 1997. lv+1450 pp. ISBN 3-598-23703 (set)
•
Verlag, 1998. lxi+1449 pp. ISBN 3-598-23704-9,
ISBN 3-598-23705-7, ISBN 3-598-23706-5
•
Rena R. Auerbach, ed., The “Jewish Question”
in German-Speaking Countries, 1849-1914.
New York: Garland, 1994. xxv + 385 pp.
ISBN 0-8153-0812-4. Outstanding Academic
Book, 1995, CHOICE Reviews of Academic
Books
In 1995 Susan Sarah Cohen recieved the
Best Bibliography Award of the Research
and Special Libraries Division of the
Association of Jewish Libraries in the US.
Ordering the Bibliographies
•
Verlag, 1999. xlv+1001 pp. ISBN 3-598-23707-3
•
Vol. 12 (1996). Munich: K. G. Saur Verlag,
2000. xxxii+527 pp. ISBN 3-598-23709-x
•
2001. xxix+543 pp. ISBN 3-598-23712-x
The series Antisemitism: An Annotated Bibliography
is published by K. G. Saur Verlag, Munich, including
reprints of the first three volumes. For further
information please contact:
Ms. Barbara Fischer
Editorial Dept.
K. G. Saur Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Ortlerstr. 8
D-81373 Munich, GERMANY
FAX 49 89 76 902 350
•
2001. xxix+519 pp. ISBN 3-598-23713-8
You may order directly from the Saur website:
http://www.saur.de/jewish/jeindex.htm
We mourn the death of our colleague and friend, Lily Fogel
Lily was born in Sighet, Romania, and emigrated to Israel with her family in 1962. After receiving a B.A.
degree in Jewish and general history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she did editorial work at the
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. From 1985, she worked at the Institute of Contemporary
Jewry at the Hebrew University, and in 1993, she joined the staff of the Felix Posen Bibliographic Project
on Antisemitism, where she was responsible for abstracting material in Hebrew and Yiddish. She died in
January 2001 following a prolonged illness.
Blessed be her memory
25
Online Access to the Bibliographies
The above databases are accessible through Israel’s university library network (ALEPH), and can be reached
from all over the world via Telnet and Internet.
To gain access to the Bibliography on Antisemitism databases Telnet to:
HAR2.HUJI.AC.IL
The username is SICSA.
No password is required.
Instructions for searching are on the screen.
The online bibliography can also be reached via the Center’s home page on the Internet:
http://sicsa.huji.ac.il
26
Publications in the Studies
in Antisemitism Series
Forthcoming publications
Vadim Rossman
Russian Intellectual Antisemitism in the
Post-Communist Era: The Ethnic Community and
Its Enemies
ISBN 0-8032-3948-3 (hard cover), 309 pp. IN PRESS
The history of post-communist antisemitism starts
with the era of glasnost (candor). The politics of
perestroika (restructuring) opened the floodgate of
free political expression and set the stage for liberal
social transformations and radical economic reforms.
The still-dormant political forces began to recall
the forgotten language of free political debate and
to forge their new identities. The “philosophical”
revolution, which according to Hegel paves the
way for political revolution, was realized through
a revolution in the periodicals. To a great extent,
glasnost was an era of newspapers and magazines.
Soviet history was reexamined in light of liberal
doctrines and universal values. Questions about the
political reconstruction of Russia turned out to be
central to public discourse.
The era of political emancipation not only
made possible the publication of formerly forbidden
masterpieces of literature, along with open discussion
of new ideas in the social sciences and history, but
also paved the way for the revival of old xenophobic
stereotypes and set the stage for the dissemination
of extreme nationalist ideas. The proliferation of
antisemitic propaganda turned out to be a very
important manifestation of the ultra-nationalist
mentality. The repressed mentality of antisemitism
resurfaced and pervaded the nationalist discussions.
The first years of glasnost have witnessed the
vast proliferation of antisemitic periodicals, leaflets,
caricatures, and other artifacts of the antisemitic
subculture.
Five antisemitic trends are the subject of this study.
