View source for Antisemitism in the Arab world

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{{See also|Antisemitism in Islam|Arab Jews|Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Antisemitism |expanded=Manifestations}}
<!--Note. If you intend to insert something to the effect: Arabs view this term as [[oxymoronic]], as they themselves are [[semites]] - Please read the section [[#Usage]] first.-->

[[Antisemitism]] (prejudice against and hatred of [[Jews]]) has increased greatly in the [[Arab world]] since the beginning of the 20th century, for several reasons: the [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire|dissolution]] and [[Partition of the Ottoman Empire|breakdown of the Ottoman Empire]] and traditional Islamic society; European influence, brought about by [[Western world|Western]] [[imperialism]] and [[Arab Christians]];<ref>Lewis (1986), p. 132</ref> [[Nazi propaganda]] and [[relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world]];<ref name="Yadlin">Yadlin, Rifka. "Antisemitism". ''The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East''. Ed. [[Avraham Sela]]. New York: Continuum, 2002. p. 52</ref><ref name="Herf 2009">{{cite journal |last=Herf |first=Jeffrey |author-link=Jeffrey Herf |date=December 2009 |title=Nazi Germany's Propaganda Aimed at Arabs and Muslims During World War II and the Holocaust: Old Themes, New Archival Findings |journal=[[Central European History]] |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=709–736 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/S000893890999104X |jstor=40600977 |s2cid=145568807| issn=0008-9389 }}</ref><ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia">{{•}} {{cite encyclopedia |year=2020 |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hajj-amin-al-husayni-wartime-propagandist |title=Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Wartime Propagandist |encyclopedia=[[Holocaust Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614075738/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hajj-amin-al-husayni-wartime-propagandist |archive-date=14 June 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2020}}<br />{{•}} {{cite encyclopedia |year=2020 |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hajj-amin-al-husayni-arab-nationalist-and-muslim-leader |title=Hajj Amin al-Husayni: Arab Nationalist and Muslim Leader |encyclopedia=[[Holocaust Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614004538/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hajj-amin-al-husayni-arab-nationalist-and-muslim-leader |archive-date=14 June 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="JCPA 2020">{{cite journal |last=Spoerl |first=Joseph S. |date=January 2020 |url=https://jcpa.org/article/parallels-between-nazi-and-islamist-anti-semitism/ |title=Parallels between Nazi and Islamist Anti-Semitism |journal=Jewish Political Studies Review |publisher=[[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]] |volume=31 |issue=1/2 |pages=210–244 |jstor=26870795 |issn=0792-335X  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609120031/https://jcpa.org/article/parallels-between-nazi-and-islamist-anti-semitism/ |archive-date=9 June 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2020}}</ref> resentment over [[Zionism]] and the experience of the [[Nakba]];<ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Palestinians and the Phenomenon of "Antisemitism" |url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1655045 |access-date=2025-10-10 |website=Institute for Palestine Studies |language=en}}</ref> the rise of [[Arab nationalism]];<ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia" /> and the widespread proliferation of [[Antisemitism|anti-Jewish]] and [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]] [[Conspiracy theories in the Arab world|conspiracy theories]].<ref>{{cite book |author-last=De Poli |author-first=Barbara |year=2018 |chapter=Anti-Jewish and Anti-Zionist Conspiracism in the Arab World: Historical and Political Roots |editor1-last=Asprem |editor1-first=Egil |editor2-last=Dyrendal |editor2-first=Asbjørn |editor3-last=Robertson |editor3-first=David G. |title=Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=17 |doi=10.1163/9789004382022_016 |pages=321–342 |isbn=978-90-04-38150-6 |s2cid=158462967 |issn=1874-6691}}</ref>

Traditionally, [[History of the Jews under Muslim rule|Jews in the Muslim world]] were considered to be [[People of the Book]] and were subjected to ''[[dhimmi]]'' status. They were afforded relative security against [[Persecution of Jews#Middle East and Islamic antisemitism|persecution]], provided they did not contest the varying inferior social and legal status imposed on them under Islamic rule.

While there were occasional antisemitic incidents before the 20th century, the tensions surrounding [[Zionism]] and the [[Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine|intercommunal conflicts in Mandatory Palestine]] led to growing antisemitism in the [[Arab world]]. During the 1930s and the 1940s several Jewish communities in the Arab world suffered from [[pogrom]]s.<ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia" /> The status of Jews in Arab countries deteriorated further at the onset of the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]],<ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia" /> and following the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|forced expulsion of Palestinian Arabs]], and the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|creation of the State of Israel]].<ref name=":1" /> [[Israel]]i victories during the wars of [[Suez Crisis#Invasion|1956]] and [[Six-Day War|1967]] further increased tensions between Israel and its opponents—primarily [[Egypt]], [[Syria]], and [[Iraq]].<ref>Lewis (1986), p. 204</ref> However, by the mid-1970s [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|the vast majority of Jews had left Arab and Muslim countries]], moving primarily to Israel, [[France]], and the [[United States]].<ref name=Shenhav>[[Yehouda Shenhav]] {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k7FoMi-qY4kC |title=The Arab Jews: A Postcolonial Reading of Nationalism, Religion, and Ethnicity |isbn=9780804752961 |last1=Shenhav |first1=Yehouda A. |year=2006|publisher=Stanford University Press }}</ref> The reason for the exodus is considered to be primarily due to prolonged violence against Jews.<ref name=Shenhav/>

By the 1980s, according to historian [[Bernard Lewis]], the volume of antisemitic literature published in the Arab world, and the authority of its sponsors, seemed to suggest that classical antisemitism had become an essential part of Arab intellectual life, considerably more than in late 19th- and early 20th-century France and to a degree that has been compared to [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="Bernard Lewis 1986, p. 256">Lewis, Bernard. ''Semites and Anti-Semites'', New York/London: Norton, 1986, p. 256.</ref> The rise of [[political Islam]] during the 1980s and afterwards provided a new mutation of [[Antisemitism in Islam|Islamic antisemitism]], giving the hatred of Jews a religious component.<ref name="Yadlin" />

In their 2008 report on contemporary Arab-Muslim antisemitism, the Israeli [[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center]] dates the beginning of this phenomenon to the spread of classic European [[Christian antisemitism]] into the Arab world starting in the late 19th century.<ref name="itic">"[http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/a_s_170408e.pdf Contemporary Arab-Muslim anti-Semitism, its Significance and Implications] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220000104/http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/a_s_170408e.pdf |date=February 20, 2009}}", [[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)]], April 17, 2008.</ref> In 2014, the [[Anti-Defamation League]] published a global survey of worldwide antisemitic attitudes, reporting that in the Middle East, 74% of adults agreed with a majority of the survey's eleven antisemitic propositions, including that "Jews have too much power in international financial markets" and that "Jews are responsible for most of the world's wars."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/hating-the-jew-youve-never-met/|title=Hating the Jew you've never met|date=15 May 2014|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=1 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism |url=http://global100.adl.org/|publisher=Anti-Defamation League}}</ref>

