The Arab attitude to Israel was shown by the late
Professor and former IDF intelligence chief Yeshophat Harkabi, surveying
public expression in the Arab world, to be implacably hostile. Following
the post Yom Kippur war talks and then the Camp David agreement, some
Israeli perceptions viewed Egypt's gain of the Sinai as likely to remove
her grievances.
Thereafter, in pursuit of objectives derived from
Madrid (1991), matters were enacted exceeding the national consensus,
that have rent the Israeli body politic asunder engendering controversy
whose bitterness may be glimpsed in the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
Israel has signed a peace treaty with Jordan, giving up its historic
claim to Transjordan; a "declaration of principles" with the PLO, in
accordance to which it has agreed to the division of western Eretz
Israel (the Land of Israel), including a waiver of the historic
Jewish claim to Judea and Samaria, the cradle of the Hebrew nation and
the raison d'etre of Zionism; Israel has agreed to discuss the
transfer of the sovereignty of the Old City of Jerusalem, its ancient
capital and the City of David, to a foreign power; and it has declared
its willingness to either partial or complete withdrawal from the Golan
Heights, and its return to Syria.
None of Israel's willingness to go along with Arab
demands has been, nor have signed agreements, successful in changing
popular Arab attitudes, as far as the mass media suggest; and among the
intelligentsia attitudes are even worse. Hence for example the findings
of Professor Raphael Israeli (Hebrew University):
"Sadat's peace initiative has not really effected any
change in Egyptian, let alone Arab, attitudes towards Israel. Moreover,
judging from the Egyptian caricatures and articles written in the
post-November, 1977 era, one might even be led to believe that the level
of hostility Egyptians felt with regard to Jews and Israel may have been
heightened."
A series of caricatures bears out the level of
hostility (images particularly important where there are high rates of
illiteracy).
Deification Versus Demonization: Unity
of Contrasts in Image of the Jew
The anti-Semitic caricature derives its content from
a negation, religious, moral, racial, social, and political in
character, unique among the forms of caricature. It exceeds the usual
bounds, in both content and form, just as hatred of Jews is sui
generis, in that it exceeds the pathological range of xenophobia.
The anti-Semitic caricature is entirely devoid of the element of humor
inherent in caricature as an art form, and it is unique in its Nazi and
Arab expressions, in that it presents its object, the Jewish human
being, both as an individual and in his generality, as worthy of
physical annihilation. Inadequate as a term, caricature in this case
suggests an image to be fixed in the viewer's mind singling out the Jew,
to be presented under the backdrop of the three previous peak periods of
Western anti-Semitism: the late Middle Ages, the modern period, and
Nazism.
The Middle Ages: The Anti-Semitic
Libel vs. Esthetic Innocence
These were a period of anti-Semitism par excellence.
The Dualism of Christian Dogma in
Respect of the Jews
A problem for the early Church was that annihilation
would remove the witness to Christianity's triumph, but the Jews, by
existing, seemed to negate the heirs' completeness of inheritance (see
the writings of John Chrysostom and Augustine of Hippo).
Denigrating Content vs. Restraint in
Form
There was a problem of how to depict the wickedness
of the Jew, without actually negating his very humanity. The solution
was a unique combination of anti-Semitic libel without physical
distortion. There was religious libel, theological accusation, but not
dehumanization. The Jewish image is usually depicted with objectivity
and restraint. Examples can show how the stereotype lies in the caption
rather than the form and content being united in the image.
The Modern Period – Unity of Form and
Content
Jewish emancipation was met with dislike by the
emerging bourgeoisie who felt threatened in a range of ways. Among
intellectuals Voltaire competes with Fichte for recognition as the
father of secular anti-Semitism. Marxism, which certainly joins the
monotheistic religions as one of the most prevalent, and comprehensive,
dogmas in history, contained the bacillus of anti-Semitism as the image
of the Mammon-worshipping capitalist, the mythological underpinning of
the Protocols of the Elders of Zion: "What is the worldly cult of
the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly god? Mammon...." (Zur
Judenfrage ["Toward the Jewish Question"]). The Jew is now the enemy
of the people, of society, of the working class, subject to a satirical
press with anti-Semitic caricatures.
