the crescent and the cross: religion and community in the balkans

8/12/2019 The Crescent and the Cross: Religion and Community in the Balkans

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The Crescent and the Cross

Religion and Community in the Balkans

1stEDITION

Sam Vaknin

Editing and Design:

Lidija Rangelovska

A Narcissus Publications Imprint

Prague & Haifa 2014


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2014 Copyright Narcissus Publications

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C O N T E N T S

Throughout this book click on blue-lettered text to navigate to different chapters

or to access online resources

1. The Crescent and the Cross: Religion and Community in the Balkans2. The Clash of Islam and Liberalism3. The Elders of Zion4. A Dialog about Anti-Semitism5. Muslims: Europes New Jews

Author Bio


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The Crescent and the Cross: Religion and Community in the Balkans

"There are two maxims for historians which so harmonise with what I know ofhistory that I would like to claim them as my own, though they really belong to

nineteenth-century historiography: first, that governments try to press upon thehistorian the key to all the drawers but one, and are anxious to spread the beliefthat this single one contains no secret of importance; secondly, that if the historiancan only find the thing which the government does not want him to know, he willlay his hand upon something that is likely to be significant."

Herbert Butterfi eld, " H istory and Human Relations" , London, 1951, p. 186

The Balkans as a region is a relatively novel way of looking at the discrete nation-states that emerged from the carcasses of the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires and

fought over their spoils.

This sempiternal fight is a determinant of Balkan identity. The nations of theBalkan are defined more by ornery opposition than by cohesive identities. Theyderive sustenance and political-historical coherence from conflict. It is theirafflatus. The more complex the axes of self-definition, the more multifaceted andintractable the conflicts. Rabid nationalism against utopian regionalism, fascism(really, opportunism) versus liberalism, religion-tinted traditionalism (the localmoribund edition of conservatism) versus "Western" modernity.

Who wins is of crucial importance to world peace.

The Balkan is a relatively new political entity. Formerly divided between thedecrepit Ottoman Empire and the imploding Austro-Hungarian one - the countriesof the Balkans emerged as unique polities only during the 19th century. This wasto be expected as a wave of nationalism swept Europe and led to the formation ofthe modern, bureaucratic state as we know it.

Even so, the discrete entities that struggled to the surface of statehood did not feelthat they shared a regional destiny or identity. All they did was fight ferociously,ruthlessly and mercilessly over the corrupted remnants of the Sick Men of Europe(the above mentioned two residual empires). In this, they proved themselves to bethe proper heirs of their former masters: murderous, suborned, Byzantine andnearsighted.

In an effort to justify their misdeeds and deeds, the various nations - true andconcocted - conjured up histories, languages, cultures and documents, some real,mostly false. They staked claims to the same territories, donned common heritagewhere there was none, spoke languages artificially constructed and lauded a culture

hastily assembled by "historians" and "philologists".


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These were the roots of the great evil - the overlapping claims, the resultingintolerance, the mortal, existential fear stoked by the kaleidoscopic conduct of theBig Powers. To recognize the existence of the Macedonian identity - was tothreaten the Greek or Bulgarian ones. To accept the antiquity of the Albanians was

to dismantle Macedonia, Serbia and Greece. To countenance Bulgarian demandswas to inhumanly penalize its Turk citizens. It was a zero-sum game playedviciously by everyone involved. The prize was mere existence - the losersannihilated.

It very nearly came to that during the two Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913.

Allies shifted their allegiance in accordance with the shifting fortunes of a mostbewildering battlefield. When the dust settled, two treaties later, Macedonia wasdismembered by its neighbours, Bulgaria bitterly contemplated the sour fruits of its

delusional aggression and Serbia and Austro-Hungary rejoiced. Thus were theseeds of World War I sown.

The Yugoslav war of succession (or civil war) was a continuation of this mayhemby other means. Yugoslavia was born in sin, in the dictatorship of King AlexanderI (later slain in France in 1934). It faced agitation, separatism and discontent fromits inception. It was falling apart when the second world conflagration erupted. Ittook a second dictatorship - Tito's - to hold it together for another 40 years.

The Balkan as a whole - from Hungary, through Romania and down to Bulgaria -

was prone to authoritarianism and an atavistic, bloody form of racist, "peasant ornative fascism". A primitive region of destitute farmers and vile politicians, it wasexposed to world gaze by the collapse of communism. There are encouraging signsof awakening, of change and adaptation. There are dark omens of reactionaryforces, of violence and wrath. It is a battle fought in the unconscious of humanityitself. It is a tug of war between memories and primordial drives repressed and thevitality of those still close to nature.

The outcome of this fight is crucial to the world. Both world wars started in centraleastern and south-eastern Europe. Globalization is no guarantee against a third one.The world was more globalized than it is today at the beginning of the century -

but it took only one shot in Sarajevo to make this the most sanguineous century ofall.

An added problem is the simple-mindedness, abrasiveness and sheer historicalignorance of America, the current superpower. A nation of soundbites and black orwhite stereotypes, it is ill-suited to deal with the nuanced, multilayered andinteractive mayhem that is the Balkan. A mentality of western movies - good guys,

bad guys, shoot'em up - is hardly conducive to a Balkan resolution. The intricate

and drawn out process required taxes American impatience and bullyingtendencies to their explosive limits.


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In the camp of the good guys, the Anglo-Saxons place Romania, Greece,Montenegro and Slovenia (with Macedonia, Croatia, Albania and Bulgariawandering in and out). Serbia is the epitome of evil. Milosevic is Hitler. Such uni-dimensional thinking sends a frisson of rubicund belligerence down American

spines.

It tends to ignore reality, though. Montenegro is playing the liberal card deftly, nodoubt - but it is also a haven of smuggling and worse. Slovenia is the civilizedfacade that it so tediously presents to the world - but it also happened to haveharboured one of the vilest fascist movements, comparable to the Ustasha - theDomobranci. It shares with Croatia the narcissistic grandiose fantasy that it is not a

part of the Balkan - but rather an outpost of Europe - and the disdain for itsimpoverished neighbours that comes with it. In this sense, it is more "Balkanian"than many of them. Greece is now an economically stable and mildly democratic

country - but it used to be a dictatorship and it still is a banana republic in morethan one respect. The Albanians - ferociously suppressed by the Serbs and (justly)succoured by the West - are industrious and shrewd people. But - fervent

protestations to the contrary aside - they do seem to be intent on dismantling andrecombining both Yugoslavia (Serbia) and Macedonia, perhaps at a terrible cost toall involved. Together with the Turks, the Serbs and the Bulgarians, the Albaniansare the undisputed crime lords of the Balkan (and beyond - witness theirincarceration rates in Switzerland).

This is the Balkan - a florilegium of contradictions within contraventions, the

mawkish and the jaded, the charitable and the deleterious, the feckless and thebumptious, evanescent and exotic, a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

"In accordance with this [right to act], whenever some one of the infidel parents orsome other should oppose the giving up of his son for the Janiccaries, he isimmediately hanged from his doorsill, his blood being deemed unworthy."

Turkish fi rman, 1601

"...The Turks have built several fortresses in my kingdom and are very kind to thecountry folk. They promise freedom to every peasant who converts to Islam."

Bosnian King Stefan Tomasevic to Pope Pius I I

"...The Porte treated him (the patriarch) as part of the Ottoman political apparatus.As a result, he had certain legally protected privileges. The Patriarch travelled in'great splendour' and police protection was provided by the Janiccaries. His horseand saddle were fittingly embroidered, and at the saddle hung a small sword as asymbol of the powers bestowed on him by the Sultan."Dusan Kasic, " The Serbian Church under the Turks" , Belgrade, 1969

Within the space of 500 years, southeast Europe has undergone two paradigmatic


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shifts. First, from Christian independence to Islamic subjugation (a gradual processwhich consumed two centuries) and then, in the 19th century, from self-determination through religious affiliation to nationalism. The Christians of theBalkan were easy prey. They were dispirited peasantry, fragmented, prone to

internecine backstabbing and oppressive regimes. The new Ottoman rulers treatedboth people and land as their property. They enslaved some of their prisoners ofwar (under the infamous "pencik" clause), exiled thousands and confiscated theirlands and liquidated the secular political elites in Thrace, Bulgaria, Serbia andAlbania. The resulting vacuum of leadership was filled by the Church. Thus,

paradoxically, it was Islam and its excesses that made the Church the undisputedshepherd of the peoples of the Balkan, a position it did not enjoy before. The newrulers did not encourage conversions to their faith for fear of reducing their tax

base - non-Moslem "zimmis" (the Qur'an's "People of the Book") paid special (andheavy) taxes to the treasury and often had to bribe corrupt officials to survive.