==Medieval times==
{{Main|Antisemitism in Islam|History of antisemitism#Middle Ages|History of the Jews under Muslim rule}}

Jews, along with [[Christians]], [[Sabians]], and [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]] living under [[History of Islam|early and medieval Muslim rule]] were known as "[[People of the Book]]" to Muslims and subjected to the status of ''[[dhimmi]]'' ("protected" minority) in the [[Early Muslim conquests|lands conquered by Muslim Arabs]], a status generally applied to Non-Muslim minorities that was later also extended to other Non-Muslims like [[Sikhs]], [[Hindus]], [[Jainism|Jains]], and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Annemarie Schimmel|year=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/107 107]|title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=978-1861891853|quote=The conqueror [[Muhammad bin Qasim|Muhammad Ibn Al Qasem]] gave both Hindus and Buddhists the same status as the Christians, Jews and Sabaeans the Middle East. They were all "dhimmi" ('protected people')|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/107|author-link=Annemarie Schimmel}}</ref><ref name=bonner>{{cite book|author=Michael Bonner|author-link=Michael Bonner|title=Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=2008|page=89|isbn=9780691138381|jstor=j.ctt7sg8f}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Wael B. Hallaq|author-link=Wael Hallaq|title=Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations|year=2009|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|page=327|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511815300|isbn=9780511815300}}</ref> Jews were generally seen as a religious group (not a separate race), thus being a part of the "Arab family".<ref>Lewis (1999), p. 131</ref>

''Dhimmi'' were subjected to a number of restrictions, the application and severity of which varied with time and place. Restrictions included residency in [[Racial segregation|segregated quarters]], [[Jewish religious clothing#Historical background|obligation to wear distinctive clothing]],<ref name="Silverman 2013">{{cite book |last=Silverman |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Silverman |year=2013 |title=A Cultural History of Jewish Dress |chapter=Bitter Bonnets and Badges: Dressing the Infidel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZYdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |pages=47–50 |isbn=978-0-857-85209-0 |s2cid=190749766}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|In many [[Muslim world|Islamic countries]], Jewish men typically wore [[tunic]]s, instead of trousers. In the same countries, many different local regulations emerged to make Christian and Jewish ''dhimmi'' look distinctive in their public appearance. In 1198, the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad caliph]] [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur]] decreed that Jews must wear a [[Dark blue (color)|dark blue]] garb, with very large sleeves and a grotesquely oversized hat; his son altered the colour to [[Yellow badge|yellow]], a change that may have influenced [[Yellow badge#Medieval Catholic Europe|Catholic ordinances]] some time later.<ref name="Silverman 2013"/> German ethnographer [[Erich Brauer]] (1895–1942) noted that [[Yemenite Jews|Jews in Yemen]] were not allowed to wear clothing of any color besides [[blue]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brauer|first1=Erich|author-link=Erich Brauer|year=1934|title=Ethnologie der Jemenitischen Juden|location=Heidelberg|publisher=Carl Winters Kulturgeschichte Bibliothek, I. Reihe: Ethnologische bibliothek|volume=7|issue=1934|page=79}}</ref>|group=Note}} public subservience to Muslims, prohibitions against proselytizing and against marrying Muslim women, and limited access to the legal system (the testimony of a Jew did not count if contradicted by that of a Muslim). ''Dhimmi'' had to pay a special poll tax (the ''[[jizya]]''), which exempted them from military service, and also from payment of the ''[[zakat]]'' alms tax required of Muslims. In return, ''dhimmi'' were granted limited rights, including a degree of [[Toleration#Islam|tolerance]], community autonomy in personal matters, and protection from being killed outright. Jewish communities, like Christian ones, were typically constituted as semi-autonomous entities managed by their own laws and leadership, who carried the responsibility for the community towards the Muslim rulers.<ref>{{cite book|title=Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages|author=Cohen, Mark R. |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1995|isbn=0-691-01082-X |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgbib5exskUC&q=cohen+Under+Crescent+and+Cross|access-date=April 10, 2010 |author-link=Mark R. Cohen }}</ref>

The situation of Jews was comparatively better than their European counterparts, though they still suffered persecution.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t0o9DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|title=Jews Among Muslims: Communities in the Precolonial Middle East|chapter=Islam and the Jews: Myth, Counter-Myth, History|author=[[Mark R. Cohen]]|page=52|editor1=Walter Zenner|editor2=Shlomo A. Deshen|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9780814796764|date=December 1996}}</ref> Between the years of death of [[Idris I of Morocco]] in 793 and beginning of Almohad rule in 1130, Jews mostly led a peaceful existence in [[North Africa]]. The Almohads started forcing Jews and Christians to convert to Islam or be killed after conquering the region.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9txi3xuuENcC&pg=PA25|title=The Jews of North Africa: From Dido to De Gaulle|author=Sarah Taieb-Carlen|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=9780761850441|date=2010}}</ref> There were also numerous massacres at other times in [[Morocco]], [[Libya]], and [[Algeria]].<ref>Roumani, Maurice. ''The Case of the Jews from Arab Countries: A Neglected Issue'', 1977, pp. 26–27.</ref>

The situation where Jews both enjoyed cultural and economic prosperity at times, but were widely persecuted at other times, was summarised by G. E. Von Grunebaum:

<blockquote>It would not be difficult to put together the names of a very sizable number of Jewish subjects or citizens of the Islamic area who have attained to high rank, to power, to great financial influence, to significant and recognized intellectual attainment; and the same could be done for Christians. But it would again not be difficult to compile a lengthy list of persecutions, arbitrary confiscations, attempted forced conversions, or pogroms.<ref>G. E. Von Grunebaum, ''Eastern Jewry Under Islam'', 1971, p. 369.</ref>
</blockquote>

==Views in modernity==
Some scholars hold that Arab antisemitism in the modern world arose in the nineteenth century, against the backdrop of conflicting Jewish and Arab nationalism, and was imported into the Arab world primarily by nationalistically minded Christian Arabs (and only subsequently was it "Islamized"), Mark Cohen states.<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies'', p. 208</ref> According to [[Bernard Lewis]]:
{{blockquote|The volume of anti-Semitic books and articles published, the size and number of editions and impressions, the eminence and authority of those who write, publish and sponsor them, their place in school and college curricula, their role in the mass media, would all seem to suggest that classical anti-Semitism is an essential part of Arab intellectual life at the present time-almost as much as happened in Nazi Germany, and considerably more than in late nineteenth and early twentieth century France."<ref name="Bernard Lewis 1986, p. 256" />}}

