“Muslims Are the New Jews” in the West: Reflections on Contemporary
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Uriya Shavit “Muslims arethe New Jews” in the West: Reflections on ContemporaryParallelisms This article examines aspectrum of contemporary textsbyMuslim essayists, scholars, and activists based in the Arab world, in Europe, and in the United States thatcomparativelyanalyzed Jewish experiencesinthe West as invaluable lessons for Muslim minorities. These included: antisemitism and the struggle against it; segregation from and integration into majoritysocieties; and political lobbying on behalf of the “greater nation.” The article argues that the diversityof Jewishrealities,past and present,and the general sense that Jewish minorities in the West ultimatelyfound ways to preservetheir religious identity while amass- ing social-political influence, have renderedcomparisons between Muslims and Jews an essentialaspect of different (and at times contesting) arguments about the future of Muslim minorities in the West. Introduction In 2012,Israel’sChannel 10,the country’ssecond-largest commercial television network, aired adocumentary series entitled “Allah Islam,” which painted an alarming picture of radicalizedMuslim communities in Europe. The series, de- scribed by several critics as uneven,¹ was met with exceptional public interest, with ratingsfor the network soaring to as much as 20 percent.The notion that Europe is being Islamized, or is under “Muslim occupation,” has been repeatedly articulated in recent years in Israeli media. Reports on European Jews (particu- larlyFrench Jews), who migrated to Israel or contemplate doing so and invoke their concern about Muslim attitudes to Jews as amain motivation, contribute to the imageofEuropean Muslims as an imminent threat.² In the past decade, Note: This is arepublication of the author’searlier publication of the same title in the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 36, no. 1(2016): 1–15. Cf. A. Mendelzon, “Ma Mevi YoterRatingme-Sinat Muslimim?,” [“NothingProvides Greater TV Ratingsthan Hatredfor Muslims?”] Mako,October 9, 2012,http://www.mako.co.il/video- blogs-specials/Article-f25e58c13eea931006.htm. Forexample,inthe words of Sandra, a35-year-old French Jew, whoemigrated on July 16, 2014,with her husbandand four children: OpenAccess. ©2021Armin Lange, Kerstin Mayerhofer,Dina Porat, LawrenceH.Schiffmann, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110671964-017 284 UriyaShavit Ihavegiven several dozen public lectures on Muslim minorities in Europe to Is- raeli audiences.When the time for question and answer comes, participants— usually highlyeducated and politically moderate senior citizens—oftenex- press the conviction that Europe is being,oralreadyhas been, “taken over” by Islam,and that it is headed for acatastrophe that endangers its Jewish minor- ities and Israeli interests. Asense of Schadenfreude,that Europeans willfinally getataste of the medicine which Israelis have swallowed for manyyears, is the frequent undertone of these analyses. “MuslimsofEurope”:AFictitious Concept? As is the case with manyofthe discussions on Islam in the West,common de- pictions of aclear-cut rivalry and “inherent clash” between the Jews and Mus- lims of Europe are predominatelycharacterized by essentializations. They grave- ly err in two respects.First,inpolitical,social, and culturalterms, “Muslims of Europe” is almost afictitious concept.The Muslims of the continent are diverse and divided in their religious attitudes and practices basedondoctrinal, philo- sophical, political,national, territorial, ethnic, linguistic,and other affiliations, to the extent that analyzingthem as one coherent,unifiedgroup, with common ideologies and ambitions, including with regard to views on Jews and Judaism, is reductionist and misleading—no less thananalyzingthe Jews of the continent in such generalizing terms would be. Second, while the attitudes of certain Muslim individuals and groups should be acause of concern for European Jews, agreat historical ironyisthatJewish freedom of religion in Europe has become intertwinedwith that enjoyed by Mus- lims. Some of the Islamic rituals and traditions that have been at the coreofpub- lic debates on Islam in Europe in recent years, such as male circumcision and the slaughteringofanimals, are similar to Jewishtraditions and rituals. Where the rights of Muslims are affected, those of Jews are affected as well. France, “Iwas born in Paris,Ilikevery much the European wayofliving, and Inever considered livinghere[in Israel. However] it is hard to be aJew in France today. Thereare morethan seven million Muslims there, on the streets there’sanatmosphere of anti-Semitism, and the govern- ment shuts its eyes,” see Rofe-Ofir,Sharon. “Anu Banu,” [“Here We Came,”] Laisha,September 29,2014. Foranin-depth report on the effect of sporadic attacks by Muslims had on Jewish emi- gration fromEurope see A. Lebor, “Exodus:Why Europe’sJews Are FleeingOnce Again,” News- week,July29, 2014,http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/08/exodus-why-europes-jews-are-flee ing-once-again-261854.html. “Muslims arethe New Jews” in the West 285 for example, did not legislate aban specificallyagainst Muslim headscarves. The text of the lawapproved on March 15,2004,statedthat “in publicand secondary schools, wearingsigns or clothes by which pupils clearlydisplayareligious af- filiation is forbidden.”