Iraqis wrestle with Jewish factor

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EK26Ak02.html

BAGHDAD - When Imam Mahdi al-Jumeili of the small Hudheifa mosque in Baghdad's Shurti neighborhood met three American officers to resolve a dispute over soldiers entering the grounds of his mosque, his first question to them was "are any of you Jews"? When he was satisfied that none were, he allowed the meeting to proceed. Prior to the arrival of the Americans, he made his prejudices about them clear: "We are sure they came here to steal the country and protect Israel," he said, adding that "Judaism and Masonism are at war with Islam".

These views are common in Iraq, where references to "al-Yahud", or "the Jews", are made everywhere and they demonstrate the degree to which the outside world is misunderstood and feared by Iraqis whose views were shaped by years of authoritarianism, control and fear, with little access to information not dictated by Ba'athist or religious sources.

And the prejudices appear to still flourish. For a journalist, not a day goes by without mention of Jews and Israel. Even taxi drivers talk about the Jews when they grumble about the occupation. "We are Muslims!" one declared proudly during an evening ride to a hotel, "and Jews come to our land?" When asked who he was referring to, he said, "They are all Jews. The Americans are all Jews and mercenaries. We know their religion." When asked if he wanted a Sunni or Shi'ite leader in Iraq, this driver said. "We are all Muslims, it makes no difference. Only the Jews want to separate Sunnis and Shi'ites, they are non-believers."

Another taxi driver explained that "America and the Jews are one. We know this from their interests, their relationships and America's defense of the Jews. They don't give rights to Arabs, only Jews. America and Jews are the same because they have the same goals and the same faith." A third taxi driver explained that the Jordanian embassy was bombed because Jordan was organizing the migration of Jews into Iraq.

In the market of Abu Ghraib, a town west of Baghdad, when asked about the Americans, one angry man replied: "Saddam was better. At least he was a Muslim. Isn't that better than Jews?" When pressed on the issue, he explained that "the Americans are Jews, their work is Jewish. Nobody accepts them". The prayer leader of Abu Ghraib's local mosque agreed. "They are all Jews and Christians, these occupiers," he said.

Signs on the walls of the Abu Hanifa mosque warn Iraqis that Jews have come to the Ekal Hotel and they plan to purchase land, just as they did in Palestine, to drive Iraqis out of their country. "Do not stab your fellow Iraqis in the heart" by selling land to the Jews, exhorts the sign. A visit to the Ekal Hotel proves that it is closed for renovations and has no guests. The same signs warning of Jewish real estate agents invading Iraq are distributed by university students.
<snip>

[saigon68]

1. aah leafleting on campus

The same signs warning of Jewish real estate agents invading Iraq are distributed by university students.

[Paschall]

2. Rather than Iraqis wrestling with the Jewish factor...

...it sounds like our troops are wrestling with Iraqi anti-Semitism, hostility to Israel, and hostility to US policy with regard to Palestine.

It also sounds like our presence in Iraq has actually fueled anti-Semitism there.

Add those to the many reasons this invasion was wrong-headed.

It would have been much more productive for the Middle East if ShrubCo had thrown its full weight behind resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rather than endangering US lives for Iraqi oil.

[xchrom]

3. spot on, paschall

while i don't agree with much those interviewed said -- i do agree that u.s. policy is driven by israeli interests. and that much is clear to the average arab citizen -- however crudely stated.
but the west has a bad habit of not listening to average citizens in the middle east -- we simply pay people to prop up our point of view and call them and what they say moderate.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Paschall]

5. I understand your point about the word anti-Semitism

But I'm using a standard definition: Hostility to Judaism and hostility to those who practice it on the basis of that practice.

(Actually, those words are mine; but you'll find similar wording in any dictionary.)

I don't see anything in the article, though, that justifies labelling our troops anti-Semitic.

[Muddleoftheroad]

6. So, do you think those "Zionist Jews" also run the U.S. media?

[Lurking Dem]

7. Educate yourself.

It may not be too late.

http://www.candles-museum.com/antsem.htm

[Interrobang]

8. Actually, while that's technically correct, it's not factually correct.

The coiner of the term was looking for a more "scientific" sounding way of phrasing the concept of hating Jews. You can check the etymology in the OED, if you like.

However, I will agree with you that both Jews and Arabs are Semitic peoples, and both trace their ancestry to the patriarch Abraham. Considering that, the strife in the Middle East looks progressively more and more pointless from here.

[The Stranger]

9. Does "Likudnik" translate from Iraqi Arabic?

Does "Likudnik" translate from Iraqi Arabic? The anti-Semitism is disgusting and seems to be overwhelmingly prevalent from the article. Much of what it relies upon is beyond ridiculous. It seems that all Jews are lumped together when this is clearly not the case.

[David__77]

10. Are you saying "Likudnik" is an anti-Semitic term?

I don't think so. Likudniks are running Israel and that's too bad. It's such a shame that the "Greater Israel" fascists murdered Rabin--he was the best hope for that nation.