Still, compared to other Ottoman exploits (in Anatolia, for instance), the conquestof the Balkan was a benign affair. Cities remained intact, the lands were notdepopulated and the indiscriminately ferocious nomadic tribesmen that usuallyaccompanied the Turkish forces largely stayed at home. The Ottoman bureaucracytook over most aspects of daily life soon after the military victories, bringing withit the leaden stability that was its hallmark. Indeed, populations were dislocatedand re-settled as a matter of policy called "sorgun". Yet such measures wereintended mainly to quell plangent rebelliousness and were applied mainly to theurban minority (for instance, in Constantinople).

The Church was an accomplice of the Turkish occupiers. It was a part of theOttoman system of governance and enjoyed both its protection and its funding. Itwas leveraged by the Turk sultans in their quest to pacify their subjects. Mehmet II

bestowed upon the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, its bishops and clergy greatpowers. The trade off was made explicit in Mehmet's edicts: the Church acceptedthe earthly sovereignty of the sultan - and he, in turn, granted them tolerance,

protection and even friendship. The Ottoman religious-legal code, the Seriat,recognized the Christian's right to form their own religiously self-governing

communities. These communities were not confined to the orderly provision ofworship services. They managed communal property as well. Mehmet'sbenevolence towards the indigents was so legendary that people wrongly attributedto him the official declaration of a "Millet i Rum" (Roman, or Greek, nation) andthe appointment of Gennadios as patriarch of the Orthodox Church (which only anepiscopal synod could do).

The Ottoman Empire was an amazing hybrid. As opposed to popular opinion itwas not a religious entity. The ruling elite included members of all religions. Thus,one could find Christian "askeri " (military or civil officials) and Muslim "reaya"

("flock" of taxpayers). It is true that Christians paid the arbitrarily set "harac" (or,less commonly, "cizye") in lieu of military service. Even the clergy were not


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exempt (they even assisted in tax collection). But both Christians and Muslimspaid the land tax, for instance. And, as the fairness, transparency and predictabilityof the local taxmen deteriorated - both Muslims and Christians complained.

The main problem of the Ottoman Empire was devolution - not centralization.Local governors and tax collectors had too much power and the sultan was tooremote and disinterested or too weak and ineffective. The population tried to getIstanbul MORE involved - not less so. The population was financially fleeced asmuch by the Orthodox Church as it was by the sultan. A special church-tax waslevied on the Christian reaya and its proceeds served to secure the lavish lifestylesof the bishops and the patriarch. In true mob style, church functionaries divided theloot with Ottoman officials in an arrangement known as "peskes". Foreign powerscontributed to the war chests of various candidates, thus mobilizing them tosupport pro-Catholic or pro-Protestant political stances and demands. The church

was a thoroughly corrupt, usurious and politicized body which contributed greatlyto the ever increasing misery of its flock. It was a collaborator in the worst sense ofthe word.

But the behaviour of the church was one part of the common betrayal by the eliteof the Balkan lands. Christian landowners volunteered to serve in the Ottomancavalry ("sipahis") in order to preserve their ownership. The Ottoman rulersconveniently ignored the laws prohibiting "zimmis" to carry weapons. Until 1500,the "sipahis" constituted the bulk of the Ottoman forces in the Balkan and theirmass conversion to Islam was a natural continuation of their complicity. Other

Christians guarded bridges or mountain passes for a tax exemption ("derbentci").Local, Turkish-trained militias ("armatoles") fought mountain-based robber gangs(Serbian "hayduks", Bulgarian "haiduts", Greek "klephts"). The robbers attackedTurkish caravans with the same frequency and zeal that they sacked Christiansettlements. The "armatoles" resisted them by day and joined them by night. But itwas perfectly acceptable to join Turkish initiatives such as this.

The Balkan remained overwhelmingly Christian throughout the Ottoman period.Muslim life was an urban phenomenon both for reasons of safety and because only

the cities provided basic amenities. Even in the cities, though, the communitieslived segregated in "mahalles" (quarters). Everyone collaborated in public life butthe "mahalles" were self-sufficient affairs with the gamut of services - from hot

baths to prayer services - available "in-quarter". Gradually, the major cities,situated along the trade routes, became Moslem. Skopje, Sarajevo and Sofia all hadsizeable Moslem minorities.

Thus, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the picture that emerges is one ofan uneasy co-habitation in the cities and a Christian rural landscape. The elites ofthe Balkan - church, noblemen, warriors - all defected and collaborated with the

former "enemy". The local populace was the victim of usurious taxes, coercivelyapplied. The central administration shared the loot with its local representatives


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and with the indigenous elites - the church and the feudal landed gentry. It was acosy and pragmatic arrangement that lasted for centuries.

Yet, the seeds of Ottoman bestiality and future rebellion were sown from the veryinception of this empire-extending conquest. The "devsirme" tax was an exampleof the fragility of the Turkish veneer of humanity and enlightened rule. Christiansons were kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and trained as fighters in thefearsome Janiccary Corps (the palace Guards). They were never to see theirfamilies and friends again. Exemptions from this barbarous practice were offeredonly to select communities which somehow contributed to Ottoman rule in theBalkan. Christian women were often abducted by local Ottoman dignitaries. andthe custom of the "kepin", allowed Moslems to "buy" a Christian daughter off herhusband on a "temporary" basis. The results of such a union were raised asMoslems.

And then there were the mass conversions of Christians to Islam. Theseconversions were very rarely the results of coercion or barbarous conduct. On thecontrary, by shrinking the tax base and the recruitment pool, conversion wereunwelcome and closely scrutinized by the Turks. But to convert was such anadvantageous and appealing act that the movement bordered on mass hysteria.Landowners converted to preserve their title to the land. "Sipahis" converted toadvance in the ranks of the military. Christian officials converted to maintain theirofficialdom. Ordinary folk converted to avoid onerous taxes. Christian tradersconverted to Islam to be able to testify in court in case of commercial litigation.

Converted Moslems were allowed to speak Arabic or their own language, ratherthan the cumbersome and elaborate formal Turkish. Christians willingly tradedeternal salvation for earthly benefits. And, of course, death awaited those whorecanted (like the Orthodox "New Martyrs", who discovered their Christianorigins, having been raised as Moslems).

Perhaps this was because, in large swathes of the Balkan, Christianity never reallytook hold. It was adopted by the peasant as a folk religion - as was Islam later. InBosnia, for instance, Muslims and Christians were virtually indistinguishable.

They prayed in each other's shrines, celebrated each other's holidays and adoptedthe same customs. Muslim mysticism (the Sufi orders) appealed to manysophisticated urban Christians. Heretic cults (like the Bogomils) converted enmasse. Intermarriage flourished, mainly between Muslim men (who could notafford the dowry payable to a Muslim woman) and Christian women (who had to

pay a dowry to her Muslim husband's family). Marrying a Christian woman was alucrative business proposition.

And, then, of course, there was the Moslem birth rate. With four women and apecuniary preference for large families - Moslem out-bred Christians at all times.

This trend is most pronounced today but it was always a prominent demographicfact.


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But the success of Islam to conquer the Balkan, rule it, convert its population andprevail in it - had to do more with the fatal flaws of Balkan Christianity than withthe appeal and resilience of Islam and its Ottoman rendition. In the next chapter Iwill attempt to ponder the complex interaction between Catholicism and Orthodox

Christianity as it was manifested in Croatia and Bosnia, the border lands betweenthe Habsburg and the Ottoman empires and between "Rome" and "Byzantium". Iwill then explore the variance in the Ottoman attitudes towards various Christiancommunities and the reasons underlying this diversity of treatment modalities.

"From the beginning, people of different languages and religions were permitted tolive in Christian lands and cities, namely Jews, Armenians, Ismaelites, Agarenesand others such as these, except that they do not mix with Christians, but ratherlive separately. For this reason, places have been designated for these according toethnic group, either within the city or without, so that they may be restricted to

these and not extend their dwelling beyond them."Bishop Demetrios Khomatianos of Ohrid, late 12th century and earl y 13th

century AD

"The Latins still have not been anathematized, nor has a great ecumenical councilacted against them ... And even to this day this continues, although it is said thatthey still wait for the repentance of the great Roman Church."

