Middle East Studies
Excellence in Scholarship and Learning
Excellence in Scholarship and Learning
Muslim Attitudes to Jews and Israel
The Ambivalences of Rejection, Antagonism, Tolerance and Cooperation
Moshe Ma’oz is Professor Emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He has recently been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. Professor Ma’oz has published many books and articles on the political and social history of the Middle East.
Manifestations of hatred of Jews and Israel have risen over
the last few decades in the Arab and Muslim world. This hatred
is demonstrated in many ways – from propaganda to terrorism.
But is such hatred the result of Islamic anti-Semitism, as
widely claimed? Or does it have other roots and reasons?
This book sets the record
straight by explaining that while anti-Semitism is the credo
of fanatic groups and regimes, such an attitude is not representative
of traditional and contemporary Islam. For centuries Muslim
attitudes to Jews were ambivalent: contempt and antagonism
alongside tolerance and cooperation. In fact Jews under Islam
were better off than their Christian neighbours, and much
better off than their Jewish brethren under Christianity.
A similar pattern of relations has developed over the last
several decades between Muslim nations and the Jewish state
of Israel: hostility and violence, mostly by Muslim Arabs,
but also dialogue and cooperation by and with many other Muslims.
These complex relations
are discussed here by Muslim and Jewish scholars – from
Azerbaijan, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan,
Palestine, the USA and Turkey – who analyze the religious,
cultural, political and economic factors that have shaped
Muslim attitudes to Jews and Israel. Ideas and suggestions
are put forward to improve Muslim–Jewish relations –
the theme of which was first conceived at an international
conference organized by the Weatherhead Center for International
Affairs, and the Divinity School, Harvard University.
| Hardback ISBN: | 978-1-84519-322-5 |
| Hardback Price: | £49.95 / $65 |
| Release Date: | March 2010 |
| Paperback ISBN: | 978-1-84519-527-4 |
| Paperback Price: | £24.95 / $34.95 |
| Release Date: | December 2011 |
| Page Extent / Format: | 352 pp. / 229 x 152 mm |
| Illustrated: | No |
Preface
Introduction by Moshe Ma‘oz
Part I Anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim World: Myth and Reality
1 Modern Myths of Muslim Anti-Semitism
Mark R. Cohen
2 The Image of the Jew/Zionist/Israeli in the Arab World
Esther Webman
Part II Ambivalent Attitudes in Muslim-Arab Countries
3 The Breakdown of Arab–Israeli Peace: Research from Remote,
Reciprocal Stereotypes and Anti-Normalization – The Case
of Jordan
Wasfi Kailani
4 Islam and the Question of Peace with Israel: Jad al-Haqq’s
Fatwa Permitting Egypt’s 1979 Peace Treaty with Israel
Yitzhak Reiter
5 Saudi Arabia and Israel: The Essence of Strategic Pragmatism
Joseph Kostiner and Michael Kahanov
6 Myth, History and Realpolitik: Morocco and its
Jewish Community
Samir Ben-Layashi and Bruce Maddy-Weitzman
7 Babylon versus Zion: Changing Iraqi Perceptions of Israel
Ofra Bengio
Part III Non-Arab Muslim Countries/Communities in Asia
8 Azerbaijani Public Perceptions of Jews and the 159
Israeli–Palestinian Conflict
Tural Ahmadov
9 Turkish Policy towards the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict
Saziya Burcu Giray
10 Dancing in the Dark: Pulling the Veil off Israeli–Pakistan
Relations
Paul Rockower and Aneeq Cheema
11 Indian Muslims and the Three Js: Jews, Jerusalem and the
Jewish State
P. R. Kumaraswamy
12 Indonesian Muslims’ Perceptions of Jews and Israel
Ibnu Burdah
Part IV Muslim Communities in Africa, Europe and the USA
13 African Islam: Its Attitudes towards Israel and Judaism
Arye Oded
14 “The Triangle”: Europeans, Muslims, Jews 264
Amikam Nachmani
15 An Examination of Current Attitudes of Muslim Americans toward
Jews, Israel and Jerusalem
Paul L. Scham
The Contributors
Index
Children of Abraham: Trialogue of Civilizations,”
the research project sponsored in 2007 by the Weatherhead
Center for International Relations at Harvard University,
has produced several publications; this is the second. Following
an introduction by the editor, it is divided into four parts
and fifteen papers; notes and an index are included. The first
part, “Anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim World: Myth
and Reality” includes two papers examining modern myths
regarding Muslim and anti-Semitism and the image of the Jew/Zionist/Israel
in the Arab World. This is followed by “Ambivalent Attitudes
in Muslim-Arab Countries” with five papers dealing with
specific phenomena regarding Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Morocco and Iraq. The five papers in the third part “Non-Arab
Muslim Countries/Communities in Asia” deal with Azerbaijan,
Turkey, Pakistan, India and Indonesia. The last part examines
“Muslim Communities in Africa, Europe and the USA.”
… All papers add to readers’ understanding and
knowledge, but some serve more as source material.
AJL Reviews
The volume has a strong point in providing a very
informative overview of Muslim–Jewish relations in various
parts of the world. The most interesting articles are looking
more in depth at Muslim attitudes toward Jews and Israel through
societies, publications, and interviews; nevertheless, the
majority of the articles look at the diplomatic relations
between states under scrutiny and Israel, which makes the
volume slightly inconsistent. Overall, this is a good source
for historians and scholars of politics and religion, a work
that has more questions than answers.
Digest of
Middle East Studies
Reviewed in Turcica
et de Central Eurasian Reader,
Centre d'études turques, ottomanes, balkaniques et centrasiatiques, Collège de France.
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