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The Evolution of Arab Perceptions of the Holocaust

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Perceptions of the Holocaust in Europe and Muslim Communities

Part of the book series: Muslims in Global Societies Series ((MGSS,volume 5))

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Abstract

Esther Webman gives an historical overview of Arab perceptions of the Holocaust from 1945 to the first decade of the twenty-first century. She shows that there was indeed empathy with the Jewish victims of the Holocaust immediately after the war and gives heartening examples from empathetic literary fiction. However, even in these early stages, before the creation of the State of Israel which led to the foundations of the subsequent discourse on the Holocaust in Arab countries, dealing with the Holocaust was often mixed with politics because of the conflict over Palestine. Webman describes the prominent standpoint in the Arab discourse, which is that the Arabs had and still have to pay “the price” of losing Palestine to the Jews because of the Holocaust, although they took no part in it. The article delineates the development of a new emerging discourse which acknowledges the Holocaust and leaves outright Holocaust denial more and more to Islamists. However, the mainstream discourse still minimises the Holocaust and uses it for the delegitimisation of Israel and Zionism.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Al-Thaqafa, 6 February 1945, p. 154. All translations are the author’s unless otherwise noted.

  2. 2.

    Al-Katib al-Misri, 3 June 1946, pp. 3–13.

  3. 3.

    See for example: Al-Hilal, January–February 1945, p. 16; al-Thaqafa, 20 February 1945, p. 197.

  4. 4.

    (Bishara 1995, 54) Bishara’s article fuelled an intense controversy in Israel between Zionist Holocaust researchers and post-Zionist writers. See Michman (1995), Bishara (1996), Michman (1997).

  5. 5.

    The role of the Holocaust in facilitating the establishment of Israel preoccupied for years Israeli historiography. For those who claim a direct causality, see Bauer (2001, 242–260), Penkower (1994). For those who dispute this view, see Michman (1993).

  6. 6.

    For a detailed discussion of this period, see Litvak and Webman (2009, 27–35), Webman (2005, 86–131).

  7. 7.

    Al-Hilal, January–February 1945, p. 16. See also al-Thaqafa, 20 February 1945, p. 197.

  8. 8.

    Al-Ahram, 27 November, 7 December 1945.

  9. 9.

    Al-Ahram, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12 July 1946; cAbdallah cInan in al-Thaqafa, 28 May 1946, p. 2, ibid., 9 July 1946, pp. 759–760, 25 February 1947, p. 2; Qutb (1947).

  10. 10.

    Al-Ahram, 3 March 1946.

  11. 11.

    See a similar insinuation by Michel Kafuri who charged the Jews with exploiting “the persecutions attributed to some states against the Jews living in their midst during the war” (Kafuri 1947, 19).

  12. 12.

    Al-Ahram, 3, 29, 30, 31 August, 1, 2, 9 September, 3, 5, 9, 29 October, 25 November; al-Misri, 9, 10 September, 25 November 1947; Arab News Bulletin, No. 43, 44 (8, 22 August 1947) – CO 733/482/1/9,11; Arab News Bulletin, No. 46 (19 September 1947) – CO 733/482/1/15; Liwa’ al-Islam, November 1947, p. 4, December 1947, p. 4.

  13. 13.

    Al-Ahram, 3, 29–31 August, 1, 2 September, 2 December 1947; al-Thaqafa, 25 November 1947, p. 1193; Ahmad Hamza, Liwa’ al-Islam, November 1947, p. 4.

  14. 14.

    Al-Risala, 22 December 1947, pp. 1395–1396.

  15. 15.

    Al-Thaqafa, 10 April 1945, p. 391.

  16. 16.

    Al-Ahram, 14 November 1945, 11 January 1946. See also Rıfat (1947, 98–99).

  17. 17.

    For a detailed discussion of these affairs see Webman (2005, 137–215). On the Eichmann affair, see also Litvak and Webman (2009, 93–130).

  18. 18.

    See for example: Allubah (1954, 53, 128, 133, 189), Qutb (1989, 37), Al-Ghazali (1957, 168); al-Ahram, 30 December 1948; al-Muqtataf, 1 June 1950.

  19. 19.

    See for example: al-Ahram, 19 September and 14 October 1948; al-Misri, 7 December 1952; Saab (1965, 9).

  20. 20.

    In October 1956, in the wake of the Egyptian new revolutionary regime’s demand for the immediate evacuation of British army forces still posted in Egypt and the fear that as a result passage in the Suez Canal will be threatened, Britain and France, joined by Israel, launched an attack on Egypt to preserve their interests in the region. The war was known also as the Suez War and, in Israeli historiography, as the Sinai War. Israel conquered Sinai but evacuated it after 6 months as a result of strong American pressure. See Safran (1969), Tal (2001).

  21. 21.

    Quoting from Mansur (1972, 220).

  22. 22.

    See also Somekh (1996, 238), Elad-Bouskila and Ha-Qalush (2005, 42, 45).

  23. 23.

    On European ethnocentrism toward “the other” after the Enlightenment, see Pecora (1992).

  24. 24.

    For further details, see Litvak and Webman (2009), Achcar (2010c), Bishara (1995), Harkabi (1972, 254–258), Lewis (1997, 203–218). For Arab publications dealing with the relations between Zionism and Nazism. See for instance Faris (1978), Mahmud (1971), Al-Wahhab al-Masiri (1997).

  25. 25.

    Faysal Jalul, a Lebanese journalist living in Paris agreed with this criticism in his review of Saghiya’s book (Jalul 1997). See also Kassir (1998).

  26. 26.

