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 dehumanisation. 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
recognise 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.