"...do not overlook us, singing with deaf ears, but give us your understanding,according to sacred precepts, as you yourself inspired the apostles ... You see,

Lord, the battle of many years of your churches. Grant us humility, quiet the storm,so that we may know in each other your mercy, and we may not forget before theend the mystery of your love ... May we coexist in unity with each other, and

become wise also, so that we may live in you and in your eternal creator the Fatherand in his only-begotten Word. You are life, love, peace, truth, and sanctity..."East European Studies Occasional Paper, Number 47, " Chr istianity and I slam

in Southeastern Europe - Slavic Orthodox Attitudes toward Other Reli gions" ,

Eve Levin, January 1997

"...you faced the serpent and the enemy of God's churches, having judged that itwould have been unbearable for your heart to see the Christians of your fatherlandoverwhelmed by the Moslems (izmailteni); if you could not accomplish this, youwould leave the glory of your kingdom on earth to perish, and having become

purple with your blood, you would join the soldiers of the heavenly kingdom. Inthis way, your two wishes were fulfilled. You killed the serpent, and you receivedfrom God the wreath of martyrdom."

Mateja Mateji c and Dragan Mil ivojevic, " An Anthology of M edieval Serbian

L iterature in Engl ish" , Columbus, Ohio: Slavica, 1978

Any effort to understand the modern quagmire that is the Balkan must address


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religion and religious animosities and grievances. Yet, the surprising conclusion ofsuch a study is bound to be that the role of inter-faith hatred and conflict has beengreatly exaggerated. The Balkan was characterized more by religious tolerancethan by religious persecution. It was a model of successful co-habitation and co-

existence even of the bitterest enemies of the most disparate backgrounds. Only therise of the modern nation-state exacerbated long-standing and hitherto dormanttensions. Actually, the modern state was established on a foundation of artificiallyfanned antagonism and xenophobia.

Religions in the Balkan were never monolithic enterprises. Competing influences,paranoia, xenophobia and adverse circumstances all conspired to fracture thereligious landscape. Thus, for instance, though officially owing allegiance to the

patriarch in Constantinople and the Orthodox "oikumene", both Serb and Bulgarianchurches collaborated with the rulers of the day against perceived Byzantine

(Greek and Russian) political encroachment in religious guise. The southern Slavchurches rejected both the theology and the secular teachings of the "Hellenics"and the "Romanians" (Romans). In turn, the Greek church held the Slav church indisregard and treated the peasants of Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania tosavage rounds of tax collection. The Orthodox, as have all religions, berated otherconfessions and denominations. But Orthodoxy was always benign - no "jihad", no

bloodshed, no forced conversions and no mass expulsions - perhaps with theexception of the forcible treatment of the Bogomils.

It was all about power and money, of course. Bishops and archbishops did not

hesitate to co-opt the Ottoman administration against their adversaries. They hadtheir rivals arrested by the Turks or ex-communicated them. Such squabbles werecommon. But they never amounted to more than a Balkanian comedia del-arte.Even the Jews - persecuted all over western Europe - were tolerated and attained

prominence and influence in the Balkan. One Bulgarian Tsar divorced his wife tomarry a Jewess. Southern Orthodox Christianity (as opposed to the virulent andvituperative Byzantine species) has always been pragmatic. The minorities (Jews,Armenians, Vlachs) were the economic and financial backbone of their societies.And the Balkan was always a hodge-podge of ethnicities, cultures and religions.

Shifting political fortunes ensured a policy of "hedging one's bets".

The two great competitors of Orthodox Christianity in the tight market of soulswere Catholicism and Islam. The former co-sponsored with the Orthodox Churchthe educational efforts of Cyril and Methodius. Even before the traumatic schismof 1054, Catholics and nascent Orthodox were battling over (lucrative) religiousturf in Bulgaria.

The schism was a telling affair. Ostensibly, it revolved around obscure theologicalissues (who begat the Holy Spirit - the Father alone or jointly with the Son as well

as which type of bread should be used in the Eucharist). But really it was a clash ofauthorities and interests - the Pope versus the patriarch of Constantinople, the


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Romans versus the Greeks and Slavs. Matters of jurisdiction coalesced withpolitical meddling in a confluence of ill-will that has simmered for at least twocenturies. The southern (Slav) Orthodox churches contributed to the debate andsupported the Greek position. Sects such as the Hesychasts were more Byzantine

than the Greeks and denounced wavering Orthodox clergy. Many a south Orthodoxpilloried the Catholic stance as an heresy of Armenian or Apollinarian or Arianorigin - thus displaying their ignorance of the subtler points of the theologicaldebate. They also got wrong the Greek argumentation regarding the bread of theEucharist and the history of the schism. But zeal compensated for ignorance, as isoften the case in the Balkan.

What started as a debate - however fervent - about abstract theology became an allout argument about derided customs and ceremonies. Diet, dates and divine

practices all starred in these grotesque exchanges. The Latin ate unclean beasts.

They used five fingers to cross themselves. They did not sing Hallelujah. Theyallowed the consumption of dairy products in Lent. The list was long and

preposterous. The parties were spoiling for a fight. As is so often the case in thisaccursed swathe of the earth, identity and delusional superiority were securedthrough opposition and self-worth was attained through defiance. By relegatingthem to the role of malevolent heretics, the Orthodox made the sins of theCatholics unforgivable, their behaviour inexcusable, their fate sealed.

At the beginning, the attacks were directed at the "Latins" - foreigners fromGermany and France. Local Catholics were somehow dissociated and absolved

from the diabolical attributes of their fellow-believers abroad. They used the samecalendar as the Orthodox (except for Lent) and similarly prayed in ChurchSlavonic. The only visible difference was the recognition of papal authority by theCatholics. Catholicism presented a coherent and veteran alternative to Orthodoxy'sinchoate teachings. Secular authorities were ambiguous about how to treat theirCatholic subjects and did not hesitate to collaborate with Catholic authoritiesagainst the Turks. Thus, to preserve itself as a viable religious alternative, theOrthodox church had to differentiate itself from the Holy See. Hence, the flamingdebates and pejorative harangues.

The second great threat was Islam. Still, it was a latecomer. Catholicism andOrthodoxy have been foes since the ninth century. Four hundreds years later,Byzantine wars against the Moslems were a distant thunder and raised littlecuriosity and interest in the Balkan. The Orthodox church was acquainted with thetenets of Islamic faith but did not bother to codify its knowledge or record it. Islamwas, to it, despite its impeccable monotheistic credentials, an exotic Oriental off-shoot of tribal paganism.

Thus, the Turkish invasion and the hardships of daily life under Ottoman rule

found Orthodoxy unprepared. It reacted the way we all react to fear of theunknown: superstitions, curses, name calling. On the one hand, the Turkish enemy


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was dehumanized and bedevilled. It was perceived to be God's punishment uponthe unfaithful and the sinful. On the other hand, in a curious transformation or acognitive dissonance, the Turks became a divine instrument, the wrathfulmessengers of God. The Christians of the Balkan suffered from a post traumatic

stress syndrome. They went through the classical phases of grief. They started bydenying the defeat (in Kosovo, for instance) and they proceeded through rage,sadness and acceptance.

All four phases co-existed in Balkan history. Denial by the many who resorted tomysticism and delusional political thought. That the Turks failed for centuries tosubdue pockets of resistance (for instance in Montenegro) served to rekindle thesehopes and delusions periodically. Thus, the Turks (and, by extension, Islam) servedas a politically cohering factor and provided a cause to rally around. Ragemanifested through the acts against the occupying Ottomans of individuals or

rebellious groups. Sadness was expressed in liturgy, in art and literature, in musicand in dance. Acceptance by conceiving of the Turks as the very hand of GodHimself. But, gradually, the Turks and their rule came to be regarded as the workof the devil as it was incurring the wrath of God.

