Antisemitism rising from history of hatred

Independent Australia
21 Mar 2025, 02:30 GMT+10

Zionist propaganda tries to extend the historical antisemitism of Europe to the Muslim world and make it into a centuries-long horror, writesBilal Cleland.

AUSTRALIA HAS BEEN hit by a series of antisemitic incidents in recent months, against Jewish property, against individuals and there was a terrible threat of a mass murder of members of the Jewish community from a caravan with enough explosives to reach a diameter of four metres,according toOpposition Leader Peter Dutton.

That antisemitism exists in this Australian community is obvious but not all the incidents are transparent.

The Melbourne non-Zionistsynagogue burning, the Sydneysynagogue graffitiand the caravan were suspicious. Since then, we have had police confirmation that the exploding caravan was a false flag and there have been no arrests for the arson or graffiti.

The ASIO statement about criminal activity stymied the hasbara. At least one of those arrested in connection with such incidents did have a Muslim name but was not seen as being motivated by ideology.

Weaponising antisemitism

A campaign by right-wing Liberals to link Muslims with fascismand anti-genocide demonstrations to antisemitism is on shaky ground.

As reported inthe ABC:

Much of the commentary has alluded to ancient hatreds and a history of conflict to explain antisemitic incidents, the underlying assumption being that the Muslims, who hate the Jews and have always done so, are somehow involved.

This is part of the Zionist propaganda used to explain why Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in general oppose Israel. They avoid any discussion of theNakba, Jewish supremacy laws or the occupation of Palestinian land.

Zionist propaganda tries to extend the antisemitism of Europe to the Muslim world and make it into a centuries-long horror.

Members of the Jewish community committed to truth tend to disrupt this narrative.

As written inThe Jewish Chronicle:

As the article continues, it points out that without Islam the separation of the Judaism of Babylon and the Judaism of Western Europe would have remained separated and would have disappeared from Europe.

Islamic Spain is often given as an example of the relations between Jews and Muslims, which is contrasted with relations between those communities and Catholic rule.

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Six Melbourne Jews, labelled "antisemites" byprominent lawyerMark Leibler,have made a formal complaint againsthim to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Jewish leaders and scholars in the Muslim world

The chief minister ofMuslim Granada, a poet and brilliant military leader, was Samuel Ha-Nagid, also known asSamuel ibn Naghrillah, in the 11th Century.

Ibn Hazm, a contemporary Islamic scholar of Spain, made the attitude of the time clear when heproclaimed:

The great Jewish scholarMaimonideswas born in Muslim Cordova in 1135.

When he was 13, theAlmohades, a fanatical group from North Africa, took over from the ruling dynasty and persecuted Muslims and others who rejected them.

The family settled in Morocco, travelling to Palestine and then Egypt in 1165.

Apparently, Maimonides studied the great classical medical writers andRhazesof Persia,Al-FarabiandIbn Zuhr, the Spanish-Arabic physician.

WhenSaladintook over Egypt in 1171, he appointed Maimonides as his personal physician and Rais ul Yahud (leader of the Jewish community).

When he died in 1193, his son,Al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din, became Sultan. Maimonides, as court physician, had to care for the whole family, retainers and officers. It was in this period that he wrote his major works.

According to theNational Library of Medicine:

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Ethnic cleansing

On 31 March 1492, in the Alhambras Hall of the Ambassadors, Ferdinand and Isabella signed theAlhambra Decree, expelling the Jews from Spain. This document gave Spanish Jews four months until 31 July. There had been a Jewish community there since Roman times.

TheDoctrine of Purity of Bloodwas also established.

Jewish and Muslim blood was designated as tainted, inferior and ineradicable. Even baptism did not protect them.

As written inIlmfeed:

The Sultan proclaimed that it was a Muslim responsibility to take care of the descendants of the Prophets Abraham and Jacob, to see that they had food to eat...

The governors of all the European provinces were instructed to receive Spanish refugees and to treat them well.

The establishment of Hertrzls Altneuland in Palestine, thanks to theBalfour Declarationand the British need for a friendly base near the Suez Canal, has disrupted relations with the section of the Jewish population that embraces Zionist Jewish supremacy and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

It cannot disrupt it entirely as thePeople of Earlier Revelationsare respected on the authority of the Quran.

There are signs that the broad acceptance of the Zionist philosophy is being challenged by a growing number of Jewish scholars, of strictly Torah Jews and the general liberal-minded Jewish community.

The hard-line nationalist fanaticism of the present Israeli Government is repulsive not only to the world community, as reflected in UN General Assembly votes, but also to a growing proportion of Jews, both secular and religious.

Bilal Clelandis a retired secondary teacher and was Secretary of theIslamic Council of Victoria, Chairman of theMuslim Welfare Board Victoriaand Secretary of theAustralian Federation of Islamic Councils. You can follow Bilal/X@BilalCleland.