Antisemitic terrorism: Global North’s propaganda

The current intifada is not against the Jews or Judaism but against the Zionist project of ethno-cleansing in Palestine

Although the origins of modern terrorism go back to the French Reign of Terror in 1700s and could therefore be considered as a product of Western modernity, its 20th century incarnation may well be traced back to the Taliban warriors who were initially praised as freedom fighters by the then US president Ronald Regan when Taliban fought against Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but later condemned them as terrorists when they turned their weapons against US itself for trying to replace Soviet presence. Thereafter terrorism and terrorists had become officially accepted labels to decry armed resistance against state terror. 

Thus, Chechen fighters became terrorists to Putin’s regime, Uyghur resisters turned terrorists to Chinese rulers, Tamil Tigers became terrorists to Government in Colombo and Kashmiri fighters were terrorists to Modi regime. The list goes on. Yet, there is still no universally accepted legal definition of what terrorism is and who terrorists are. One party’s hero automatically becomes terrorist to another and vice versa. 

After 57 years of Israel’s apartheid rule in Gaza the popularly elected Hamas administration had no alternative but to resist with force to liberate its people from their oppressive existence. Netanyahu and his ruling Zionist cabal lost no time in branding Hamas a terrorist organisation and vowed to annihilate Hamas. But that very Hamas was created, nurtured and funded by Netanyahu’s Likud Party so that Hamas could be a counterweight against the rising popularity of Mahmud Abbas and his PLO Authority is a historical fact conveniently forgotten by Global North. 

For its part, Global North not only endorsed the terrorist description of Hamas and Israel’s military retaliation but went a step further and strengthened the fire power of IDF with supply of more deadly weapons and replenished Israeli state coffers with more funds. While Global North’s corporate sector fully backs Netanyahu’s genocide its media keeps on as usual sanitising the human horror and physical devastation committed by the IDF. Today marks the 642nd day since Hamas fired its deadly rockets into Israel. 

Hamas’ uprising

But Hamas’ uprising or intifada against Israel has now become global. As happened during the Vietnam War in 1960s, weekends, public holidays, entertainment events and even religious gatherings have been turned into occasions for pro-Palestinian protests. Not only Arabs and Muslims living outside Middle East but also non-Arabs and non-Muslims from all walks of life and faiths and non-faiths had come together to raise their voice of anger at and condemnation of Israel’s acts of barbarism and bloodshed in Gaza and endorsed by the so-called civilised nations of Global North headed by US. 

One issue which seems to have cropped up within the think tanks of Global North for propaganda purposes is the choice of an appropriate terminology to describe the global intifada and its message to the world. Antisemitism, antisemitic terrorism and antisemitic terrorists are the result, and they are dominating Global North’s news media. 

But what is antisemitism? That name is said to have been coined in 1879 by the German agitator Wilhelm Marr to designate the anti-Jewish campaigns in central Europe at that time, and it simply means hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group. In that sense, antisemitism should go back further by centuries when Christian communities in Europe hated the Jews, castigated them as “Christ killers” and condemned them to live in exclusive ghettos. 

A seven-acre area in Cannaregio District of Venice was the first of such ghettos which continued to remain so for 250 years from 1516. Jews were prohibited from mixing with Christians and even from engaging in ordinary economic transactions. That may be the reason why Jews took to money lending as a secret profession and eventually ended as pioneers of modern banking. 

In contrast to Europe’s antisemitism, the Arab world of Islam welcomed the Jewish community, and their scholars, philosophers, mathematicians, physicians and scientists rose to great heights since the time of Harun al-Rashid in the Abbasid Caliphate. Will history ever forget Moses ben Maimon (1138-1204) better known as Maimonides, the Jewish astronomer and personal physician of Saladin? Even after the Jews were expelled from Spain by Catholic monarchs they were welcomed by the Ottomans and which reception continued even after Hitler’s Holocaust. The history of Jews in Iraq will relate this hospitality. Therefore, it is strange that Global North is tarnishing global intifada as antisemitism

Arab world of Islam welcomed Jewish community

In contrast to Europe’s antisemitism, the Arab world of Islam welcomed the Jewish community, and their scholars, philosophers, mathematicians, physicians and scientists rose to great heights since the time of Harun al-Rashid in the Abbasid Caliphate. Will history ever forget Moses ben Maimon (1138-1204) better known as Maimonides, the Jewish astronomer and personal physician of Saladin? Even after the Jews were expelled from Spain by Catholic monarchs they were welcomed by the Ottomans and which reception continued even after Hitler’s Holocaust. The history of Jews in Iraq will relate this hospitality. Therefore, it is strange that Global North is tarnishing global intifada as antisemitism. Let them be reminded that Arabs are also a semitic tribe. 

Confusion compounds when one looks at some of the prominent Jewish participants in or sympathisers with this intifada. Aren’t Noam Chomsky the greatest living philosopher and thinker, Ilan Pappe the prominent historian and Antony Lowenstein an ardent critic of Israel, all Jews? From Albert Einstein to Holocaust survivor Primo Levi there were and are thousands of Jews who criticised and criticise Israel’s settler colonialism leading to the present genocide in Gaza. Would Global North stick its antisemitic label on all of them? In short, the current intifada is not against the Jews or Judaism but against the Zionist project of ethno-cleansing in Palestine. 

It is outright hypocrisy for the Global North to preach human rights, freedom and democracy to the world while shamelessly collaborating with Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza. The latest act of this hypocrisy comes from Donald Trump who while claiming to negotiate with Hamas for a 60-days ceasefire, has sanctioned UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her relentless exposition of Israel’s genocidal moves in Gaza. Perhaps it is to thank the collaborators for their continuing support that Netanyahu – a narcissist and war criminal, is nominating Donald Trump – another narcissist and war monger, for this year’s Noble Prize for peace. 

(The writer is a retired economist, W. Australia.)