But again, this negative and annihilating attitude was reserved to outsiders andforeigners, the off-spring of Ishmael and of Hagar, the Latins and the Turks.Moslem or Catholic neighbours were rarely, if ever, the target of such vitriolicdiatribes. External enemies - be they Christian or Moslem - were always to becursed and resisted. Neighbours of the same ethnicity were never to be punished or

discriminated against for their religion or convictions - though half-heartedcondemnations did occur. The geographical and ethnic community seems to have

been a critical determinant of identity even when confronted with an enemy at thegates. Members of an ethnic community could share the same religious faith as theinvader or the heretic - yet this detracted none from their allegiance and place intheir society as emanating from birth and long term residence. These tolerance andacceptance prevailed even in the face of Ottoman segregation of religiouscommunities in ethnically-mixed "millets". This principle was shattered finally bythe advent of the modern nation-state and its defining parameters (history and

language), real or (more often) invented. One could sometimes find members ofthe same nuclear family - but of different religious affiliation. Secular rulers andartisans in guilds collaborated unhesitatingly with Jews, Turks and Catholics.Conversions to and fro were common practice, as ways to secure economic

benefits. These phenomena were especially prevalent in the border areas of Croatiaand Bosnia. But everyone, throughout the Balkan, shared the same rituals, the wayof life, the superstitions, the magic, the folklore, the customs and the habitsregardless of religious persuasion.

Where religions co-existed, they fused syncretically. Some Sufi sects (mainly

among the Janiccary) adopted Catholic rituals, made the sign of the cross, drankalcohol and ate pork. The followers of Bedreddin were Jews and Christians, as well


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as Moslems. Everybody shared miraculous sites, icons, even prayers. OrthodoxSlavs pilgrims to the holy places in Palestine were titled "Hadzi" and Moslemswere especially keen on Easter eggs and holy water as talismans of health.Calendars enumerated the holidays of all religions, side by side. Muslim judges

("kadis") married Muslim men to non-Muslim women and inter-marriage was rife.They also married and divorced Catholic couples, in contravention of the Catholicfaith. Orthodox and Catholic habitually intermarried and interbred.

That this background yielded Srebrenica and Sarajevo, Kosovo and Krajina isastounding. It is the malignant growth of this century.

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The Clash of Islam and Liberalism

Islam is not merely a religion. It is also - and perhaps, foremost - a state ideology. It is all-pervasive and missionary. It permeates every aspect of social cooperation and culture. It is anorganizing principle, a narrative, a philosophy, a value system, and a vade mecum. In this it

resembles Confucianism and, to some extent, Hinduism.

Judaism and its offspring, Christianity - though heavily involved in political affairsthroughout the ages - have kept their dignified distance from such carnal matters. These arereligions of "heaven" as opposed to Islam, a practical, pragmatic, hands-on, ubiquitous,"earthly" creed.

Secular religions - Democratic Liberalism, Communism, Fascism, Nazism, Socialism andother isms - are more akin to Islam than to, let's say, Buddhism. They are universal,

prescriptive, and total. They provide recipes, rules, and norms regarding every aspect of

existence - individual, social, cultural, moral, economic, political, military, and philosophical.

At the end of the Cold War, Democratic Liberalism stood triumphant over the fresh graves ofits ideological opponents. They have all been eradicated. This precipitated Fukuyama's

premature diagnosis (the End of History). But one state ideology, one bitter rival, oneimplacable opponent, one contestant for world domination, one antithesis remained - Islam.

Militant Islam is, therefore, not a cancerous mutation of "true" Islam. On the contrary, it isthe purest expression of its nature as an imperialistic religion which demands unmitigatedobedience from its followers and regards all infidels as both inferior and avowed enemies.

The same can be said about Democratic Liberalism. Like Islam, it does not hesitate toexercise force, is missionary, colonizing, and regards itself as a monopolist of the "truth" andof "universal values". Its antagonists are invariably portrayed as depraved, primitive, and

below par.

Such mutually exclusive claims were bound to lead to an all-out conflict sooner or later. The"War on Terrorism" is only the latest round in a millennium-old war between Islam and other"world systems".

Such interpretation of recent events enrages many. They demand to know (often in harshtones):

-Dont you see any differences between Islam on the one hand and Judaism and

Chr istiani ty on the other?

Islam is a young religion, less than 1400 years old. When Judaism and Christianity were atthis phase of their development, they resembled Islam today: they were rife with militancy,obscurantism, misogyny, missionary belligerence, and all-pervading, dogmatic intolerance.

- Don' t you see any dif ference between terrori sts who murder civil ians and regular armies

in battle?

Both regulars and irregulars slaughter civilians as a matter of course. "Collateral damage" isthe main outcome of modern, total warfare - and of low intensity conflicts alike.


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Christian fundamentalists have more in common with Muslim militants than with East Coastor French intellectuals.

Muslims have always been the West's most defining Other. Islamic existence and "gaze"helped to mold the West's emerging identity as a historical construct. From Spain to India, the

incessant friction and fertilizing interactions with Islam shaped Western values, beliefs,doctrines, moral tenets, political and military institutions, arts, and sciences.

This war is about world domination. Two incompatible thought and value systems competefor the hearts and minds (and purchasing power) of the denizens of the global village. Like inthe Westerns, by high noon, either one of them is left standing - or both will have perished.

Where does my loyalty reside?

I am a Westerner, so I hope the West wins this confrontation. But, in the process, it would begood if it were humbled, deconstructed, and reconstructed. One beneficial outcome of this

conflict is the demise of the superpower system - a relic of days bygone and best forgotten. Ifully believe and trust that in militant Islam, the United States has found its match.

In other words, I regard militant Islam as a catalyst that will hasten the transformation of theglobal power structure from unipolar to multipolar. It may also commute the United Statesitself. It will definitely rejuvenate religious thought and cultural discourse. All wars do.

Aren' t you overdoing it? Af ter al l , al-Qaida is just a bunch of terrori sts on the run!

The West is not fighting al-Qaida. It is facing down the circumstances and ideas that gaverise to al-Qaida. Conditions - such as poverty, ignorance, disease, oppression, andxenophobic superstitions - are difficult to change or to reverse. Ideas are impossible tosuppress. Already, militant Islam is far more widespread and established that any Westerngovernment would care to admit.

History shows that all terrorist groupings ultimately join the mainstream. Many countries -from Israel to Ireland and from East Timor to Nicaragua - are governed by former terrorists.Terrorism enhances social upward mobility and fosters the redistribution of wealth andresources from the haves to haves not.

Al-Qaida, despite its ominous portrayal in the Western press - is no exception. It, too, will

succumb, in due time, to the twin lures of power and money. Nihilistic and decentralized as itis - its express goals are the rule of Islam and equitable economic development. It is bound toget its way in some countries.

The world of the future will be truly pluralistic. The proselytizing zeal of Liberal Democracyand Capitalism has rendered them illiberal and intolerant. The West must accept the fact thata sizable chunk of humanity does not regard materialism, individualism, liberalism, progress,and democracy - at least in their Western guises - as universal or desirable.

Live and let live (and live and let die) must replace the West's malignant optimism andintellectual and spiritual arrogance.

Edward K. Thompson, the managing editor of "Life" from 1949 to 1961, once wrote:


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" 'L if e' must be curious, alert, erudite and moral, but it must achieve thi s without being

hol ier-than-thou, a cynic, a know-i t-all or a Peeping Tom."

The West has grossly and thoroughly violated Thompson's edict. In its oft-interruptedintercourse with these forsaken regions of the globe, it has acted, alternately, as a Peeping

Tom, a cynic and a know it all. It has invariably behaved as if it were holier-than-thou. In anunmitigated and fantastic succession of blunders, miscalculations, vain promises, unkeptthreats and unkempt diplomats - it has driven the world to the verge of war and the regions it"adopted" to the threshold of economic and social upheaval.

Enamored with the new ideology of free marketry cum democracy, the West first assumedthe role of the omniscient. It designed ingenious models, devised foolproof laws, imposedfail-safe institutions and strongly "recommended" measures. Its representatives, the tribunesof the West, ruled the plebeian East with determination rarely equaled by skill or knowledge.

Velvet hands couched in iron gloves, ignorance disguised by economic newspeak,

geostrategic interests masquerading as forms of government, characterized their dealings withthe natives. Preaching and beseeching from ever higher pulpits, they poured opprobrium andsweet delusions on the eagerly duped, naive, bewildered masses.

The deceit was evident to the indigenous cynics - but it was the failure that dissuaded themand others besides. The West lost its former colonies not when it lied egregiously, not when it

pretended to know for sure when it surely did not know, not when it manipulated and coaxedand coerced - but when it failed.

