Toronto Star, Ontario, Canada
June 19 2005
A `Golden Age’ of intolerance
Anna Morgan says Muslims fuelling rise in anti-Semitism in Europe
At a recent conference on anti-Semitism in Cordoba, Spain, the Armenian
delegate made an emphatic speech in which he pointed out that Cordoba
was not only the medieval centre of coexistence between Judaism,
Islam and Christianity, it was also the place where interfaith
relations degenerated into some of the greatest crimes of history –
expulsion and inquisition. Remarkably, he was the only speaker that
noticed this paradox.
In his speech, the host of the event, Spain’s Foreign Minister
Miguel Moratinos, urged an end to all forms of discrimination,
including both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. In the process, he
warned the delegates not to let the war in the Middle East be used
as an excuse for anti-Semitism. Given the climate that prevails
at many international institutions, it was a fitting start to this
year’s Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe meeting
on anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance.
Within a couple of hours of Moratinos’s speech, however, it became
clear that some states are as interested in redirecting attention
away from anti-Semitism as they are in resolving it.
The most blatant example was the representative of the Arab League,
who confidently asserted that anti-Semitism will not end until the
Israeli-Arab conflict is resolved. This after hearing numerous speakers
assure the audience that there is no place for anti-Muslim sentiments
in western countries and that the various unresolved conflicts in
the Middle East provide no excuse. It seems that what was good for
the goose was not good for the gander.
Although the Arab League’s prejudicial analysis of anti-Semitism met
with polite applause, it was at that point that many delegates seemed
to realize that a condemnation of intolerance is worthless without
at least some introspection.
The conference was the second time the 55 OSCE member states,
including the Europeans, NATO, the former Soviet bloc, and several
Middle Eastern states as observers, met to address the rising number
of anti-Semitic incidents worldwide.
The first meeting was held last year in Berlin, Germany, the scene of
the most tragic anti-Semitic period in modern history. This year’s
meeting in Cordoba was meant to symbolize a return to a period of
interfaith harmony.
And while Spain is justifiably proud of the so-called Golden Age of
coexistence between the 9th and 11th centuries, it took the outspoken
Armenian ambassador to point out that states must not only pay lip
service to the principles of non-discrimination, they must also take
responsibility for their failures. Otherwise, nothing can be done to
address the attitudes that caused the breakdown.
For its part, Canada initially questioned the need for any special
response to anti-Semitism, claiming that there should be no
“hierarchies of discrimination.”
Arguing from its multicultural perspective, the Canadian ambassador
noted that all racism is equally deplorable and that in singling out
one form of intolerance we may inadvertently denigrate another. While
this might reflect the Canadian context, it does not address the
anti-Semitic heritage that accounts for so much of European history.
As sensitive as the issue is, it must also be acknowledged that
anti-Semitism in Western Europe today is a socially distinctive
phenomenon emanating not so much from the European elites but from
the Muslim neighbourhoods of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The fire of discontent in those communities is actually being
fueled by economic troubles, but is being excused by the Arab-Israeli
conflict. The spreading problem calls for both short-term and long-term
solutions.
Much still needs to be done to reduce all forms of discrimination,
including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Effective education programs
and anti-racism policies need to be developed and implemented in
Europe, the Arab world, and everywhere else, including Canada.
With unemployment and poverty increasing among Middle Eastern and North
African immigrants in Europe, it seems unlikely that the anti-Israel
and anti-Semitic rhetoric being spread in those communities, with
its resulting violence, will decline anytime soon.
But as the Armenian representative noted, it is impossible to figure
out how to fix the problem if we don’t first ask why it is happening.