SPOTLIGHT
To understand the topic at hand, it is important to have background information about how the relations between Muslims and Jews developed into what we see today.
MUSLIM-JEWISH RELATIONS: AN ANALYSIS
There is very little religious text in Islam that could be taken to support anti-Semitism; nevertheless, today it is rife in the Muslim community. Islam and Judaism are both Abrahamic faiths that originated from the Middle East and various religious customs are closely linked to the lands in which each was founded.
For many in the Muslim community who are biased against the Jews, their discrimination is a reaction to Zionism, political Islam and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most Arab and Muslim states in the Middle East do not have good relations with Israel. Several Muslims believe the political ambitions of Israel to be representative of the agenda of all Jews. A majority of Muslim states in the Middle East have expressed moral support for the Palestinian Muslims.
From a political viewpoint, Muslim countries’ support of Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has caused many Jews to see the Muslims in a negative light. They understand that Israel is a state surrounded by enemies who want to destroy it; they often equate Arab nationalism with Islam and the agenda of Arab countries with the so-called Islamic agenda. On a religious level, some ultra-conservatives view Islam as an illegitimate religion that came from the lineage of Prophet Abraham’ s‘ lesser’ son, Ishmael( who was born to a concubine and
6 THE TRUE MEHDI • ISSUE 02 • FEB 2017