To the peoples of these regions, the king was fully dressed. It was not a little child but anenormous debacle that exposed his nudity. In its presumptuousness and pretentiousness,feigned surety and vain clichs, imported economic models and exported cheap raw materials- the West succeeded to demolish beyond reconstruction whole economies, to ravagecommunities, to wreak ruination upon the centuries-old social fabric, woven diligently bygenerations.

It brought crime and drugs and mayhem but gave very little in return, only a horizonbeclouded and thundering with vacuous eloquence. As a result, while tottering regionalgovernments still pay lip service to the values of Capitalism, the masses are enraged andrestless and rebellious and baleful and anti-Western to the core.

The disenchanted were not likely to acquiesce for long - not only with the West's neo-colonialism but also with its incompetence and inaptitude, with the nonchalantexperimentation that it imposed upon them and with the abyss between its proclamations andits performance.

Throughout this time, the envoys of the West - its mediocre politicians, its insatiably ruthlessmedia, its obese tourists, its illiterate soldiers, and its armchair economists - continue to playthe role of God, wreaking greater havoc than even the original.

While confessing to omniscience (in breach of every tradition scientific and religious), theyalso developed a kind of world weary, unshaven cynicism interlaced with fascination at the

depths plumbed by the locals' immorality and amorality.


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The jet-set Peeping Toms reside in five star hotels (or luxurious apartments) overlooking thecommunist, or Middle-Eastern, or African shantytowns. They drive utility vehicles to theshabby offices of the native bureaucrats and dine in $100 per meal restaurants ("it's so cheaphere").

In between kebab and hummus they bemoan and grieve the corruption and nepotism andcronyism ("I simply love their ethnic food, but they are so..."). They mourn theautochthonous inability to act decisively, to cut red tape, to manufacture quality, to open tothe world, to be less xenophobic (said while casting a disdainful glance at the native waiter).

To them it looks like an ancient force of nature and, therefore, an inevitability - hence theircynicism. Mostly provincial people with horizons limited by consumption and by wealth,these heralds of the West adopt cynicism as shorthand for cosmopolitanism. Theyerroneously believe that feigned sarcasm lends them an air of ruggedness and rich experienceand the virile aroma of decadent erudition. Yet all it does is make them obnoxious and evenmore repellent to the residents than they already were.

Ever the preachers, the West - both Europeans and Americans - uphold themselves as rolemodels of virtue to be emulated, as points of reference, almost inhuman or superhuman intheir taming of the vices, avarice up front.

Yet the chaos and corruption in their own homes is broadcast live, day in and day out, intothe cubicles inhabited by the very people they seek to so transform. And they conspire andcollaborate in all manner of venality and crime and scam and rigged elections in all thecountries they put the gospel to.

In trying to put an end to history, they seem to have provoked another round of it - morevicious, more enduring, more traumatic than before. That the West is paying the price for itsmistakes I have no doubt. For isn't it a part and parcel of its teachings that everything has a

price and that there is always a time of reckoning?

Note - Globali zation - L iberalism's Di sastrous Gamble

From Venezuela to Thailand,democratic regimesare being toppled by authoritariansubstitutes: the military, charismatic left-wingers, or mere populists. Even in the USA, the

bastion of constitutional rule,civil and human rights are being alarmingly eroded(though notwithout precedent in wartime).

The prominent ideologues of liberal democracy have committed a grave error by linkingthemselves inextricably with the doctrine of freemarketry and the emerging new order ofglobalization. As Thomas Friedman correctly observes in "The Lexus and the Olive Tree",

both strains of thought are strongly identified with theUnited States of America (USA).

Thus, liberal democracy came to be perceived by the multitudes as a ruse intended tosafeguard the interests of an emerging,malignantly narcissisticempire(the USA) and ofrapacious multinationals. Liberal democracy came to be identified with numbing, low-browcultural homogeneity, encroachment on privacy and the individual, and suppression ofnational and other idiosyncratic sentiments.
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Liberal democracy came to be confused and confuted with neo-colonial exploitation, socialDarwinism, and the crumbling of social compacts and long-standing treaties, both explicitand implicit. It even came to be associated with materialism and a bewildering variety ofsocial ills: risingcrimerates,unemployment,poverty, drug addiction, prostitution,organtrafficking,monopolistic behavior,corporate malfeasance,and otherantisocialforms of

conduct.

The backlash was, thus, inevitable.

Note - Exclusionary I deas of Progress

Communism,Fascism,Nazism,and Religious Fundamentalism are as utopian as the classicalIdea of Progress,which is most strongly reified by Western science and liberal democracy.All four illiberal ideologies firmly espouse a linear view of history: Man progresses byaccumulating knowledge and wealth and by constructing ever-improving polities. Similarly,the classical, all-encompassing, idea of progress is perceived to be a "Law of Nature" with

human jurisprudence and institutions as both its manifestations and descriptions. Thus, allideas of progress are pseudo-scientific.

Still, there are some important distinctions between Communism, Fascism, Nazism, andReligious Fundamentalism, on the one hand, and Western liberalism, on the other hand:

All four totalitarian ideologies regard individual tragedies and sacrifices as the inevitablelubricant of the inexorable March Forward of the species. Yet, they redefine "humanity"(who is human) to exclude large groups of people. Communism embraces the Working Class(Proletariat) but not the Bourgeoisie, Nazism promotes one Volk but denigrates andannihilates others, Fascism bows to the Collective but viciously persecutes dissidents,Religious Fundamentalism posits a chasm between believers and infidels.

In these four intolerant ideologies, the exclusion of certain reviled groups of people is both aprerequisite for the operation of the "Natural Law of Progress" and an integral part of itsmotion forward. The moral and spiritual obligation of "real" Man to future generations is to"unburden" the Law, to make it possible for it to operate smoothly and in optimal conditions,with all hindrances (read: undesirables) removed (read: murdered).

All four ideologies subvert modernity (in other words, Progress itself) by using its products(technology) to exclude and kill "outsiders", all in the name of servicing "real" humanity and

bettering its lot.

But liberal democracy has been intermittently guilty of the same sin. The same derangedlogic extends to the construction and maintenance of nuclear weapons by countries like theUSA, the UK, France, and Israel: they are intended to protect "good" humanity against "bad"

people (e.g., Communists during the Cold war, Arabs, or failed states such as Iran). Evenglobal warming is a symptom of such exclusionary thinking: the rich feel that they have theright to tax the "lesser" poor by polluting our common planet and by disproportionatelyexhausting its resources.

The fact is that, at least since the 1920s, the very existence of Mankind is being recurrently

threatened by exclusionary ideas of progress. Even Colonialism, which predated modernideologies, was inclusive and sought to "improve" the Natives" and "bring them to the White
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Man's level" by assimilating or incorporating them in the culture and society of the colonialpower. This was the celebrated (and then decried) "White Man's Burden". That we no longeraccept our common fate and the need to collaborate to improve our lot is nothing short ofsuicidal.

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The Elders of Zion

I was shown the same book in Yugoslavia, in Macedonia and in Bulgaria - "The WorldConspiracy" - a shabby tome written by an ageing "scholar". The main, unabashedly anti-Semitic, hypothesis (presented as undisputed fact) is that the Jews rule the world supreme -

always have, probably always will. Lists of prominent Jews in the world of internationalfinance reprinted with lists of influential Jews in the Soviet communist regime. And it allamounts to a well organized secretive machinery of illicit power, claims the author with allthe persuasion of a paranoid. In here, trash magazines dwell endlessly on these and similarthemes.

Yet, anti-Semitism is only one species in a zoo of rumours, conspiracy theories, metahistories and metaphysics. Superstitions, prejudices and calumny thrive in the putrid soil ofdisinformation, mis-information and lack of information. In the void created by unreliable,

politicized and corrupt media - rumour mills spring eternal. It is a malignant growth, the

outcome of a breakdown of trust so compleat - that communication is rendered impossible.This is the main characteristic of the East (from Russia to Albania): distrust. Citizens andpoliticians, businessmen and government, the media and its consumers, manufacturers andservice providers, the sick and their doctors - all suspect each other of ulterior motives andfoul play. All are more often than not quite right to do so.