===19th century===
{{See also|1834 looting of Safed}}
The [[Damascus affair]] was an accusation of [[ritual murder]] and a [[blood libel]] against Jews in [[Damascus]] in 1840. On February 5, 1840, [[Franciscan]] [[Capuchin friar]] Father Thomas and his Greek servant were reported missing, never to be seen again. The [[Turkey|Turkish]] governor and the French consul [[Ratti-Menton]] believed accusations of ritual murder and blood libel, as the alleged murder occurred before the Jewish [[Passover]]. An investigation was staged, and Solomon Negrin, a Jewish barber, [[Forced confession|confessed under torture]] and accused other Jews. Two other Jews died under torture, and one (Moses Abulafia) converted to [[Islam]] to escape torture. More arrests and atrocities followed, culminating in 63 Jewish children being held [[hostage]] and mob attacks on Jewish communities throughout the Middle East. International outrage led to [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] in Egypt ordering an investigation. Negotiations in [[Alexandria]] eventually secured the unconditional release and recognition of innocence of the nine prisoners still remaining alive (out of thirteen). Later in [[Constantinople]], [[Moses Montefiore]] (leader of the British Jewish community) persuaded Sultan [[Abdülmecid I]] to issue a [[firman (decree)|firman]] (edict) intended to halt the spread of blood libel accusations in the [[Ottoman Empire]]:

<blockquote>
... and for the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit the Jewish nation, whose innocence for the crime alleged against them is evident, to be worried and tormented as a consequence of accusations which have not the least foundation in truth....
</blockquote>

Nevertheless, the [[blood libel]] spread through the Middle East and North Africa: Aleppo (1810, 1850, 1875), Damascus ([[Damascus affair|1840]], 1848, 1890), [[Safi Affair|Safi, Morocco]] in 1863,<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Ben-Layashi |first1=Samir |last2=Maddy-Weitzman |first2=Bruce |date=2010 |title=MYTH, HISTORY AND ''REALPOLITIK'': MOROCCO AND ITS JEWISH COMMUNITY |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14725880903549293 |journal=Journal of Modern Jewish Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=89–106|doi=10.1080/14725880903549293 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Beirut (1862, 1874), Dayr al-Qamar (1847), Jerusalem (1847), Cairo (1844, 1890, 1901–02), Mansura (1877), Alexandria (1870, 1882, 1901–02), Port Said (1903, 1908), and Damanhur (1871, 1873, 1877, 1892).<ref>Lewis, Bernard.  ''The Jews of Islam''.  Princeton University Press, 1984.  ''Overdrive''.  p. 300-301 in "Publisher's Default" mode and "Optimize for readability" checked.</ref>

The [[Dreyfus affair]] of the late 19th century had consequences in the Arab world. Passionate outbursts of antisemitism in France were echoed in areas of French influence, especially [[Maronite]] [[Lebanon]]. The Muslim Arab press, however, was sympathetic to the falsely accused Captain Dreyfus, and criticized the persecution of Jews in France.<ref>Lewis (1986), p. 133</ref>

===20th century===
{{Main|Aliyah Bet|History of the Jews during World War II|Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany|Relations between Nazi Germany and the Arab world|The Holocaust}}
{{Further|Arab Jews|Consequences of Nazism|Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|Mein Kampf in Arabic|Nazi propaganda}}
{{Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries}}

==== Pre-state antisemitism ====
While Arab antisemitism has increased in the wake of the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]], there were [[pogrom]]s against Jews prior to the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948]], including [[Nazism|Nazi]]-inspired pogroms in [[Algeria]] in the 1930s, and attacks on the Jews of [[Iraq]] and [[Libya]] in the 1940s. In 1941, 180 Jews were murdered and 700 were injured in the anti-Jewish riots known as "the [[Farhud]]".<ref name="haaretz">{{cite news |author=Zvi Zameret|date=October 29, 2010 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/a-distorted-historiography-1.321731 |title=A distorted historiography |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref> Four hundred Jews were injured in violent demonstrations in Egypt in 1945 and Jewish property was vandalized and looted. In Libya, 130 Jews were killed and 266 injured. In December 1947, 13 Jews were killed in Damascus, including 8 children, and 26 were injured. In Aleppo, rioting resulted in dozens of Jewish casualties, damage to 150 Jewish homes, and the torching of 5 schools and 10 synagogues. In Yemen, 97 Jews were murdered and 120 injured.<ref name="haaretz"/>

During the British Mandate period, a successful anti-malaria campaign launched in 1922 transformed much of Palestine’s previously uninhabitable, swamp-ridden land into habitable and cultivable territory, an achievement recognized by the League of Nations Malaria Commission for fostering cooperation between Jewish and Arab communities.  The resulting public health improvements led to a sharp natural increase in the Arab population—the highest rate recorded globally at the time—contributing to local overcrowding and social strain.  British commissions of the 1930s attributed this pressure primarily to demographic growth rather than to Jewish land purchases, noting that most land acquired by Jews had been malarious or otherwise uncultivable before reclamation. Nevertheless, certain Arab political leaders, including Grand Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini, advanced narratives blaming Jewish settlement for Arab land shortages, which inflamed anti-Jewish sentiment and diverted attention from underlying demographic and economic causes.  This politicization of public health achievements reflected early intersections between antisemitic rhetoric and nationalist mobilization in the Arab world.<ref>Alexander A. Did antisemitism mislead and conceal from the world's malaria community the first start anywhere of a successful national malaria elimination campaign? Malariaworld J. 2024 Oct 15;15:12. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.13934894. PMID: 39502331; PMCID: PMC11537171.</ref>

==== Speculated causes ====
Psychoanalyst [[Janine Puget]] identified several enduring sources of antisemitism—religious, ideological, and political—including strains within parts of the Catholic right, the far left (where hostility toward Jews is often expressed as [[anti-Zionism]]), and remnants of fascist thought.<ref>IPA, 2021, p. 174.  Qtd. in [https://explainingantisemitism.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Lisbon-The-Uncanny-in-the-Normalization-of-Antisemitism.pdf Perelberg], p. 10.</ref> Antisemitism in the [[Arab world]] increased in the 20th century, as resentment against [[Aliyah|Jewish immigration]] and [[Zionism|Zionist]] activities in [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine Mandate]] grew. Around this time, the [[Antisemitic canard|fabricated antisemitic text]] ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' started to become available in Palestine. A translation of the text in Arabic was done by an Arab Christian in [[Cairo]] in 1927 or 1928, this time as a published book.<ref>[[Hadassa Ben-Itto]], ''The Lie that Wouldn't Die: The Protocols of The Elders of Zion'', p. 280 (London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2005). {{ISBN|0-85303-602-0}}</ref><ref name="Lewis 1986">{{Citation|last=Lewis|first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Lewis|title=Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice|year=1986|publisher=WW Norton & Co.|isbn=978-0-393-02314-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/semitesantisemit00lewi/page/199 199]|url=https://archive.org/details/semitesantisemit00lewi/page/199 }}</ref> This propaganda helped transform antisemitic sentiment into a unifying ideological force across parts of the Arab world, framing Jews and Israel as existential threats to Arab and Islamic unity.<ref>Perelberg, Rosine.  [https://explainingantisemitism.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Lisbon-The-Uncanny-in-the-Normalization-of-Antisemitism.pdf "The Uncanny in the Normalization of Antisemitism."] Antisemitism at the IPA Congress in Lisbon, July
2025.  p. 11.</ref> In March 1921, Musa Khazem El Husseini, Mayor of Jerusalem, told [[Winston Churchill]] "The Jews have been amongst the most active advocates of destruction in many lands. ... It is well known that the disintegration of Russia was wholly or in great part brought about by the Jews, and a large proportion of the defeat of Germany and Austria must also be put at their door."<ref>quoted in Morris, Benny, ''Righteous Victims'', Knopf, 1999, p. 99.</ref>