Neo-Slavophilism, the oldest trend in Russian
nationalism, holds that culture is the most important
ingredient of Russian identity. The Jew, a rootless
and homeless cosmopolitan, is an enemy of Russian
culture and of culture in general. The Jew is opposed
to the Russian peasant world and the vernacular
that have given rise to the authentic expressions of
Russian culture. The Jew is also associated with the
forces of modernity.
The representatives of National Orthodoxy believe
that the primary identity of Russians is religious.
Russian Orthodox consider themselves to be the
most authentic Christians. Therefore, Jews are
seen as projecting a hatred of Christians upon
Russians. National Orthodoxy is a philosophy of
anti-Judaism.
National Bolsheviks believe that Russian identity is
socialist. National Bolsheviks to a great extent follow
the line of argument evolved by the ideologists of
Soviet anti-Zionist campaigns. They focus on the
Jewish bourgeoisie, economic monopolies, political
lobbies, and the ties between American Jewry
and Israeli Zionists. Jews are usually described by
them as arch-capitalists and economic manipulators,
the natural enemies of Russian socialists. National
Bolshevism appears as anti-capitalist and antiZionist.
Racism is not very popular among contemporary
Russian nationalist intellectuals. It is predominantly
the phenomenon of a lowbrow public, and many
articles published in the racist periodicals are
reminiscent of Nazi propaganda sheets like “Der
Stürmer”. Some are not only antisemitic but also
anti-Christian. Jews are portrayed as the enemies of
the Aryan race in the metaphysical setting of a racial
war.
Neo-Eurasianism proclaims the Jews to be the
geopolitical enemies of the continental civilizations
and of Eurasia in particular. At the same time it
represents an attempt to reconcile and synthesize
the antisemitic positions of all other groups of
antisemites. Culture, race, social orientation, and
religion are described as functions of the geopolitical
orientation of Eurasia. The Jews are alien to Eurasian
ethnicities in all these different aspects.
27
Cesare De Michelis
The Inexistent Manuscript: The Protocols of the
Elders of Zion, A Twentieth-Century Apocryphal
Prof. De Michelis has made a detailed linguistic
analysis of the earliest published manuscripts of the
“Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” His careful study
enables us to better assess the early transmission of
this ever-popular libel against the Jews.
Graciela Ben-Dror
The Catholic Church in Argentina and
Antisemitism, 1933-1945
Argentina has always identified itself as a Catholic
country, and during the 1930s the Church came to
have great influence in shaping government policy.
One matter of particular interest to the Jewish
community was the willingness of Argentina to
accept European Jewish refugees. Dr. Ben-Dror
looks at the attitude of the Argentinian Church on
this and other issues affecting the Jewish community.
A Hebrew edition appeared in 1999, published by
the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study
of Antisemitism and the Zalman Shazar Center.
It received an award for excellence, Author’s First
Published Book (Jewish History) given by Israel’s
Ministry of Science, Culture, and Sport, 1999.
• The Dynamics of Antisemitism in the Second
Half of the 20th Century
• Jews and Antisemitism in Public Discourse in
Post-Communist Eastern Europe
Previous Publication:
• Robert S. Wistrich, Editor
Demonizing the Other:
Antisemitism, Racism, and
Xenophobia
Chur, Switzerland: Harwood
Academic Publishers.
ISBN 90-5702-497-7
• Richard H. Weisberg
Vichy Law and the Holocaust in
France
Chur, Switzerland: Harwood
Academic Publishers, and
New York: New York University
Press, 1996. ISBN 3-7186-5892-5
28
• William Korey
Russian Antisemitism, Pamyat, and the
Demonology of Zionism
Chur, Switzerland: Harwood Academic
Publishers, 1995
ISBN 3-7186-5740-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 3-7186-5742-2 (softcover)
• Ronald Modras
The Catholic Church and Antisemitism:
Poland, 1933-1939
Chur, Switzerland: Harwood Academic
Publishers, 1994.
ISBN 3-7186-5568-3 (hb);
ISBN 90-5833-129-1 (pb, June 2000).