It is a Kafkaesque, sealed universe in which nothing is as it appears to be. This acrimoniousdivorce between appearances and essence, facade and truth, the Potemkin and the real - is afacet of daily life, of the most mundane exchanges, of the most trivial pursuits. Motives aresought with increasing urgency - why did he do it, what did he try to achieve, why had he notchosen a different path, why here, why with us, why now, what can it teach us. Information is

pursued frantically, appearances discarded, data juggled, heated debates ensue, versionserupt, only to subside and be replaced by others. It is a feverish ritual, the sound of clashingexegeses, of theories constructed and demolished in vacuo.

At the heart of it all, is the unbearable uncertainty of being. Political uncertainty undercommunism was replaced by economic uncertainty under the insidious and venal form ofcapitalism that replaced it. Tucked in identical cubicles, the citizens of planet communismwere at least assured of a make belief job in a sprawling bureaucracy or in a decrepit factory,manufacturing redundant documents or shoddy goods. Subsistence was implicitly guaranteed

by the kleptocracy that ruled them and, in principle, it was always possible to ignore themoral stench and join the nomenklatura, thereby developing instant upward mobility.

Corruption, theft and graft were tolerated by the state as means of complementing income.Life was drab but safe as long as one abstained from politics and subserviently consumed the

bitter medicines of acquiescence and collaboration. The vast majority (with the exception ofthe USSR under Stalin) were not affected by the arbitrary capriciousness of history. Theydecayed slowly in their housing estates, morally degenerate, possession-less but certain of afuture that is the spitting image of their past.

Under the spastic orgy of legalized robbery of state assets that passed for privatization,millions were made redundant while thousands enriched themselves by choreographedlooting. The results were instability, unpredictability, uncertainty and fear. In a world thusunhinged, the masses groped for reason, for a scheme, for a method in the madness, for an

explanation, however sinister and ominous. Anything was preferable to the seeminglyrandom natural forces unleashed upon them with such apparent vengeance. Even a "World


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Government" (a favourite), the Illuminati (a Freemasonry-like movement but much moreodious), the Jews, the USA, aliens. The greatest conspiracy theory of them all - the Phoenixof religion - sprang back to life from the ashes it was reduced to by communism. A host ofmystical beliefs and sects and cults mushroomed noxiously in the humid shadows ofirrationality.

Thus, every event, no matter how insignificant, any occurrence, no matter howinconsequential and any coincidence, no matter how coincidental - assume heraldic meaning.People in these domains carry their complex jigsaw puzzles with them. They welcome eachnew piece with the zeal of the converted. They bellow triumphantly with every "proof" oftheir pet theory, with every datum, with each rumour. Things don't just happen - theywhisper, conspiratorially - things are directed from above, ordained, regulated, prevented, orencouraged by "them". A group of 400 rule the world. They are Jews, they are the Serbmafia, or the Bulgarian. Or the Americans who plan to dominate (which obviously putsKosovo in context). They are the rich and powerful, the objects of envy and frightenedadmiration, of virulent hate and rage. They are responsible. We pay the price - we, the small

and powerless and poor. And it is hopeless, it has been like that forever. The disparitybetween them and us is too great. Resistance is futile.

Why was this president elected? Surely, the West demanded it. Or political parties conspiredto rig the vote. Or rich businessmen supported him. What is the real aim of foreign investorsin coming to these godforsaken places, if not to infiltrate and penetrate and establish theirlong term dominion? And wouldn't it be safe to assume that al the foreigners are spies, thatall the Jews collaborate, that the neighbours would have liked to conquer and to subjugate us,that the world is a colossal puppet show? In other words, is it not true that we are puppets -victims - in a theatre not of our making? They filter out that which does not conform to their

persuasion, does not accord with their suspicions, does not fit within their schemes.

This deferral of responsibility brings relief from shame and blame. Guilt is allayed bysymbolically and ritually passing it onto another. Fear is quelled by the introduction ofschemata. These are potent psychological incentives. They provide structure to theamorphous, bring order to the chaos that is the brave, new world of the economies intransition. Flux is replaced by immutable "truths", possibilities by certainties, threats by"knowledge". It is a re-construction and reconquest of a paradise lost by giving up the fruit ofthe tree of knowledge.

It is this hyper-vigilance, this elevated suspicion, these instant certainties fabricated from frail

pseudo-theories and conspiracies - that make the Man of the East so easy to manipulate, sovulnerable, so amenable to collude in his own downfall. Bewitched by his self-spun myths,captivated by his own paranoia, under the spell of his magical, immature, thinking - noncritical, non analytical, non discriminating - he is exquisitely susceptible to crooks andcharlatans, to manipulators and demagogues, to the realization of the very threats he tried tofend off in the first place.

Here is what the DSM ("Diagnostic and Statistical Manual") IV-TR (2000) published by theAPA (American Psychiatric Association) has to say about paranoids and schizotypals:

The Paranoid Personali ty Disorder Schizotypal Personal ity Disorder

Return
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A Dialog about Anti-Semitism

Only loss is universal and true cosmopolitanism in this world must be based on

suffering.

I gnacio Sil one

Rabid anti-Semitism, coupled with inane and outlandish conspiracy theories of worlddominion, is easy to counter and dispel. It is the more "reasoned", subtle, and stealthy varietythat it pernicious. "No smoke without fire," - say people - "there must be something to it!".

In this dialog I try to deconstruct a "mild" anti-Semitic text. I myself wrote the text - not aneasy task considering my ancestry (a Jew) and my citizenship (an Israeli). But to penetrate the

pertinent layers - historical, psychological, semantic, and semiotic - I had to "enter the skin"of "rational", classic anti-Semites, to grasp what makes them click and tick, and to think and

reason like them.

I dedicated the last few months to ploughing through reams of anti-Semitic tracts and texts.Steeped in more or less nauseating verbal insanity and sheer paranoia, I emerged to composethe following.

The Anti -Semite:

The rising tide of anti-Semitism the world over is universally decried. The proponents of ant-Semitism are cast as ignorant, prejudiced, lawless, and atavistic. Their arguments aredismissed off-handedly.

But it takes one Jew to really know another. Conditioned by millennia of persecution, Jewsare paranoid, defensive, and obsessively secretive. It is impossible for a gentile - whom theyhold to be inferior and reflexively hostile - to penetrate their counsels.

Let us examine anti-Semitic arguments more closely and in an unbiased manner:

Argument number one - Being Jewish is a racial distinction - not only a reli gious one

If race is defined in terms of genetic purity, then Jews are as much a race as the remotest andmost isolated of the tribes of the Amazon. Genetic studies revealed that Jews throughout the

world - largely due to centuries of in-breeding - share the same genetic makeup. Hereditarydiseases which afflict only the Jews attest to the veracity of this discovery.

Judaism is founded on shared biology as much as shared history and customs. As a religion, itproscribes a conjugal union with non-Jews. Jews are not even allowed to partake the food andwine of gentiles and have kept their distance from the communities which they inhabited -maintaining tenaciously, through countless generations, their language, habits, creed, dress,and national ethos. Only Jews become automatic citizens of Israel (the infamous Law ofReturn).

The Jewish Response:


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Race has been invariably used as an argument against the Jews. It is ironic that racial puristshave always been the most fervent anti-Semites. Jews are not so much a race as a community,united in age-old traditions and beliefs, lore and myths, history and language. Anyone can

become a Jew by following a set of clear (though, admittedly, demanding) rules. There isabsolutely no biological test or restriction on joining the collective that is known as the

Jewish people or the religion that is Judaism.

It is true that some Jews are differentiated from their gentile environments. But thisdistinction has largely been imposed on us by countless generations of hostile hosts andneighbors. The yellow Star of David was only the latest in a series of measures to isolate theJews, clearly mark them, restrict their economic and intellectual activities, and limit theirsocial interactions. The only way to survive was to stick together. Can you blame us forresponding to what you yourselves have so enthusiastically instigated?

The Anti -Semite:

Argument number two - The Jews regard themselves as Chosen, Superior, or Pure

Vehement protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, this is largely true. Your purportedand self-imputed ancestor, Abraham, struck a Faustian deal with Yahwe or Jehova, themonotheistic deityhe conjured up: he sold Jehovah his soul in return for promises of wealth,might, and earthly possessions (notably, land) granted to him and to his lineage, now brandedThe Chosen People.