[[Matthias Küntzel]] has suggested that the decisive transfer of [[List of conspiracy theories#Antisemitism|Jewish conspiracy theory]] took place between 1937 and 1945 under the impact of Nazi propaganda targeted at the Arab world.<ref>Küntzel, Matthias, "National Socialism and Anti-Semitism in the Arab World", ''Jewish Political Studies Review'' 17:1–2 (Spring 2005).</ref> According to Kuntzel, the Nazi Arabic radio service had a staff of 80 and broadcast every day in Arabic, stressing the similarities between Islam and Nazism and supported by the activities of the [[Grand Mufti of Jerusalem]], [[Amin al-Husseini]] (who broadcast pro-Nazi propaganda from Berlin).<ref name="Herf 2009"/> Alongside al-Husseini's [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaboration with the Nazis]],<ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia"/><ref name="JCPA 2020"/> cooperative political and military relationships between the Arab world and the [[Axis powers]] ([[Nazi Germany]] and [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]]) were founded on shared antisemitic scorn and hostilities toward common enemies: the [[United Kingdom]], [[French Third Republic|France]], and [[Zionism]].<ref name="Herf 2009"/><ref name="Holocaust-Encyclopedia"/><ref name="JCPA 2020"/> The Nazi regime also provided funding to the Egyptian [[Moslem Brotherhood]], which began calling for boycotts of Jewish businesses in 1936.{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}}
Bernard Lewis also describes Nazi influence in the Arab world, including its impact on [[Michel Aflaq]], the principal founder of [[Ba'athism|Ba'athist thought]] (which later dominated Syria and Iraq).<blockquote> After the promulgation of the Nuremberg Laws, Hitler received telegrams of congratulation from all over the Arab and Muslim world, especially from Morocco and Palestine, where the Nazi propaganda had been most active.... Before long political parties of the Nazi and Fascist type began to appear, complete with paramilitary youth organizations, colored shirts, strict discipline and more or less charismatic leaders.<ref>[[Bernard Lewis|Lewis, Bernard]]. ''Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice''. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-393-31839-5}}, p. 148</ref> </blockquote>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1987-004-09A, Amin al Husseini und Adolf Hitler.jpg|thumb|230px|right|[[Amin al-Husseini]], Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the chairman of the Supreme Islamic Council meeting with [[Adolf Hitler]] (December 1941)]]

George Gruen attributes the increased animosity towards Jews in the [[Arab world]] to the [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire|defeat and breakdown of the Ottoman Empire]] and traditional [[Muslim world|Islamic society]]; domination by [[European colonialism|Western colonial powers]] under which Jews gained a disproportionately large role in the commercial, professional, and administrative life of the region; the rise of [[Arab nationalism]], whose proponents sought the wealth and positions of local Jews through government channels; resentment over [[Zionism|Jewish nationalism]] and the Zionist movement; and the readiness of unpopular Arab [[regime]]s to [[Scapegoating|scapegoat]] local Jews for political purposes.<ref>Gruen, George E. [http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl102.htm "The Other Refugees: Jews of the Arab World"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029210251/http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl102.htm |date=October 29, 2018 }}, ([[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]]).</ref>

After the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the [[1948 Palestinian exodus|Palestinian exodus]], the creation of the state of [[Israel]], and the independence of Arab countries from European control, conditions for Jews in the Arab world deteriorated. Over the next few decades, almost all would flee the Arab world, some willingly, and some under threat (see [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries]]). In 1945 there were between 758,000 and 866,000 Jews (see table below) living in communities throughout the Arab world. Today, there are fewer than 8,000. In some Arab states, such as [[Libya]] (which was once around 3% Jewish), the Jewish community no longer exists; in other Arab countries, only a few hundred Jews remain.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Harvard University Professor [[Ruth R. Wisse]] claims that "anti-Semitism / Zionism has been the cornerstone of pan-Arab politics since the Second World War" and that it is the "strongest actual and potential source of unity" in the Arab world.<ref>Wisse, Ruth R. [https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-functions-of-anti-semitism "The Functions of Anti-Semitism."] ''National Affairs''. Fall 2017. 2 October 2017.</ref> This is because Jews and Israel function as substitutes for Western values that challenge the hegemony of religious and political power in the Middle East. Antisemitism is also malleable enough that it can unite right-wing and left-wing groups within the Arab world.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

[[Robert L. Bernstein|Robert Bernstein]], founder of [[Human Rights Watch]], says that antisemitism is "deeply ingrained and institutionalized" in "Arab nations in modern times".<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-human-rights-groups-ignore-palestinians-war-of-words/2011/09/26/gIQAWU5y2K_story.html| title = Why do human rights groups ignore Palestinians' war of words?| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

==Contemporary attitudes==

===Israeli Arabs===
{{see also|Racism against Israeli Jews by Israeli Arabs}}
In 2003, Israeli-Arab [[Raed Salah]], the leader of the northern branch of the [[Islamic Movement in Israel]] published the following poem in the Islamic Movement's periodical:
<blockquote>
You Jews are criminal bombers of mosques,<br />
Slaughterers of pregnant women and babies.<br />
Robbers and germs in all times,<br />
The Creator sentenced you to be loser monkeys,<br />
Victory belongs to Muslims, from the Nile to the Euphrates.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100092424/extremist-ife-sponsors-a-man-who-calls-jews-germs-and-monkeys/ |title = "Extremist IFE sponsors a man who calls Jews 'germs' and 'monkeys'" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618025029/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100092424/extremist-ife-sponsors-a-man-who-calls-jews-germs-and-monkeys/ |archive-date=18 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
</blockquote>

During a speech in 2007, Salah accused Jews of [[blood libel|using children's blood to bake bread]]. "We have never allowed ourselves to knead [the dough for] the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children's blood," he said. "Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what used to happen to some children in Europe, whose blood was mixed in with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread."<ref>{{cite news|last=Stern |first=Yoav |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/islamic-movement-head-charged-with-incitement-to-racism-violence-1.238209 |title=Islamic Movement head charged with incitement to racism, violence |newspaper=Haaretz |date=February 16, 2007 |access-date=July 2, 2011}}</ref>

Kamal Khatib, deputy leader of the northern branch of the Islamic movement, referred in one of his speeches to the Jews as "fleas".<ref>{{cite news|last=Pontz |first=Zach |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/12/20/scandal-at-haifa-university-as-islamic-movement-chairman-who-called-jews-fleas-arrives-on-campus |title=Scandal at Haifa University as Islamic Movement Chairman Who Called Jews "Fleas" Arrives on Campus |newspaper=Algemeiner Journal |date=December 20, 2012|access-date=May 17, 2013}}</ref>