College Theology Society Best Book Award, 1994
Harwood publications may be ordered directly
from their website: http://www.gbhap.com/
Studies in Antisemitism Series
• Robert Everett, Christianity without
Antisemitism: James Parkes and the Jewish
Christian Encounter.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1993. xiv + 346 pp.
ISBN 0-08-041040-5
• Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust:
The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory.
New York: Free Press, 1993. ix + 278 pp.
ISBN 0-02-919235-8
• Ronald Nettler, Past Trials and Present
Tribulations: A Muslim Fundamentalist’s
View of the Jews.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1987. 104 pp.
ISBN 0-08-0347916
• Elisheva Revel-Neher, The Image of the Jew
in Byzantine Art.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1992. 200 pp.
with 100 illustrations, 10 in color.
ISBN 0-08-0406556
• Frank Stern, The Whitewashing of the Yellow
Badge: Antisemitism and Philosemitism in
Postwar Germany 1945-1952.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1992. xxv + 455 pp.
ISBN 0-08-040653X
• Leon Volovici, Nationalist Ideology and
Antisemitism: The Case of Romanian
Intellectuals in the 1930s.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1991. xi + 213 pp.
ISBN 0-08-041-24-3
Joint Project with the Zalman Shazar Center
for Jewish History and the Historical
Society of Israel, Jerusalem
• Michel Abitbol, From Crémieux to Pétain:
Antisemitism in Colonial Algeria, 1870-1940
(Hebrew).
Jerusalem: Shazar, 1988. 188 pp.
ISBN 965-205-122-7
• Shmuel Almog, Nationalism and
Antisemitism in Modern Europe 1815-1945
(Hebrew).
ISBN 965-227-051-2
• Nathaniel Katzburg, Antisemitism in
Hungary 1867-1944 (Hebrew).
ISBN 965-227-082-2
• Rivka Yadlin, Anti-Zionism as Anti-Judaism
in Egypt (Hebrew).
Jerusalem: Shazar,1988. 157 pp.
ISBN 965-227-050-4
• Miriam Yardeni, Huguenots and Jews (Hebrew).
Jerusalem: Shazar, 1998, 193 pp.
ISBN 965-227-122-5.
• Graciela Ben-Dror, The Catholic Church and
the Jews, Argentina 1933-1945 (Hebrew).
ISBN 965-227-151-9
Studies in Antisemitism: History
• Shmuel Almog, Nationalism and
Antisemitism in Modern Europe, 1815-1945.
Oxford: Pergamon, 1990. xxv + 159 pp.
ISBN 0-08-377742 (pb); ISBN 0-08-0372546 (hb)
29
SICSA Publications, Jerusalem
Victor Shnirelman
New
The Myth of the Khazars and Intellectual
Antisemitism in Russia, 1970s-1999s
Jerusalem: Vidal Sassoon International
Center for the Study of Antisemitism,
2001.
Dr. Shnirelman’s interest in antisemitic
ideologies arose in the course of more
inclusive studies of the new, highly
politicized ethnocentric and ethnogenetic
myths that have been created by numerous
intellectuals in the USSR since the beginning of
perestroika and, especially, after the dissolution of
the USSR. Many of these myths were imbued with
explicit or implicit xenophobia and sometimes racism.
Some of them are extensively used by extreme political
activists in order to stir up hatred towards various
ethnic groups.
The myths in question are picked up and
disseminated in the mass media and belles-lettres.
Quite recently there has been an alarming
introduction of them into school textbooks. Thus,
the time is ripe for an analysis of these types of
myths and their role in inculcating a xenophobic
worldview and hatred toward the “other.”
In this context, the history of the Khazar
kaganate, which played an important, yet not clearly
understood role at the earliest period of Russian state
formation in the 9th and 10th centuries, meets the
demands of the Russian nationalist myth of the past,
especially because the Khazar nobility converted
to Judaism. This fact provides fuel for the Russian
nationalist argument that in this early period the
native culture was vulnerable to outside influences,
and thus they accuse the Jews of encroaching on
Russia from its very birth, subjugating its people
and dooming them to 1300 years of backwardness,
leading eventually to their organizing the Bolshevik
Revolution. The argument conforms to conspiracy
theories as found in the Protocols of the Elders of
Zion. The antisemitic Khazar myth was created in
the 1970s and 1980s, and became widely disseminated
in “patriotic” periodicals in the 1990s, when the Jews
(identified as Khazars) were blamed for the breakup
of the USSR.