Orthodox Jews and secular Jews differ, of course, in their perception of this supremacy. Thereligious attribute it to divine will, intellectuals to the outstanding achievements of Jewishscientists and scholars, the modern Israeli is proud of his invincible army and thrivingeconomy. But they all share a sense of privilege and commensurate obligation to civilize theirinferiors and to spread progress and enlightenment wherever they are. This is a perniciousrendition of the colonial White Man's Burden and it is coupled with disdain and contempt forthe lowly and the great unwashed (namely, the gentiles).


There were precious few Jews among the great colonizers and ideologues of imperialism(Disraeli being the exception). Moreover, to compare the dissemination of knowledge andenlightenment to colonialism is, indeed, a travesty.

We, the Jews, are proud of our achievements. Show me one group of people (including theanti-Semites) who isn't? But there is an abyss between being justly proud of one's trueaccomplishments and feeling superior as a result. Granted, there arenarcissistsandmegalomaniacs everywhere and among the members of any human collective. Hitler and hisAryan superiority is a good example.

The Anti -Semite:

Argument number three - Jews have divided loyalt ies

It is false to say that Jews are first and foremost Jews and only then are they the loyal citizensof their respective countries. Jews have unreservedly fought and sacrificed in the service of
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their homelands, often killing their coreligionists in the process. But it is true that Jewsbelieve that what is good for the Jews is good for the country they reside in. By aligning theinterests of their adopted habitat with their narrower and selfish agenda, Jews feel justified to

promote their own interests to the exclusion of all else and all others.

Moreover, the rebirth of the Jewish State presented the Jews with countless ethical dilemmaswhich they typically resolved by adhering uncritically to Tel-Aviv's official line. This often

brought them into direct conflict with their governments and non-Jewish compatriots andenhanced their reputation as untrustworthy and treacherous.

Hence the Jewish propensity to infiltrate decision-making centers, such as politics and themedia. Their aim is to minimize conflicts of interests by transforming their peculiar concernsand preferences into official, if not always consensual, policy. This viral hijacking of the hostcountry's agenda is particularly evident in the United States where the interest of Jewry andof the only superpower have become inextricable.

It is a fact - not a rant - that Jews are over-represented in certain, influential, professions (inbanking, finance, the media, politics, the film industry, publishing, science, the humanities,etc.). This is partly the result of their emphases on education and social upward mobility. Butit is also due to the tendency of well-placed Jews to promote their brethren and provide themwith privileged access to opportunities, funding, and jobs.


Most modern polities are multi-ethnic and multi-cultural (an anathema to anti-Semites, Iknow). Every ethnic, religious, cultural, political, intellectual, and economic or businessgroup tries to influence policy-making by various means. This is both legitimate anddesirable. Lobbying has been an integral and essential part of democracy since it wasinvented in Athens 2500 years ago. The Jews and Israelis are no exception.

Jews are, indeed, over-represented in certain professions in the United States. But they areunder-represented in other, equally important, vocations (for instance, among companyCEOs, politicians, diplomats, managers of higher education institutions, and senior bankers).Globally, Jews are severely under-represented or not-existent in virtually all professions dueto their demography (aging population, low birth-rates, unnatural deaths in wars andslaughters).

The Anti -Semite:

Argument number four - Jews act as a cabal or mafia

There is no organized, hierarchical, and centralized worldwide Jewish conspiracy. Rather theJews act in a manner similar to al-Qaida: they freelance and self-assemble ad hoc in cross-

border networks to tackle specific issues. Jewish organizations - many in cahoots with theIsraeli government - serve as administrative backup, same as some Islamic charities do formilitant Islam. The Jews' ability and readiness to mobilize and act to further their plans is amatter of record and the source of the inordinate influence of their lobby organizations inWashington, for instance.


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When two Jews meet, even randomly, and regardless of the disparities in their background,they immediately endeavor to see how they can further each other's interests, even and oftenat the expense of everyone else's.

Still, the Jewish diaspora, now two millennia old, is the first truly global phenomenon in

world affairs. Bound by a common history, a common set of languages, a common ethos, acommon religion, common defenses and ubiquitous enemies - Jews learned to closelycooperate in order to survive.

No wonder that all modern global networks - from Rothschild to Reuters - were establishedby Jews. Jews also featured prominently in all the revolutionary movements of the past threecenturies. Individual Jews - though rarely the Jewish community as a whole - seem to benefitno matter what.

When Czarist Russia collapsed, Jews occupied 7 out of 10 prominent positions in both theKerensky (a Jew himself) government and in the Lenin and early Stalin administrations.

When the Soviet Union crumbled, Jews again benefited mightily. Three quarters of thefamous "oligarchs" (robber barons) that absconded with the bulk of the defunct empire'sassets were - you guessed it - Jews.


Ignoring the purposefully inflammatory language for a minute, what group does not behavethis way? Harvard alumni, the British Commonwealth, the European Union, the Irish or theItalians in the United States, political parties the world over ... As long as people co-operatelegally and for legal ends, without breaching ethics and without discriminating againstdeserving non-members - what is wrong with that?

The Anti -Semite:

Argument number five - The Jews are plann ing to take over the world and establi sh a worldgovernment

This is the kind of nonsense that discredits a serious study of the Jews and their role inhistory, past and present. Endless lists of prominent people of Jewish descent are produced insupport of the above contention. Yet, governments are not the mere sum of their constituentindividuals. The dynamics of power subsist on more than the religious affiliation of office-

holders, kingmakers, and string-pullers.

Granted, Jews are well introduced in the echelons of power almost everywhere. But this isstill a very far cry from a world government. Neither were Jews prominent in any of therecent moves - mostly by the Europeans - to strengthen the role of international law andattendant supranational organizations.


What can I say? I agree with you. I would only like to set the record straight by pointing outthe fact that Jews are actually under-represented in the echelons of power everywhere

(including in the United States). Only in Israel - where they constitute an overwhelmingmajority - do Jews run things.


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The Anti -Semite:

Argument number six - Jews are self ish, narcissistic, haughty, double-faced, dissemblers.Zi onism is an extension of th is pathological narcissism as a colonial movement

Judaism is not missionary. It is elitist. But Zionism has always regarded itself as both a (19thcentury) national movement anda (colonial) civilizing force.Nationalist narcissismtransformed Zionism into a mission of acculturation ("White Man's Burden").

In "Altneuland" (translated to Hebrew as "Tel Aviv"), the feverish tome composed byTheodore Herzl, Judaism's improbable visionary - Herzl refers to the Arabs as pliant andcompliant butlers, replete with gloves and tarbushes. In the book, a German Jewish family

prophetically lands at Jaffa, the only port in erstwhile Palestine. They are welcomed andescorted by "Briticized" Arab gentlemen's gentlemen who are only too happy to assist theirfuture masters and colonizers to disembark.

This age-old narcissistic defence - the Jewish superiority complex - was only exacerbated bythe Holocaust.

Nazism posed as a rebellion against the "old ways" - against the hegemonic culture, the upperclasses, the established religions, the superpowers, the European order. The Nazis borrowedthe Leninist vocabulary and assimilated it effectively. Hitler and the Nazis were an adolescentmovement, a reaction to narcissistic injuries inflicted upon a narcissistic (and rather

psychopathic) toddler nation-state. Hitler himself was a malignant narcissist, as Frommcorrectly noted.

The Jews constituted a perfect, easily identifiable, embodiment of all that was "wrong" withEurope. They were an old nation, they were eerily disembodied (without a territory), theywere cosmopolitan, they were part of the establishment, they were "decadent", they werehated on religious and socio-economic grounds (see Goldhagen's "Hitler's WillingExecutioners"), they were different, they were narcissistic (felt and acted as morallysuperior), they were everywhere, they were defenseless, they were credulous, they wereadaptable (and thus could be co-opted to collaborate in their own destruction). They were the

perfect hated father figure and parricide was in fashion.

The Holocaust was a massive trauma notbecause of its dimensions - but because Germans,the epitome of Western civilization, have turned on the Jews, the self-proclaimed

missionaries of Western civilization in the Levant and Arabia. It was the betrayal thatmattered. Rejected by East (as colonial stooges) and West (as agents of racial contamination)alike - the Jews resorted to a series of narcissistic responses reified by the State of Israel.

The long term occupation of territories (metaphorical or physical) is a classic narcissisticbehavior (of "annexation" of the other). The Six Days War was a war of self defence - but theswift victory only exacerbated the grandiose fantasies of the Jews. Mastery over thePalestinians became an important component in the psychological makeup of the nation(especially the more rightwing and religious elements) because it constitutes"NarcissisticSupply".