Of all groups surveyed, a 2010 Pew Research global poll found that Israeli Arabs have the lowest rate of anti-Jewish attitudes in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite report |chapter=Views of Religious Groups |title=Mixed Views of Hamas and Hezbollah in Largely Muslim Nations |chapter-url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2010/02/04/chapter-3-views-of-religious-groups/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=21 September 2021 |date=4 February 2010}}</ref>

===Egypt===
{{see also|Antisemitism in Africa#Egypt|History of the Jews in Egypt}}

In an article published in October 2000, columnist [[Adel Hammoda]] alleged in the state-owned Egyptian newspaper ''[[al-Ahram]]'' that Jews made [[Matza]] from the blood of (non-Jewish) children.<ref>''Al-Ahram'' (Egypt), October 28, 2000</ref> Mohammed Salmawy, editor of ''[[Al-Ahram Hebdo]]'', "defended the use of old European myths like the [[blood libel against Jews|blood libel]]" in his newspapers.<ref>Clark, Kate (August 10, 2003). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3136059.stm "Interpreting Egypt's anti-semitic cartoons"], ''[[BBC News]]''.</ref> On 29 April 2002, government-run Egyptian newspaper ''[[Al-Akhbar (Egypt)|Al-Akhbar]]'' published an editorial denying the Holocaust. The next paragraph decried the failure of the Holocaust to eliminate all Jews:

<blockquote>
With regard to the fraud of the Holocaust... Many French studies have proven that this is no more than a fabrication, a lie, and a fraud!! That is, it is a 'scenario' the plot of which was carefully tailored, using several faked photos completely unconnected to the truth. Yes, it is a film, no more and no less. Hitler himself, whom they accuse of Nazism, is in my eyes no more than a modest 'pupil' in the world of murder and bloodshed. He is completely innocent of the charge of frying them in the hell of his false Holocaust!!

The entire matter, as many French and British scientists and researchers have proven, is nothing more than a huge Israeli plot aimed at extorting the German government in particular and the European countries in general. But I, personally and in light of this imaginary tale, complain to Hitler, even saying to him from the bottom of my heart, 'If only you had done it, brother, if only it had really happened, so that the world could sigh in relief [without] their evil and sin.'</blockquote>

In 2005, Egyptian [[Muslim Brotherhood]] leader [[Mohammed Mahdi Akef]] denounced what he called "the myth of [[the Holocaust]]" in defending then-Iranian president [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]'s [[Holocaust denial|denial]] of it.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4554986.stm "Egyptian Islamists deny Holocaust"], ''[[BBC News]]'', December 23, 2005.</ref> In August 2010, Saudi columnist [[Iman Al-Quwaifli]] sharply criticized the "phenomenon of sympathy for [[Adolf Hitler]] and for Nazism in the Arab world",<ref name="memri"/> specifically citing the words of Hussam Fawzi Jabar, an Islamic cleric who justified Hitler's actions against the Jews in an Egyptian talk show one month earlier.<ref name=memri>{{cite web| url = http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4499.htm| title = Saudi Columnist Condemns Sympathy for Hitler in the Arab World. August 4, 2010 Memri}}</ref><ref>[http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2556.htm Egyptian Cleric Hussam Fawzi Jabar: Hitler Was Right to Do What He Did to the Jews], MEMRITV, Clip #2556, July 11, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.cfr.org/egypt/hosni-mubarak-troublesome-ally/p23974 Hosni Mubarak, Troublesome Ally] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218020825/http://www.cfr.org/egypt/hosni-mubarak-troublesome-ally/p23974|date=February 18, 2017}} by [[Max Boot]] and [[Jeane J. Kirkpatrick]], [[Council on Foreign Relations]] (originally published in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' ([https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703439504576116152251152190?KEYWORDS=max+boot])), February 1, 2011.</ref>

In an October 2012 sermon broadcast on [[ERTU|Egyptian Channel 1]] (which was attended by Egyptian President [[Muhammad Morsi]]) Futouh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour, the Head of Religious Endowment of the [[Matrouh Governorate]], prayed (as translated by [[MEMRI]]):

{{blockquote|O Allah, absolve us of our sins, strengthen us, and grant us victory over the infidels. O Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. O Allah, disperse them, rend them asunder. O Allah, demonstrate Your might and greatness upon them.<ref>[http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3614.htm Egyptian President Morsi Joins Preacher in Prayer for Destruction and Dispersal of the Jews], MEMRI, clip 3614, October 19, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23448/Default.aspx Egyptian president prays for Jews' demise] by Ryan Jones, ''[[Israel Today]]'', October 23, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/October/Hamas-Egypt-Use-Social-Aid-to-Promote-Jihad/ Hamas, Egypt Use Social Aid to Promote Jihad] by Tzippe Barrow, ''[[CBN News]]'', October 23, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.jewishpress.com/news/morsi-appears-religiously-fervent-in-prayer-to-destroy-jews/2012/10/22/0/ In Public Prayer Morsi Appeals to Allah to 'Destroy the Jews' (Video)] by Malkah Fleisher, ''[[The Jewish Press]]'', October 22, 2012.</ref>}}

In 2001–2002, [[Arab Radio and Television Network|Arab Radio and Television]] produced a 30-part television miniseries entitled ''Horseman Without a Horse'', starring prominent Egyptian actor [[Mohamed Sobhi (actor)|Mohamed Sobhi]], which contains dramatizations of ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]''. The United States and Israel criticized Egypt for airing the program, which includes racist falsehoods that have a history of being used "as a pretext for persecuting Jews".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2386767.stm "Egypt criticised for 'anti-Semitic' film"], ''[[BBC News]] Online'', November 1, 2002.</ref>

===Jordan===
{{See also|History of the Jews in Jordan}}
[[Jordan]] does not allow entry to Jews with visible signs of Judaism or even with personal religious items in their possession. The Jordanian ambassador to Israel replied to a complaint by a religious Jew denied entry that security concerns required that travelers entering the Hashemite Kingdom not do so with prayer shawls ([[Tallit]]) and phylacteries ([[Tefillin]]).<ref>{{cite news |title=Jordan denies entry to Israeli with Jewish prayer items |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/jordan-denies-entry-to-israeli-with-jewish-prayer-items-1.279743 |date= July 10, 2009 |work=Haaretz |access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref> Jordanian authorities state that the policy is in order to ensure the Jewish tourists' safety.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israeli tourists asked to hand over Jewish paraphernalia |url=http://www.eturbonews.com/4337/israeli-tourists-asked-hand-over-jewish-paraphernalia |date= August 13, 2008|publisher= eTurboNews |access-date=July 23, 2009}}</ref>

In July 2009, six [[Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)|Breslov]] [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]] were deported after attempting entry into Jordan in order to visit the tomb of Aaron / Sheikh Harun on [[Mount Hor]], near [[Petra]], because of an alert from the Ministry of Tourism. The group had taken a [[ferry]] from [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]], Egypt because they understood that Jordanian authorities were making it hard for visible Jews to enter from Israel. The [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] is aware of the issue.<ref>{{cite web |author= Mendel, Arieh | script-title=he:חסידי ברסלב גורשו מירדן: "הם מאוד מאוכזבים" |url=http://www.haredim.co.il/ViewArticle.aspx?catID=1&itmID=970|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008033754/http://www.haredim.co.il/ViewArticle.aspx?catID=1&itmID=970|archive-date=October 8, 2011 |date= July 21, 2009|publisher= Haredim.co.il |access-date=<!----July 24, 2009---->|language=he}}</ref>

===Saudi Arabia===
{{Main|Antisemitism in Saudi Arabia}}

Hostility toward Jews is common in Saudi Arabian media, religious sermons, school curriculum, and official government policy.