Victor A. Shnirelman is a senior researcher of the
Institute of Ethnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He teaches the sociology of interethnic relations and
nationalism, as well as an introduction to the history of
antisemitism at the Jewish University of Moscow.
30
Robert S. Wistrich and Sergio DellaPergola, eds.
Fascist Antisemitism and the Italian Jews
Jerusalem: Vidal Sassoon International Center for
the Study of Antisemitism and Avraham Harman
Institute of Contemporary Jewry, 1995, $10.00
Yehuda Bauer, ed.
The Danger of Antisemitism in Central and Eastern
Europe in the Wake of 1989-1990
the Study of Antisemitism, 1991. $10.00.
Holocaust Remembrance: A Selected Bibliography
the Study of Antisemitism, 2000. $10.00
Prepared for distribution at the international
conference “Remembering for the Future” convened
in London and Oxford, 16-23 July 2000
SICSA Publications and the ACTA series can be
ordered directly from the Center offices. Individual
copies of the ACTA occasional papers are free upon
request.
Publications
Vidal Sassoon International Center
for the Study of Antisemitism
Mount Scopus
91905 Jerusalem ISRAEL
Telephone: 972-2-588-1003
Fax: 972-2-588-1002
Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism
Dalia Ofer
Simcha Epstein
Leon Volovici
Chair
Director
Head of Research
Academic Committee
Shmuel Almog
Yehuda Bauer
Sergio DellaPergola
Jonathan Frankel
Galia Golan
Sara Japhet
Gulie Ne’eman-Arad
Hagar Salamon
Yaacov Schul
Shaul Stampfer
Robert S. Wistrich
Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry,
Jonah M. Machover Professor of Holocaust Studies (Emeritus),
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Director of Research, Yad Vashem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Chair of SICSA Academic Committee
Department of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Institute of Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Department of History, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Institute of Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Department of Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Department of Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
ACTA Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism
Leon Volovici
Sara Grosvald
Felix Posen Bibliographic Project
Otto Dov Kulka
Susan S. Cohen
Sylviane Stampfer and
Sara Grosvald
Academic Advisor
Editor
Managing Editors
Editorial and Abstracting Staff:
Marian Assaf
Ilana Dana
Yisrael Elliot Cohen
Ruth Engelberg
Mirjam Factor
Daniel Romanovsky
Sylviane Stampfer
Tamar Stern
Hanna Volovici
Renate Wolfson
Manuel Zkorenblut
Administration: Ruhama Roth
Office Coordinator: Helene Wilk
Publications: Alifa Saadya
31
The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism is an interdisciplinary research
center founded in 1982. The Center is dedicated to an independent, non-political approach to the accumulation
and dissemination of knowledge necessary for understanding the phenomenon of antisemitism. The Center
supports research on antisemitism throughout the ages, focusing on relations between Jews and non-Jews,
particularly in situations of tension and crisis.
The Center will consider sponsoring projects in a variety of disciplines, such as history, political science,
psychology, sociology, economics, literature, and the arts.
The Center has published monographs on such subjects as nationalism and antisemitism; the roots of Christian
antisemitism; images of Jews in literature and the arts; Jewish perceptions of and responses to antisemitism;
the extreme Right and neo-Nazism in Western Europe; intellectuals and antisemitism; and post-communist
antisemitism in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Research proposals submitted for approval at the December meeting of the Academic Committee must be received
by October 1.
Inquiries regarding possible research proposals
should be directed to Dr. Leon Volovici, Head
of Research, at the address below, or via email:
msvolo@mscc.huji.ac.il
To request an application form, please contact:
Vidal Sassoon International Center
for the Study of Antisemitism
Mount Scopus
91905 Jerusalem Israel
ISSN 0793 8837
32
Tel: 972-2-588-2494
Fax: 972-2-588-1002
Email: sicsa@mscc.huji.ac.il

Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism

Transcription

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