The real history of Jewish-Muslim relations

[American Dream]

The real history of Jewish-Muslim relations

02/03/2015
By Levi Tazir

There are two versions of history we hear about Jewish-Muslim relations. On the one hand, some make out like it’s a story of constant war and animosity, dating back over centuries. On the other hand, some want to say that it was a matter of complete harmony and coexistence until Israel came along. Neither is true.

Both stories are told more for ideological reasons than factual ones. The people who say it’s a story of endless struggle want to justify their prejudices, foster divisions and make their nationalist answers seem like the only solutions. Normally, that story is nothing more than Zionist propaganda.

We have been united before. We can be again.

Those who say everything was always fine do so because they want us to believe that the world is already a nice place, where people do get along really, and if we just got rid of a few of the bad things we could all sit around knitting rainbows. Anti-Semitism didn’t begin with Zionism, even among Muslims.

But there is no truth in the idea that Jews and Muslims were always in conflict. Even a cursory glance at history will show that’s not the case. And the world isn’t really a nice place. It is full of inequalities, divisions and problems that inevitably affect how Jews and Muslims relate to each other.

So what is the real story? Religions are always responses to the societies they’re in. Judaism and Islam aren’t static objects that stand through time unchanged. Instead, both have responded to world events, economic disaster and environmental catastrophe throughout the ages. The simple and complicated truth is really that, when resources have been plentiful and shared, relations have usually been good. In times of economic hardship and political collapse, relations have generally been bad.

The answer to division is, was, and always has been socialism: the complete political and economic equality of people.

I want to give an overview of history to show what I mean. I’m going to look at some of the main events in relations between Jews and Muslims up to the present day. I’ll show you how these relations have really been defined by power, economics, money and empires. And I hope that by giving a real history we can imagine a real future. The answer to division is, was, and always has been socialism: the complete political and economic equality of people.

This is going to be a long article. Grab a cup of tea or pull your ashtray close because you can’t fit centuries of goings-on between two of the world’s greatest religions into tweetable soundbites. If you can’t be arsed to read the whole thing, I suggest skimming over the quotes in the main sections and then skipping to the end – that’s where the politics are.

Continues at: http://jewdas.org/the-real-history-of-j ... relations/

[American Dream]

Jewdas and Yiddish anarchism

They raised a beetroot in the air and shouted “F*** capitalism!”

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Sorry, but I find this shit hilarious. Jewdas are a bunch of Yiddish anarcho pranksters, but they are far better than most when it comes to diagnosing and opposing antisemitism on the Left. They do lots of Palestine solidarity stuff, but they’ve always been careful to emphasize the dangers of antisemitic forms of anti-Zionism. Plus, they had no problem kicking that dumbass Ken Livingstone in the teeth.

Corbyn played this all rather well, I must say, and doesn’t come off as disingenuous in the least. Really, after flipping out on him for attending Seder, how is the public supposed to take these same people attacking him as an antisemite seriously? Instead, shifting the narrative, the media has attempted to portray Jewdas as a bunch of dangerous extremists — i.e., “a hate-filled group that mocks Judaism.”

Oz Katerji, the New Statesman journo who covered this story, stressed that members of Jewdas weren’t all “extremists.” Nevertheless, he questioned the wisdom of Corbyn in attending the event:

I am sure the Jewdas Seder was a blast, I’m sure the vast majority of those in attendance are good people. But the leader of the opposition should know better than to associate with a group that take pride saying “Burn down parliament.”

Like, come on. That’s awesome. If anything, it should have been Jewdas that was reluctant to meet with the leader of any parliamentary party. Either way, Jez said he “learned a lot” from the evening’s festivities. Wish they’d schooled Corbyn about some other matters, however, maybe taught him to hum the bars of “Daloy politsey!” (a Yiddish anarchist song, “Down with the Police!”).

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