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Happily, sooner or later most anti-Semitic arguments descend into incoherent diatribe. Thisdialog is no exception.

Zionism was not conceived out of time. It was born in an age of colonialism, Kipling's "whiteman's burden", and Western narcissism. Regrettably, Herzl did not transcend the political

discourse of his period. But Zionism is far more than Altneuland. Herzl died in 1904, havingactually been deposed by Zionists from Russia who espoused ideals of equality for all, Jewsand non-Jews alike.

The Holocaust was an enormous trauma and a clarion call. It taught the Jews that they cannotcontinue with their historically abnormal existence and that all the formulas foraccommodation and co-existence failed. There remained only one viable solution: a Jewishstate as a member of the international community of nations.

The Six Days War was, indeed, a classic example of preemptive self-defense. Its outcomes,however, deeply divide Jewish communities everywhere, especially in Israel. Many of us

believe that occupation corrupts and reject the Messianic and millennial delusions of someJews as dangerous and nefarious.

Perhaps this is the most important thing to remember:

Like every other group of humans, though molded by common experience, Jews are not amonolith. There are liberal Jews and orthodox Jews, narcissists and altruists, unscrupulousand moral, educated and ignorant, criminals and law-abiding citizens. Jews, in other words,are like everyone else. Can we say the same about anti-Semites? I wonder.

The Anti-I sraeli :

The State of Israel is likely to end as did the seven previous stabs at Jewish statehood - intotal annihilation. And for the same reasons: conflicts between secular and religious Jews anda racist-colonialist pattern of deplorable behavior. The UN has noted this recidivistmisconduct in numerous resolutions and when it justly compared Zionism to racism.


Zionism is undoubtedly a typical 19th century national movement, promoting the interests ofan ethnically-homogeneous nation. But it is not and never has been a racist movement.

Zionists of all stripes never believed in the inherent inferiority or malevolence or impurity ofany group of people (however arbitrarily defined or capriciously delimited) just because oftheir common origin or habitation. The State of Israel is not exclusionary. There are a millionIsraelis who are Arabs, both Christians and Muslims.

It is true, though, that Jews have a special standing in Israel. The Law of Return grants themimmediate citizenship. Because of obvious conflicts of interest, Arabs cannot serve in theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF). Consequently, they don't enjoy the special benefits conferred onwar veterans and ex-soldiers.

Regrettably, it is also true that Arabs are discriminated against and hated by many Israelis,

though rarely as a matter of official policy. These are the bitter fruits of the ongoing conflict.


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Budget priorities are also heavily skewed in favor of schools and infrastructure in Jewishmunicipalities. A lot remains to be done.

The Anti-I sraeli :

Zionism started off as a counter-revolution. It presented itself as an alternative to bothorthodox religion and to assimilation in the age of European "Enlightenment". But it wassoon hijacked by East European Jews who espoused a pernicious type of Stalinism andvirulent anti-Arab racism.


East European Jews were no doubt more nationalistic and etatist than the West Europeanvisionaries who gave birth to Zionism. But, again, they were not racist. On the very contrary.Their socialist roots called for close collaboration and integration of all the ethnicities andnationalities in Israel/Palestine.

The Anti-I sraeli :

The "Status Quo" promulgated by Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, confinedinstitutionalized religion to matters of civil law and to communal issues. All affairs of state

became the exclusive domain of the secular-leftist nomenclature and its attendantbureaucratic apparatus.

All this changed after the Six Days War in 1967 and, even more so, after the Yom KippurWar. Militant Messianic Jews with radical fundamentalist religious ideologies sought toeradicate the distinction between state and synagogue. They propounded a political agenda,thus invading the traditionally secular turf, to the great consternation of their compatriots.

This schism is unlikely to heal and will be further exacerbated by the inevitable need toconfront harsh demographic and geopolitical realities. No matter how much occupiedterritory Israel gives up and how many ersatz Jews it imports from East Europe, thePalestinians are likely to become a majority within the next 50 years.

Israel will sooner or later face the need to choose whether to institute a policy of strict andracist apartheid - or shrink into an indefensible (though majority Jewish) enclave. Thefanatics of the religious right are likely to enthusiastically opt for the first alternative. All the

rest of the Jews in Israel are bound to recoil. Civil war will then become unavoidable andwith it the demise of yet another short-lived Jewish polity.


Israel is, indeed, faced with the unpalatable choice and demographic realities describedabove. But don't bet on civil war and total annihilation just yet. There are numerous other

political solutions - for instance, a confederacy of two national states, or one state with twonations. But, I agree, this is a serious problem further compounded by Palestinian demandsfor the right to return to their ancestral territories, now firmly within the Jewish State, even inits pre-1967 borders.


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With regards to the hijacking of the national agenda by right-wing, religious fundamentalistJewish militants - as the recent pullout from Gaza and some of the West Bank provesconclusively, Israelis are pragmatists. The influence of Messianic groups on Israeli decision-making is blown out of proportion. They are an increasingly isolated - though vocal andsometimes violent - minority.

The Anti-I sraeli :

Israel could, perhaps, have survived, had it not committed a second mortal sin bytransforming itself into an outpost and beacon of Western (first British-French, thenAmerican) neo-colonialism. As the representative of the oppressors, it was forced to resort toan official policy of unceasing war crimes and repeated grave violations of human and civilrights.


Israel aligned itself with successive colonial powers in the region because it felt it had nochoice, surrounded and outnumbered as it was by hostile, trigger-happy, and heavily armedneighbors. Israel did miss, though, quite a few chances to make peace, however intermittentand hesitant, with its erstwhile enemies. It is also true that it committed itself to a policy ofsettlements and oppression within the occupied territories which inevitably gave rise to graveand repeated violations on international law. Overlording another people had a corrosivecorrupting influence on Israeli society.

The Anti-I sraeli :

The Arabs, who first welcomed the Jewish settlers and the economic opportunities theyrepresented, turned against the new emigrants when they learned of their agenda ofoccupation, displacement, and ethnic cleansing. Israel became a pivot of destabilization in theMiddle East, embroiled in conflicts and wars too numerous to count. Unscrupulous andcorrupt Arab rulers used its existence and the menace it reified as a pretext to avoiddemocratization, transparency, and accountability.


With the exception of the 1919 Faisal-Weitzman declaration, Arabs never really welcomedthe Jews. Attacks on Jewish outposts and settlers started as early as 1921 and never ceased.

The wars in 1948 and in 1967 were initiated or provoked by the Arab states. It is true, though,that Israel unwisely leveraged its victories to oppress the Palestinians and for territorial gains,sometimes in cahoots with much despised colonial powers, such as Britain and France in1956.

The Anti-I sraeli :

This volatile mixture of ideological racism, Messianic empire-building, malignant theocracymuch resented by the vast majority of secular Jews, and alignment with all entities anti-Araband anti-Muslim will doom the Jewish country. In the long run, the real inheritors and

proprietors of the Middle East are its long-term inhabitants, the Arabs. A strong army is not a

guarantee of longevity - see the examples of the USSR and Yugoslavia.


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Even now, it is not too late. Israel can transform itself into an important and benevolentregional player by embracing its Arab neighbors and by championing the causes of economicand scientific development, integration, and opposition to outside interference in the region'sinternal affairs. The Arabs, exhausted by decades of conflict and backwardness, are likely toheave a collective sigh of relief and embrace Israel - reluctantly at first and more warmly as it

proves itself a reliable ally and friend.

Israel's demographic problem is more difficult to resolve. It requires Israel to renounce itsexclusive racist and theocratic nature. Israel must suppress, by force if need be, the lunaticfringe of militant religious fanatics that has been haunting its politics in the last three decades.And it must extend a welcoming hand to its Arab citizens by legislating and enforcing a set ofCivil Rights Laws.


Whether this Jewish state is doomed or not, time will tell. Peace with our Arab neighbors and

equal treatment of our Arab citizens should be our two over-riding strategic priorities. TheJewish State cannot continue to live by the sword, lest it perishes by it.

If the will is there it can be done. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

Return


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Muslims: Europe's New Jews

Disclaimer (August 2010)

In the decade since the September 11 attacks, European states, publics and politicians have

embarked on a path of no return and so hav

the crescent and the cross: religion and community in the balkans

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