Islamophobia and Antisemitism are two peas in a pod, because A.) on a religious level they are cousins, and B.) because people who hate Muslims are often the same people who hate Jews. Often times I say, “Jews and Muslims need to work together in the Diaspora to combat this hatred,” and more often than not, some antisemite crawls out from the woodwork saying, “…but Israel.” Often times they are uneducated on the issues, but will continue to drone on about Israel this and that, rather than realize they aren’t in Israel and nor are the Jews or Muslims I am speaking about.
Jews in the diaspora often criticize some of Israel’s actions, but adamantly (as they should), believe Israel has a right to self-defense and self-determination in their ancient homeland. Therein lies the point, however, not every Muslim is Hamas or a Palestinian Arab, and many Jews in the Diaspora have never been to Israel, let alone live there. Half of the entire Jewish population lives in America in fact!
The Muslim world is waking up to the truth, that Iran monetarily and militarily supports both Hezbollah in Syria and Hamas in Palestinian Arab territories, and many Muslim nations are choosing peace over hatred of the Jewish people. Old enemies in the middle east are becoming close friends with Israel and even a good many of the Iranian people are saying they want peace with Israel. You know who wants war… not the people… their governments do, and so they spread misinformation and lies to drum up hate and division… sound familiar America?
If you can scapegoat others and focus the populous’ hate on an enemy that isn’t, they won’t be focused on the government and the real enemy that is!
Meanwhile, in America, we are all Jews and Muslims not living there, we are American Jews and Muslims, and the same people who work against and hate one of us, hate both of us. This isn’t just a hunch or assumption, this is a cold, hard fact. While Muslims and Jews do not trust or refuse to work alongside one another, those hate groups grow stronger, more emboldened, work more tirelessly to restrict our rights and voices, and become more apt to strike out at either or even both of us.
…this… is… 100%, verifiable truth!
Just as the ignorant blame every Muslim for the terrorism of 9/11, Al-Shabab, Al Queda, ISIS etcetera… the ignorant blame every Jew for the actions of Israel’s government. There is no difference in the level of ignorance, none whatsoever, and those who say otherwise out their own antisemitism. We must create bridges between us so that we both can fight against hatred, bigotry, and ignorance together and stamp it out for good.
Divided, we all lose, united, we are an immovable mountain who will not waver or falter against the tides of hate levied against us. We can fight against each other, and both lose, or fight together against our mutual enemies and secure our rights and freedoms… the choice is each of ours to make.