Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The new American trend in opposing anti-Semitism needs to be opposed itself, because it is a discriminatory practice aimed at alleviating discrimination. It is bound to achieve negative results for three reasons.



The first reason is that it is a trend aimed at punishing, not teaching. It depends on laws that incriminate anti-Semitism, but does not delve into the core of the matter. Instead of researching the history, causes, and dynamics behind individual cases of anti-Semitism, it uses the all-encompassing superficial explanation of the Jews being persecuted simply because they are Jews, an approach that will not solve any problem.



The second reason is that this reverse discriminatory law attributes higher status to Jews. This causes the entrenchment of the common belief that the Jews control the U.S., and that, in turn, causes more hatred towards the Jews. What rationalizes this thought process is the fact that the law came out in special case format, i.e. not including any other forms of discrimination, such as racial discrimination, which is much more salient in the United States. The law also came at the time of the elections, which lends credibility to the view that Jews have the upper hand in deciding the outcome of American elections.



Thirdly, the law, which will bunch together anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism and opposition to Israel, will also make Israel above criticism. Any sympathizer with the Palestinian cause will be dubbed an anti-Semite. This has historically been a goal for Jews, because it is in their ideology that gentiles inherently hate Jews, and can only be deterred by the presence of a mighty Jewish state in Palestine.



Sartre defines anti-Semitism as the process by which a nation attributes its suffering to the Jews, which would be a suspicion at best. He was viewing the problem from a European perspective. The case is different for Palestinians. They know the reason for their suffering; they see it every day, and so they can realistically attribute it to someone: Israel. Arabs hence face a dilemma, either stand by your beliefs and be anti-Semites [in the new definition,] or abandon your cause and not be held accountable by the U.S. The only way this problem can be solved is by justice, albeit a little late, but if the occupation and the denial of the right of return continue, then the Anti-Semitism law becomes a tool for discrimination; a method to legitimize the aggressor.