Brilliant piece from the Israeli blogger Elder of Ziyon about the similarities between the Jew hatred of the Protestant theologian Martin Luther and Islamic Jew hatred. The blogger brings up the interesting idea that although Islamic Jew hatred has always existed, it may have partly morphed into its current form from contact with Christian missionaries in the Levant, who brought with them a different kind of Jew hatred but one of a European Christian nature.

Elder of Ziyon said:

The similarities with how Muslims write about Jews today are uncanny. Claiming that Jews had all the rights they needed in diaspora and are ungrateful; that Jews are oppressing non-Jews, the blood libel, projection that Jews teach hate in these very treatises filled with bile. 

Although Muslims always showed disdain for Jews, their hate did not have this kind of intellectual underpinning for antisemitism until they were exposed to Christian missionaries and the schools they built in the Levant in the 19th century.  There are a number of articles on Christian influence on building Arab nationalism and spreading other Western concepts, but the Christians of the time were virulently and doctrinally antisemitic, and it seems highly likely that their antisemitic ideas gave an pseudo-intellectual rigor to the Muslims who already disliked Jews. 

Being given justification for one’s pre-existing hate is a very seductive idea.  It is the only explanation for the enthusiasm,  huge turnouts and party atmosphere seen in the current anti-Israel protests. 

This article is well worth a read especially if you are unfamiliar with Martin Luther’s lurid and all consuming hatred of Jews and Judaism.

You can find the whole article via the link below:

https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2024/02/muslim-antisemitism-strongly-resembles.html