The Anti-Semitic Caricature as the
Antithesis of Esthetic Canon
The Jew would be depicted as the antithesis of the
Graeco-Roman concept of beauty, both masculine and feminine: it is only
by being fully aware of the ideal of beauty imprinted in the minds of
the nineteenth century European that one can begin to understand the
degree of denigration involved in the portrayal of the obese, flaccid,
crooked-nosed, bow-legged Jew, with hairy body, protruding eyes, saliva
dripping from the sides of his mouth. Thus, it was in the nineteenth
century that the archtypical Jew in anti-Semitic stereotyping that we
know today, was given its final form, both esthetically and in content.
The portrayal of Jews by the Nazi, Soviet, and Arab literature merely
vary on that stereotype. Examples make this very clear.
Nazism – License to Exterminate
The human divinity and the human devil ... The Jew is
the opposite of a human being, his antithesis ... The handiwork of
another god ... The Aryan and the Jew ... are as far from each other as
the beast from a human being ...The Jew is a hostile being, foreign to
nature. Adolf Hitler
Ripping the Human Mask Off the Jewish
Devil
In the Nazi Weltanshauung, Nordic man, the
embodiment of human perfection, faced the Jewish subhuman, the
incarnation of evil. Thus were the Jews classified separately from the
human race, and inferior to it. The Jew needed revealing from behind the
devilish mask which presented him as human. What came to be known as the
"Nazi caricature," mainly through the caricatures of Philip Ruprecht
(Fips) in Julius Streicher's Der Sturmer, was merely a faithful
expression of Hitler's thoughts concerning the Jew as "the opposite of a
human being."
Der Sturmer –
Graphic Depiction of the Subhuman
By the end of the 1930s, the polarization between the
Nordic ideal and its Jewish antithesis had been completed. Instilment of
hatred of the Jews into the minds of the Germans through the most
comprehensive, concentrated, and purposeful indoctrination campaign in
history was aimed at raising the German war effort in World War II to
the level of a high moral calling in the struggle of the Sons of Light
against the Sons of Darkness. The image of the Jewish subhuman was
etched into the German consciousness as a human-like devil, the
annihilation of whom is a precondition for the realization of the Nazi
dream. The path to the factory-like annihilation of the Jews was now
open, not merely from moral turpitude, nor for lack of inhibition or
pangs of conscience, but rather as a rising up to a moral mandate of the
highest order.
Islam – From the Middle Ages to the
Modern Period
One is inclined to agree with Bernard Lewis, that
while the history of Islam is free of the anti-Semitic horrors of
medieval Christendom, it did not experience the uplift of anything
comparable to Western liberalism and Jewish emancipation. What theology
did not provide was made up for by historical reality.
Israel and the Ethos of the Jihad –
The Roots of Arab Hostility
A corollary to the injunction of the jihad, and its
manifestation in politics, is the territorial application of the sacred
principle of "Muslim Sanctification," the Dar el-Islam (House of
Islam). The one sovereign, non-Islamic entity in the region is an
anomaly, geographically in the heart of the Dar el-, while at the same
time, a part of the Dar el-Harb: not only have the Arabs not been
able to extirpate Israel, but every attempt they made to annihilate the
"Zionist entity" has met with defeat on the field of battle. This is an
intolerable affront to a culture that worships war as an ethos, and
violence as a principle. Israel thus geographically and strategically as
well as religiously represents an intrusion into the Arab world. In Arab
literature there is no willingness to recognize Zionism or the right of
Jews to have a sovereign state: years have passed, but the attitude that
Israel is a transient phenomenon has not changed. A typical expression
of such refusal to see Israel as a sovereign entity is its
non-appearance on Arab maps; Egyptians adamantly refuse to include
Israel in maps of the Middle East, and continue to mark Eretz Israel as
"Palestine". Hence, in contrast to the theological or racial hatred of
Jews in the west, Arab anti-Semitism stands on the firm bases of both a
social ethos and long-range strategic thinking.
