Sayyed Fadlullah: Calls for cooperation between Arabs and Jews against anti-Semitism is a political ploy and a propaganda campaign.

Asked in his weekly seminar the following question: How do you view the calls for cooperation between Arabs and Jews against anti-Semitism?

The Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah, said:

Many might be ignorant of the fact that anti-Semitism is something that concerns the Arabs in the first place since they constitute the vast majority of the Semites, despite the fact that the European language does not differentiate between Semites and Jews.

In any case, the term (anti-Semitic) carries a lot of connotations that demonstrate that certain Western thinkers had a racial mentality that discriminated against certain civilizations. What is more dreadful is that several Western thinkers have given the issue a political dimension when they interpreted anti-Semitism to mean anti-Jewish.

We have seen how the Jews benefited from this notion and began to exaggerate all what they encountered including creating problems for Jews in several countries to drive them to immigrate to Palestine. As late as the 1950s, the Israeli government planted bombs in the Jewish neighborhoods in Iraq to force the Jews to immigrate and convince them that they are being persecuted.

We call upon the Arabs and Muslims to be aware of all the Zionist political and media plots, including those that talk about a discrimination against the Arabs in the West which creates a favorable atmosphere for a Jewish-Islamic cooperation to confront it.

This serves the Israeli interests as it suggests that there is a chance for reconciliation and cooperation to confront mutual threats. We do not accept this analysis although we reject and oppose any cultural, racial and religious discrimination. Moreover, we have been subjected to the worst forms of discrimination with nobody in the West condemning it.

When we talk about respecting the other and accepting him, we are not merely paying lip service. Our history proves that we have done so and that we were tolerant to the others, including the Jews themselves.

Nevertheless, we have to be suspicious towards certain Zionist claims that suggest that there is a Western campaign targeting both the Arabs and the Jews having felt that they have become isolated or even exposed in their lies, whether before the ruling of the International Court of Justice concerning the racial wall or after it.

As Muslims, we support any call for a dialogue between religions, but not one that Israel could exploit politically. Israel is the biggest persecutor for Muslims, Christians and even some Jews. It is also the most anti-Semitic since they persecute the Semite Arabs.

The Problem lies in that the Arabs and Muslims who are being oppressed in their countries by the American and Israeli occupations, as well as being harassed in several European countries under the pretext of supporting terrorism. More importantly, they do not do anything to alleviate these pains. They do not wage a media and political campaign to demonstrate the persecution they are being subjected to, as minorities in several Western countries. Others are benefiting from our sufferings while we sit still and do not even voice our protest.