Indoctrination against Jews is a part of school curriculum in Saudi Arabia.  Children are advised not to befriend Jews, are given false information about them (such as the claim that Jews worship the Devil), and are encouraged to engage in ''jihad'' against Jews.<ref>{{cite news |last=Shea |first=Nina |author-link=Nina Shea |title=This is a Saudi textbook. (After the intolerance was removed.) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901769.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=21 May 2006 |page=B01}}</ref>

Conspiracy theories about Jews are widely disseminated in Saudi Arabian state-controlled media.<ref name=":0">{{cite report |title=Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of intolerance: With Excerpts from Saudi Ministry of Education Textbooks for Islamic Studies |date=2006 |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/pdfdocs/KSAtextbooks06.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060724173901/https://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/pdfdocs/KSAtextbooks06.pdf |archive-date=2006-07-24 |website=Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House}}</ref>

According to the U.S. State Department,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/countriesconcerns/Countries/Saudi_Arabia.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926232718/http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/countriesconcerns/Countries/Saudi_Arabia.html |title=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Countries of Particular Concern. Saudi Arabia|archive-date=September 26, 2007}}</ref> religious freedom "does not exist" in Saudi Arabia, and therefore, Jews may not freely practice their religion.

===Syria===
[[File:Zeibak.jpg|thumb|upright|Clockwise from top left: Fara Zeibak, Mazal Zeibak, Eva Saad and Lulu Zeibak]]

On March 2, 1974, the bodies of four [[Syrian Jews|Syrian Jewish]] women were discovered by border police in a cave in the Zabdani Mountains northwest of Damascus. Fara Zeibak (24), her sisters Lulu Zeibak (23), Mazal Zeibak (22) and their cousin Eva Saad (18), had contracted with a band of smugglers to flee Syria to Lebanon and eventually to Israel. The girls' bodies were found raped, murdered and mutilated. The police also found the remains of two Jewish boys, Natan Shaya (18) and Kassem Abadi (20), victims of an earlier massacre.<ref>Friedman, Saul S. (1989). Without Future: The Plight of Syrian Jewry. Praeger Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-275-93313-5}}</ref> Syrian authorities deposited the bodies of all six in sacks before the homes of their parents in the Jewish ghetto in Damascus.<ref>''Le Figaro'', March 9, 1974, "Quatre femmes juives assassiness a Damas", (Paris: International Conference for Deliverance of Jews in the Middle East, 1974), p. 33.</ref>

In 1984 Syrian Defense Minister [[Mustafa Tlass]] published a book called ''The Matzah of Zion'', which claimed that Jews had killed Christian children in Damascus to make Matzas (see [[Damascus affair]]). His book inspired the Egyptian TV series ''[[Horseman Without a Horse]]'' (see {{section link||Egypt}}) and a spinoff, ''The Diaspora'', which led to [[Hezbollah]]'s al-Manar being banned in Europe for broadcasting it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jorisch, Avi|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdBkAAAAMAAJ|title=Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballahs Al-Manar Television|publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy|isbn=0-944029-88-4|pages=103–104}}</ref>

Former [[Ku Klux Klan]] leader [[David Duke]] visited Syria in November 2005 and made a speech that was broadcast live on Syrian television.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.davidduke.com/mp3/dukedamascus6.WMV| title= David Duke website.| access-date= July 2, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110701060206/http://www.davidduke.com/mp3/dukedamascus6.WMV| archive-date= July 1, 2011| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}</ref>

===Tunisia===
The [[history of the Jews in Tunisia]] goes back to Roman times. Before 1948, the Jewish population of Tunisia reached a peak of 110,000. Today it has a Jewish community of less than 2,000 people.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ettinger |first=Yair |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/sociologist-claude-sitbon-do-the-jews-of-tunisia-have-reason-to-be-afraid-1.337440 |title=Sociologist Claude Sitbon, do the Jews of Tunisia have reason to be afraid? - Israel News &#124; Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=2011-01-17 |access-date=2015-06-05}}</ref> Antisemitism in Vichy-era Tunisia was deeply intertwined with colonial politics and Mediterranean rivalries. Following France's 1940 defeat, the Vichy government implemented antisemitic laws in Tunisia, targeting the region's diverse Jewish community of Tunisian, French, and Italian nationals. These laws, aimed at economic aryanization and exclusion of Jews from public life, were also tools for consolidating French colonial authority. However, enforcement was inconsistent, as colonial officials sought to avoid destabilising the economy or provoking intervention from Fascist Italy, which used its Jewish population to maintain influence. Rather than reflecting ethical restraint, this caution highlighted the tension between antisemitic ideology and pragmatic efforts to safeguard French control amid geopolitical competition and wartime pressures.<ref name=Peterson>Peterson, T. (2014). The ‘jewish question’ and the ‘italian peril’: vichy, italy, and the jews of tunisia, 1940–2. Journal of Contemporary History, 50(2), 234-258.</ref>

For a personal account of the discrimination and physical attacks experienced by Jews in Tunisia the Jewish-Arab anti-colonialist writer [[Albert Memmi]] wrote:<ref>Memmi, Albert.[http://www.jimena.org/faq/memmi.htm "Who is an Arab Jew?"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120132211/http://www.jimena.org/faq/memmi.htm |date=November 20, 2008 }}, February 1975.</ref>

<blockquote>
At each crisis, with every incident of the slightest importance, the mob would go wild, setting fire to Jewish shops. This even happened during the Yom Kippur War. Tunisia's President, Habib Bourguiba, has in all probability never been hostile to the Jews, but there was always that notorious "delay", which meant that the police arrived on the scene only after the shops had been pillaged and burnt. Is it any wonder that the exodus to France and Israel continued and even increased?
</blockquote>

