This is your required reading of the day. Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are similar and different.
My thoughts are similar. Traditional Judaism and Islam do not make a distinction between religion and state. The guiding principles in the Torah and the Koran are meant to be rules for all aspects of life — from the practical to the spiritual to the political. The ancient Israelite kings, at least as they were depicted in the Hebrew Bible, were subjects of God who were supposed to execute the God’s law throughout Israel.
Everything changed when Judah was destroyed by the Roman Empire and the surviving Jews were cast into the Diaspora throughout the Middle East and Europe. The autonomous communities they were usually allowed to create within various countries were governed by Jewish law, and the Talmud commanded Jews to obey the laws of their host countries as well.
But these insular communities did not seek to impose Jewish law throughout the rest of the world. (Jews sought to convert people in ancient times, but the practice stopped when the Roman Empire and early Christian Church started killing them for it.) Jews did not try to impose their religion on other people because Judaism also teaches that everyone who acts morally has a place in the World to Come. (Jews just have a higher threshold to reach because we have more commandments to observe.)
In short, Jews wanted to be left alone, and they were content to leave others alone. Judaism’s commandments apply to Israel the people and Israel the land — not to Gentiles in European countries. So Jews, in general, looked inward. Still, anti-Semitism arose partly out of a fear of “the Other” in addition to religious prejudice and conspiracy theories.
Traditional Islam, however, has a completely different worldview. Islam, like Christianity, aims to convert every person in the world. Muslims have a duty to spread Islam. Muslims want the world to adhere to shari’a. They do not want to be left alone. Most significantly, Muslims frequently force their beliefs into the public sphere and onto people who are not Muslims (see here and here). At the very extreme, Muslims kill those with whom they disagree. Muslims, in general, look outward.
The reasons for anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, then, are somewhat similar. Both Jews and Muslims are viewed as “the Other” in white, Christian Europe. Both face religious prejudice. However, there is a crucial difference: Conspiracy theories involving Jews were always preposterous. But, as 9/11 and 7/7 proved, sometimes Muslims do conspire to commit violent acts.
Anti-Semitism is completely irrational; Islamophobia (although I hate that word because it is not precise) is understandable and, in some specific instances, justifiable today. Very few Muslims are terrorists, but practically all of the people who want to kill American and European civilians are Muslims.
Earlier: The True Clash of Civilizations