The Arab Caricature – An Esthetic
Imitation
Since Islam traditionally forbade the figurative
visual arts, Arab caricature is an imitation, detached from the esthetic
roots of Islam in general and of the Arab world in particular. Taking a
ready-made, off-the-shelf anti-Semitic caricature from Europe does more
than free the Arab artist from the need to draw an authentic paradigm of
his own. It is also a convenient way for the Arab propaganda machine to
fulfill its primary goal of dehumanizing the Jew; it also renders Arab
anti-Semitism an integral part of its European counterpart. In terms of
time and space, the Arab caricature exceeds anything previously known in
the annals of the hatred of Israel over the ages. Never before has an
entire civilization, spread over 22 countries, constantly, day after day
for decades, in hundreds of newspapers, denigrated the image of the Jew
and his country. Moreover, if we judge the Arab caricature in terms of
virulence, we will find that it exceeds anything that preceded it,
including the Nazi caricature, hitherto adjudged as embodying the nadir
of the hatred of Israel. In one respect the Arab representation goes
beyond all the previous models it uses: it graphically depicts the
actual extermination that is in store for Israel, if the opportunity
presents itself, when even the Nazis were hesitant about the world’s and
their own public opinion if they were too explicit.
The Arab caricature incites hatred and releases
pent-up frustration, and through jihad it serves the aims of war, and in
war, calling for the extermination of the enemy is legitimate.
Dominant Themes in Arab Caricatures
The materials (with examples included in the original
paper) are within a time and geographic frame determined by the peace
accords with Egypt and the peace process: Egyptian materials date from
the Camp David accords, while materials from other Arab countries
involved in negotiations, date from the commencement of preparations for
the Madrid Conference in 1991. Caricatures from "rejection states" tend
to be no more venomous than the others, rather less so: a dominant theme
is the foolishness of Arabs who fall prey to Israel’s wiles.
A. The Peace Process as a Jewish Trap for the
Arabs
The Arab media have viewed the Peace Process as a
symmetric dichotomy: (a) It is a Zionist plot to destroy the Arabs, or
(b) It is an opportunity for the Arabs to destroy Israel.
B. The Peace Process as an Opportunity to Destroy
Israel
Until the Six Day War, Israel was perceived as just a
nuisance, the extermination of which was just a matter time; hence, it
was depicted as the "Zionist midget" or "dwarf". After 1967 Israel was
seen as a satanic threat to the whole Middle East, and an element of
fear was now added to hatred, and the Israeli was portrayed as a monster
armed from tip to toe. More recently a terrified little figure is
represented as the knives of Gaza and the West Bank are poised to cut
him up.
C. Israel – A Judaeo-Nazi Entity
The idea of Judaeo-Nazism is one of the central
recurring themes of Arab propaganda: caricatures appear almost daily
with swastikas identifying Israel. This derives from post 1967 Soviet
and later ("Peace for Galilee" and Intifada) Western models and
may appear paradoxical considering Arab admiration for Nazism.
D. Demonization
Demonization is intended mainly to present the Jew as
an anti-human of satanic powers, war against whom is part of the
struggle of the forces of light against forces of darkness. Such Arab
demonization is a continuation of the historical trend.
E. Zoomorphy
The intention is to deny the enemy any semblance of
humanity, thus rendering his annihilation implicitly understood, just as
spraying bugs or trapping rats is undertaken without moral inhibition or
pangs of conscience. Zoomorphy is among the most common motifs in
anti-Semitic Arab caricature exceeding in scope and quantity anything
preceding it. The animals that appear most often are the snake, octopus,
the spider, the mad dog, the locust, and the worm.
F. The Blood Libel
Even though the blood libel in the Christian sense is
devoid of theological roots in Islam, it has enjoyed wide dissemination
and is one of the motifs of Arab anti-Semitic propaganda. The man
responsible for conferring on the blood libel "canonical" status was
Syrian war minister Mustafa T'las (through his The Matzoth of Zion
through which he gained a doctorate and it became a best-seller in
the Arab world).
G. Israel – A Criminal Entity
The principal message, according to this theme, is
the delegitimation of Israel as a sovereign entity, since its very
existence is a danger to human well-being.
H. Israel and the United States
The Soviet view is given an Arab twist: the American
people in general, and the administration in Washington in particular,
are nothing but tools in behalf of Jewish schemes.
I. Israel as the Grave
The theme of "Palestine" as the grave of Israel and
the Jews serves to alleviate Arab distress over Israel's very existence,
prosperity, and strength, which palpably contradict the principles of
Islam. It represents the totality of Arab anti-Semitism which focuses on
the destruction of the Jews as a precondition for the deliverance of
Islam and the unity of the Arabs, pending fulfillment of the goals of
the jihad.
"Peace does not lie in charters and covenants
alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of the people." – J.F.K.
This
topic was expanded upon and published in a book
Peace: The
Arabian Caricature - A Study of Anti-Semitic Imagery.
For the
complete text of this book, click
here.