Are modern European anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish prejudice in the Arab-Muslim context comparable? Can the term ‘anti-Semitism’ be accurately applied to anti-Jewish prejudices in the Muslim world? With the increase in anti-Semitism in Muslim societies since the second half of the twentieth century, there has been a proliferation of studies attempting to explain this phenomenon. These studies either deny that anti-Semitism has historically been part of the Muslim imaginary, or on the contrary, argue that anti-Semitism is inherent to Islam, part of its foundational texts. Most authors who maintain that anti-Semitism is not inherent to Islam emphasize the impact of the creation of the State of Israel on the rise of the phenomenon in the Middle East. However, some highlight the fact that its presence can be traced back earlier, even before the widespread influence of Nazi propaganda in North Africa and the Middle East in the 1930s.
Here the definition of ‘anti-Semitism’ is key, despite its being overlooked in most studies on the subject. If the term is understood as ‘prejudice’, ‘discrimination’, or even ‘hate’ against the ‘Jews’, without contextualizing the prejudice historically and culturally, then research is going to focus on confirming or rejecting the existence of anti-Semitism. This approach runs the risk not only of ahistoricism, but also of failing to see and understand other systems of discrimination and prejudice. The concept of anti-Semitism that I use refers to ‘modern anti-Semitism’, which emerged from the conceptual, cultural and ideological framework of European modernity. In it, the ‘Jew’ is not a perfidious figure that stubbornly negates the divinity of Christ. Rather, in nineteenth century anti-Semitism, the Jew is a member of a distinctive ‘people’, ‘ethnic group’, and/or ‘race’ with some inherent personality and moral ‘defects’ and even distinctive physical traits, cannot be assimilated and poses a threat to the ‘nation’. This does not negate the influence of earlier forms of prejudice and discrimination, which played a constitutive role. However, they cannot explain later developments.
I approach prejudice from an ideological perspective. As a social anthropologist, I am interested in identifying some relevant social practices to understand how prejudice manifests itself in various specific normative and social forms and relationships, which can then be compared. The aim is to identify dominant sociopolitical classification systems and categories, the possibility of changes in group membership and the mechanisms for that. This study, then, examines and compares the sociopolitical classification schemes that prevailed in early modern Morocco with those prevalent during the colonial period, as well as the impact of normative and ideological systems of inequality and discrimination on social practices. It examines the adscription of sociopolitical identity, possible changes in group membership (i.e. through conversion), spatial segregation, ‘mixed’ marriages and sexual relationships as well as the sociopolitical adscription of the offspring of such unions. The final objective is to show the importance of analysing any system of discrimination or prejudice in light of its historical and cultural background and within the framework of social interaction and social practices. Only a clear understanding of the particularities and complexities of local social and cultural systems of prejudice and discrimination can provide the basis to fully comprehend and change the situation.