³ While the legislation was initiatedinorder to specifically ban hijabs and reflected awider public concern over the increasingpresenceof Islamic symbols and displays in the public sphere, it also resulted in the banning of certain Jewish skullcaps in state schools. Even whereJews are not directlyaf- fected by acts aimed against Muslims, infringementsonthe rights of another re- ligious minority createdangerous precedents. Forwho is to assure that the same Swiss electorate thatprohibited the buildingofminarets in one referendum would not prohibit the building of synagogues in another? Commonality of Interests As religious minorities who observetraditions that some European liberals and conservativesalike view disparagingly, Jews and Muslims on the continent today have more thanmonotheism in common. To the extent thattheir religious heri- tagematters to them—whether in adevotional,cultural, or folkloristicsense— they have common interests against liberal and populist voices thatseek to limit the practice of religious traditions. In recent years, Jewishand Muslim leaders recognized this commonality on local, national, and transnationallevels, leadingtodialogues and joint initia- tivesthat do not always attract media attention. The swift and successful action by Jewish and Muslim German organizations to ensure that aJune 2012,Cologne court ruling that declared circumcisions illegal would not affect the right to cir- cumcise boys in the country was, perhaps,the finest demonstration that on cer- tain critical issues, Jewishand Muslim agendas are similar and can be best served when advocatedtogether.Leaders from both communities protested against the ban, includinginajoint march in Berlin,describingitasagratuitous infringement on religious freedoms and warning that it would effectively make leading aJewishorMuslim life in Germanyimpossible.⁴ The protests led the Ger- J. R. Bowen, Why the French Don’tLikeHeadscarves:Islam, the State and Public Space (Prince- ton: Princeton University Press, 2007), 136.Onthe support for the ban across the French political spectrum and its motivations see ibid., 63 – 127, and J. Ezekiel, “French Dressing: Race, Gender, and the Hijab History,” Feminist Studies 32, no. 2(2006): 256–78. Cf. “Judenund Muslimegehen gemeinsamauf dieStraße,” DieWelt,September 9, 2012,https:// www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article109113576/Juden-und-Muslime-gehen-gemeinsam-auf- die-Strasse.html; B.Weinthal, “Jews,Muslims,ChristiansProtest Circumcision Ban,” The Jerusalem 286 UriyaShavit man parliament,with the active support of the GermanChancellor,toapproveby an overwhelmingmajority in December 2012 alaw thatsecured the right to cir- cumcise boys.⁵ Germany’sshort-livedjudicial ban on circumcisions alsodemonstrated that JewishEuropean organizations,despite being aminority of far smaller demo- graphic proportions,hold (especiallyinthe German context)greater political leveragethan do similar Muslim organizations.While the prospect of aban on circumcision alarmed Germany’sMuslim leaderships, it was the outcries of Ger- man, European, and Israeli Jewish leaders, and the concern of German politi- cians of the reappearance of prejudice against Jews, that encouraged prompt leg- islative action that ensured the continued legality of circumcisions.⁶ Lessons to Learn from the Jews The resemblancebetween Muslims and Jews as minorities in Europe, and the greater ability of Jews to promoteasminorities their agendas, has not escaped the notice of aspectrum of Muslim scholars and activists, some basedinthe Muslim world and some in Europe. In recent years, the notion of “Muslims as the new Jews” has proliferatedindeliberations on the future of Islam on the Eu- ropean continent.Instark contrast to the Jewish-Israeli imageofEuropean Mus- lims as adangerous “other” that threatens European Jewishexistence, aple- thoraoftexts written by Muslims presented European Jews as reflections of European Muslims and argued that the Jewish experience provides invaluable lessons for Muslims. Comparisons pointed to the tragic past of the Jews and to their prosperous and securepresent to make different points about how Muslim