On November 30, 2012, prominent Tunisian imam Sheikh Ahmad Al-Suhayli of [[Radès]], told his followers during a live broadcast on [[Hannibal TV]] that "God wants to destroy this [Tunisian] sprinkling of Jews and is sterilizing the wombs of Jewish women."<ref name="timesofisrael.com">{{cite web| url = http://www.timesofisrael.com/tunisian-imam-sued-for-call-to-sterilize-the-wombs-of-jewish-women/| title = Tunisian imam sued for call to 'sterilize the wombs of Jewish women' Times of Israel. Dec. 20. 2012| website = [[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref> This was the fourth time incitement against Jews has been reported in the public sphere since the overthrow of Tunisian President [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]] in 2011, thus prompting Jewish community leaders to demand security protection from the Tunisian government.<ref name="timesofisrael.com"/> Al-Suhayli subsequently posted a video on the Internet in which he claimed that his statements had been misinterpreted.<ref>[http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3685.htm Tunisian Cleric Ahmad Al-Suhayli in Response to Lawsuit Following MEMRI TV Exposure: I Did Not Call to Kill All the Jews], MEMRITV, Clip No. 3685 (transcript), December 16, 2012.</ref>

On January 18, 2021, Tunisian president [[Kais Saied]] was caught on video telling a crowd that "We know very well who the people are who are controlling the country today. It is the Jews who are doing the stealing, and we need to put an end to it."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-03|title=The President of Tunisia Slanders the Jews|url=https://besacenter.org/tunisia-kais-saied-jews/|access-date=2022-02-08|website=Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies|language=en-US}}</ref> Saied's office responded that the president's words had been misheard and that he meant to say something else instead of Jews.<ref>{{cite news|last=Agencies|title=Tunisian president denies claims he made anti-Semitic remarks|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/tunisian-president-denies-claims-he-made-anti-semitic-remarks/|access-date=2022-02-08|website=[[The Times of Israel]]|language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref> Two days later, Saied publicly apologized for his statements, holding a phone call with [[Djerba]]'s chief rabbi, [[Haim Bitan]] in which he expressed regret for his statements.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tunisian president sorry for antisemitic remarks, rabbi says|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/tunisian-president-blames-instability-on-stealing-jews-656062|access-date=2022-02-08|website=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=January 20, 2021 |language=en-US |issn=0792-822X}}</ref>

The [[El Ghriba Synagogue]] in [[Djerba]] has twice been the target of terrorist atrocities: in 2002 [[Ghriba synagogue bombing|an al-Qaeda suicide bomber]] killed 20 and injured dozens more, while in 2023 [[2023 Djerba shooting|a lone gunman]] killed two worshippers and two police and injured several others.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-09 |title=Tunisia: 3 killed, 10 injured in attack near synagogue |url=https://apnews.com/article/tunisia-attack-synagogue-jewish-pilgrimage-2ae326d91ce7f29b7e675082995488d1 |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510031457/https://apnews.com/article/tunisia-attack-synagogue-jewish-pilgrimage-2ae326d91ce7f29b7e675082995488d1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Palestinian territories===
{{Further|Racism in the State of Palestine#Antisemitism in Palestinian territories}}
[[File:Graffiti of a swastika on a building in the Palestinian city Nablus.jpg|thumb|[[Graffiti]] of a [[swastika]] on a building in the [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] city of [[Nablus]], 2022]]
[[File:Antisemitic graffiti in Huwara.jpg|thumb|Swastikas next to [[Flag of Palestine|Palestinian flags]] in [[Huwara]]]]
[[Hamas]], an offshoot of the Egyptian [[Muslim Brotherhood]], has a foundational statement of principles, or "covenant" that claims that the French revolution, the Russian revolution, colonialism and both world wars were created by the Zionists. It also claims the [[Freemason]]s and [[Rotary club]]s are Zionist fronts and refers to the [[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm |title=Hamas Covenant 1988 articles 22 and 32 |publisher=Yale.edu |access-date=July 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629170055/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>
Claims that Jews and Freemasons were behind the French Revolution originated in Germany in the mid-19th century.<ref>[[Norman Cohn|Cohn, Norman]]. ''[[Warrant for Genocide]], The Myth of the Jewish World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', chapter 1.</ref>

[[Mahmoud Abbas]], leader of the [[PLO]], published a Ph.D. thesis (at Moscow University) in 1982, called ''The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement''.<ref>Malone, Brynn. [http://hnn.us/articles/1414.html Was Abu Mazen a Holocaust Denier?], History News Network.</ref>
His doctoral thesis later became a book, ''[[The Other Side: the Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism]]'', which, following his appointment as Palestinian Prime Minister in 2003, was heavily criticized as an example of [[Holocaust denial]]. In his book, Abbas wrote:
<blockquote>
It seems that the interest of the Zionist movement, however, is to inflate this figure [of Holocaust deaths] so that their gains will be greater. This led them to emphasize this figure [six million] in order to gain the solidarity of international public opinion with Zionism. Many scholars have debated the figure of six million and reached stunning conclusions—fixing the number of Jewish victims at only a few hundred thousand.<ref>Medoff, Dr. Rafael. [http://www.wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-03-denier.php "A Holocaust-Denier as Prime Minister of 'Palestine'?"] (The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies).</ref><ref>Gross, Tom. [http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/000032.html Abu Mazen and the Holocaust]</ref><ref>Itamar, Marcus [http://www.pmw.org.il/holocaust.htm PA Holocaust Denial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061113061841/http://www.pmw.org.il/holocaust.htm |date=November 13, 2006 }} (Palestinian Media Watch).</ref>
</blockquote>


===Lebanon===
[[Hezbollah]]'s [[Al-Manar]] TV channel has often been accused of airing antisemitic broadcasts, blaming the Jews for a Zionist [[conspiracy theories in the Arab world|conspiracy against the Arab world]], and often airing excerpts from the ''Protocols of the Elders of Zion'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |author2=Carole Corm |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E7DE1031F93AA35751C1A9629C8B63 |title=A New French Headache: When Is Hate on TV Illegal? |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 9, 2004 |access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_recycled.asp |title=Anti-Semitic Series on Arab Television: Satellite Network Recycles The Protocols of the Elders of Zion |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |date=January 9, 2004 |access-date=April 11, 2014 |archive-date=January 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115091803/http://www.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_recycled.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.wiesenthal.com/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=297065 "Urge President Chirac to Block Hezbollah's Antisemitic and Hate TV".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010194739/http://www.wiesenthal.com/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=297065 |date=October 10, 2007 }} ''[[Simon Wiesenthal Center]]''. May 21, 2008.</ref>

[[Al-Manar]] recently aired a drama series, called ''The Diaspora'', which is based on historical antisemitic allegations. BBC reporters who watched the series said that: <blockquote> Correspondents who have viewed ''The Diaspora'' note that it quotes extensively from the ''Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', a notorious 19th-century publication used by the Nazis among others to fuel race hatred.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3581514.stm "France offers 'hate TV' reprieve"], ''BBC News Online'', August 20, 2004.</ref> </blockquote>