    Saghiya (1997, 63–94), Ha`aretz, 21 March 1997; al-Hayat, 10, 14, 15, 18, 28 November, 18 December 1997.

  27. 27.

    Al-Ahram Weekly, 25 June, al-Hayat, 30 June1998.

  28. 28.

    Al-Hayat, 5 November, al-Ahram Weekly, 6 November 1997; Ha`aretz, 20 February, Le Monde Diplomatique, August–September 1998.

  29. 29.

    Al-Ahram Weekly, 25 June, al-Hayat, 30 June 1998.

  30. 30.

    The Palestinian People’s Appeal on the 50th Anniversary of the Catastrophe “Al-Nakba.”

  31. 31.

    See also al-Hayat, 18 December 1997, 15 May 1998; al-Ahram Weekly, 14 January 1999.

  32. 32.

    Al-Hayat, 18 December 1997. The article entitled “Universalizing the Holocaust or breaking the Jewish monopoly over it,” gained them the “Common Ground Award for Journalism in the Middle East” in 1999 (Ha’aretz, 21 February 2000). See also Bishara (1996, 104), Jayyusi (1998, 33), Kronemeijer (2006, 46–50).

  33. 33.

    For a discussion of the Arab response to these issues, see Webman (2000, 19–21).

  34. 34.

    A revisionist conference scheduled to convene in Beirut in March 2001 that was cancelled at the last moment by the Lebanese PM Rafiq al-Hariri. See Litvak and Webman (2009, 357–360).

  35. 35.

    Free Arab Voice Online (FAV), 15, 28 April 2001; JP, 17, 23 April, 22 May 2001; al-Safir, 20 April 2001; Jordan Times Online, 15 May 2001; al-Hayat al-Jadida, 15 May 2001; al-Jazira TV, 15 May 2001 – MEMRI, dispatch no. 225, 6 June 2001; Middle East News Online, 16 May 2001; AZAR, 18 May 2001–MSANEWS, 18 May 2001.

  36. 36.

    See also The Free Arab Voice Online (FAV) (2001a, b) and his series of articles in al-Sabil, 1–22 May 2001.

  37. 37.

    Al-Sabil, 1 February 2005. See also an interview with ‘Allush aired on al-Jazeera TV on 23 August 2005 (MEMRI 2005).

  38. 38.

    Ynet, 28 March 2006; Ha’aretz, 29 March 2006; Jerusalem Post,15 December 2006.

  39. 39.

    See for example Khalid al-Hurub, al-Hayat, 12 January 2006; ‘Izzat al-Qamhawi, al- Quds al-‘Arabi, 14 January 2006; ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Rashid, al-Sharq al-Awsat, 17 January 2006; Mustafa al-Faqi, al-Ahram, 24 January 2006; Mufiq Mahadin, al-‘Arab al-Yawm, 26 January 2006.

  40. 40.

    Tishrin, 20 December 2006; al-Thawra, 22 December 2006.

  41. 41.

    Al-Quds al-‘Arabi, 14 December 2006.

  42. 42.

    Al-Watan (Qatar), 17 December 2006.

  43. 43.

    Al-Wafd, 15 December 2006; al-Raya, 16 December 2006.

  44. 44.

    Al-Safir, 14 December 2006; al-Akhbar, 18 December 2006; Tishrin, 21 December 2006; al-Hayat, 31 December 2006.

  45. 45.

    Al-Akhbar, 12 December 2006; al-Hayat, 13 December 2006.

  46. 46.

    International Herald Tribune, Ha’aretz, 17 November 2006; Jerusalem Post, 10 December 2006; The New York Sun, 13 December 2006.

  47. 47.

    Le Monde, 4 December 2006; The Independent, 10 December 2006.

  48. 48.

    Jerusalem Post, 12 December 2006; Ha’aretz, 17 December 2006.

  49. 49.

    Ha`aretz, 19 December 2006.

  50. 50.

    Al-Ayyam, 12 December 2006.

  51. 51.

    Al-Safir, 14 December 2006. For additional criticism of the conference, see al-Hayat, 14 December 2006; al-Sharq al-Awsat, 16, 21 December 2006; al-Siyasa, 17 December 2006; al-Ahram Weekly, 21 December 2006; al-Quds al-‘Arabi, 22 December 2006.

  52. 52.

    Al-Sharq, 4 January 2007. For similar views see al-Hayat, 14 January 2007; New York Review of Books, 15 February 2007; www.iran-emrooz.net /index.php?/news1/12081, 20 February 2007; Tikkun, August 2007.

  53. 53.

    European Jewish Congress, 18 January 2007 – www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/print.php?id_article=284; Al-Qabas, 30 January 2006.

  54. 54.

    Al-Sabil, 3 January 2006; al-Quds al-‘Arabi, 3 February 2006. See also al-Sharq al-Awsat, 6 February 2006; al-Ahali, 8 February; al-Wafd, 1 April 2006.

  55. 55.

    Al-Hayat, 10 February 2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientif Sociologie, rue Pouchet 59-61, 75017, Paris, France

    Esther Webman

  2. International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism, Highland Road, Highland Court 15, SE19 1DR, London, UK

    Esther Webman

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. IIBSA, Highland Road, Highland Court 15, London, SE19 1DR, United Kingdom

    Günther Jikeli

  2. , Sociologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientif, rue Pouchet 59-61, Paris, 75017, France

    Joëlle Allouche-Benayoun

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Webman, E. (2013). The Evolution of Arab Perceptions of the Holocaust. In: Jikeli, G., Allouche-Benayoun, J. (eds) Perceptions of the Holocaust in Europe and Muslim Communities. Muslims in Global Societies Series, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5307-5_5

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