In another incident, an Al-Manar commentator recently referred to "Zionist attempts to transmit [[AIDS]] to Arab countries". Al-Manar officials deny broadcasting antisemitic incitement and state that their position is anti-Israeli, not antisemitic. However, Hezbollah has directed strong rhetoric both against Israel and Jews, and it has cooperated in publishing and distributing outright antisemitic literature. The government of Lebanon has not criticized continued broadcast of antisemitic material on television.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136073.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315152840/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136073.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 15, 2010 |title=2009 Human Rights Report: Lebanon |publisher=State.gov |date=March 11, 2010 |access-date=July 2, 2011}}</ref>

Due to protests by the [[Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France|CRIF]] umbrella group of French Jews regarding allegations of antisemitic content, French Prime Minister [[Jean-Pierre Raffarin]] called for a ban on Al-Manar broadcasting in France on December 2, 2004, just two weeks after al-Manar was authorised to continue broadcasting in Europe by France's media watchdog agency.<ref>Usher, Sebastian (December 3, 2004) .[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4064317.stm "French seek 'anti-Semitic' TV ban"], ''[[BBC News]]''.</ref> On December 13, 2004, France's highest administrative court banned Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV station on the grounds that it consistently incites racial hatred and antisemitism.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4093579.stm "France pulls plug on Arab network"], ''[[BBC News]] Online'', December 14, 2004.</ref>

===Yemen===
{{see also|Geography of antisemitism#Yemen|Mawza Exile}}
The 1940s and the [[Declaration of Israel|establishment of Israel]] saw rapid emigration of Jews out of Yemen, in the wake of anti-Jewish riots and massacres. By the late 1990s, only several hundred remained, mainly in a northwestern mountainous region named [[Sa'ada]] and town of [[Raida (town)|Raida]]. [[Houthi]] members put up notes on the Jews' doors, accusing them of corrupting Muslim morals. Eventually, the Houthi leaders sent threatening messages to the Jewish community: "We warn you to leave the area immediately.... We give you a period of 10 days, or you will regret it."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://fighthatred.com/recent-events/national-political-hate/416-jews-flee-yemen-due-to-rising-anti-semitism |title = Jews flee Yemen due to rising anti-Semitism, Fight Hartred |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710042018/http://fighthatred.com/recent-events/national-political-hate/416-jews-flee-yemen-due-to-rising-anti-semitism |archive-date=10 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 28 March 2021, 13 Jews were forced by the Houthis to leave Yemen, leaving four elderly Jews the only Jews still in Yemen.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/03/houthis-deport-some-yemens-last-remaining-jews| title = Houthis deport some of Yemen's last remaining Jews}}</ref>

===Opinion polling===
In 2008, a [[Pew Research Center]] survey found that negative views concerning Jews were most common in the three predominantly Arab nations polled, with 97% of Lebanese having unfavorable opinion of Jews, 95% in Egypt, and 96% in Jordan.<ref>[http://www.pewglobal.org/files/pdf/262.pdf Unfavorable Views of Jews and Muslims on the increase in Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218070018/http://www.pewglobal.org/files/pdf/262.pdf |date=December 18, 2017 }} Pew Global Attitudes Research September 17, 2008, page 10</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Contemporary imprints of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion|Contemporary imprints of ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'']]
* [[Covenant of Umar I]]
* [[Dhimmi]]
* [[Islam and antisemitism]]
* [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands]]
* [[Jizya]]
* [[Mellah]]
* [[Pact of Umar II]]
* [[Qutbism]]
* [[Racism in the Arab world]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* [[Andrew G. Bostom|Bostom, Andrew G.]] ''The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred texts to Solemn History''. Prometheus Books. 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-59102-554-2}}
* [[Jane Gerber|Gerber, Jane S.]] (1986). "Anti-Semitism and the Muslim World". In ''History and Hate: The Dimensions of Anti-Semitism'', ed. David Berger. Jewish Publications Society. {{ISBN|0-8276-0267-7}}
* {{cite book|last = Herf|first = Jeffrey|author-link = Jeffrey Herf|title = The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World|year = 2009|publisher = [[Yale University Press]]|location = Ann Arbor, Michigan|isbn = 978-0-300-14579-3}}
* Levy, Richard S., ed. ''Antisemitism: A historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution'' (Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO, 2005) pp 30–33.
* [[Bernard Lewis|Lewis, Bernard]] (1984). ''The Jews of Islam''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-00807-8}}
* Lewis, Bernard (1999). ''Semites and anti-Semites''. {{ISBN|0-393-31839-7}}
* [[Walter Laqueur|Laqueur, Walter]]. ''The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times To The Present Day''. Oxford University Press. 2006. {{ISBN|0-19-530429-2}}
* [[Leon Poliakov|Poliakov, Leon]] (1997). "Anti-Semitism". ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]'' (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. [[Cecil Roth]]. Keter Publishing House. {{ISBN|965-07-0665-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Satloff|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Satloff|title=Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands|year=2006|publisher=Perseus Book Group|location=New York|isbn=978-1-58648-399-9|url=https://archive.org/details/amongrighteouslo00robe}}
* [[Tom Segev|Segev, Tom]]. ''One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate''. Trans. Haim Watzman. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001.
* {{cite SSRN |title=Islamism and Anti-Semitism. Preliminary Evidence on Their Relationship from Cross-National Opinion Data |last=Tausch |first=Arno |year=2015 |ssrn=2600825 }}
* {{cite journal |title=The New Global Antisemitism: Implications from the Recent ADL-100 Data |journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs |volume=18 |issue=3 |date=Fall 2014 |last=Tausch |first=Arno |ssrn=2549654 }}
* [[Robert S. Wistrich|Wistrich, Robert S.]] ''Hitler's Apocalypse: Jews and the Nazi Legacy''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1985. {{ISBN|0-297-78719-5}}
* [[Robert S. Wistrich|Wistrich, Robert S.]] ''A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad''. Random House. 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-6097-9}}

==External links==
<!-- Do not simply keep adding links onto the list. Wikipedia is not a repository of links. Read "WP: External links" first. -->
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021126072641/http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw98-9/arab.html Arab Anti-Semitism in 1998/99] – summary of Arab antisemitism, by the [[University of Tel Aviv]]
* [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:S.RES.366: S.RES.366] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704154106/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:S.RES.366: |date=July 4, 2016 }} Urging the Government of [[Egypt]] and other Arab governments not to allow their government-controlled television stations to broadcast any program that lends legitimacy to the [[Protocols of the Elders of Zion]], and for other purposes. (Passed/agreed to in Senate on November 20, 2002).
* [http://www.memri.org MEMRI] Organization that monitors Middle-Eastern media for antisemitism. See [[MEMRI]].
{{Antisemitism topics|state=uncollapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antisemitism In The Arab World}}
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Egypt]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Iraq]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Libya]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Palestine]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Syria]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Yemen]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Africa| ]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in the Middle East| ]]
[[Category:Arab world]]
[[Category:Racism in Africa]]
[[Category:Racism in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Islam and antisemitism|Arab world]]