Germany Will Spend 41 Million Dollars to ‘Discover’ Causes of Present-Day Antisemitism

by Hugh Fitzgerald

Yes, it’s a puzzlement, all right. What makes so many people – mainly Palestinians and Turks in Germany, Palestinians and Moroccans in the Netherlands, Palestinians and Egyptians in Italy, Palestinians and Pakistanis in Great Britain, Palestinians and North Africans in France – so full of hatred for Jews and the Jewish state? What moves Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, and Nihad Awad, and Linda Sarsour, to come down so hard on “the Jews”? This question requires, the Germans believe, generously subsidized deep research, and they are – it’s understandable, given their regrettable past — eager to fund it. And that is what they have just announced they will embark upon such research, as discussed here: “German Government to Spend $40 Million on Researching What Fuels Antisemitism, Racism,” by Sharon Wrobel, Algemeiner, August 4, 2021. 

The German government will spend more than $40 million (35 million euros) to fund research projects into the causes of antisemitism, hatred and racism as part of a wider effort to fight the growing phenomena, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research announced on Wednesday.

It is more than shameful that Jews in Germany feel threatened,” said Germany’s Education and Research Minister Anja Karliczek. “Antisemitism and racism have no place in Germany. They are poison and a big threat for social cohesion. We must fight this poison with all our determination. But we can only fight what we understand.”

A number of academic researchers on the subject of antisemitism will be funded with a total of $14 million over a period of four years. Additional funding of $27 million will be granted to projects to combat right-wing extremism and racism.”

Why is the government going to spend twice as much on “right-wing extremism” as on “antisemitism”? Isn’t antisemitism supposed to be the main subject of study? And isn’t left-wing antisemitism, of the Antifa, woke, Black-Lives-Matter variety, a much greater problem in Europe today than “right-wing extremism”?

We want to expand our knowledge base in order to effectively combat racism and antisemitism,” Karliczek continued. “The research projects we fund will contribute to this understanding and help develop suitable measures to prevent and combat antisemitism in education, civil society and politics.”

Do you think any research project that proposes studying the Qur’an and hadith as sources of antisemitism has a chance of being funded? Don’t be silly. What about a proposed comparative study, “Antisemitism in Western Christendom and the Lands of Islam?  Not on your life. What about a study of antisemitism in schoolbooks used in Muslim countries? Nothing doing. Or a study of “Hajj Amin el-Husseini in Berlin, 1939-1945”? Out of the question. The German government wouldn’t like where any of this is going.

She added that the research groups will address questions including how antisemitism reaches children in schools, and what the public can do to immunize against online hate speech.

Here’s what the public can do. It can demand that governments no longer allow Big Tech – Facebook, Google, Twitter and so on – to police itself. These companies have shown an unwillingness to ban all expressions of antisemitism. That responsibility  must be taken away from them, and entrusted to a group that bases its banning of sites on whether they meet the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

The initiative will examine the dynamics and facets of antisemitism from different disciplinary perspectives and will include academics from theology, education, political science and law. Selected projects range from “antisemitism in online media” to “antisemitism in the context of the judiciary,” “Christian signatures of antisemitism,” and the prevention of antisemitism in education. Jewish perspectives will be systematically included, the government said.

“Christian signatures of antisemitism,” but not a hint that “Muslim antisemitism” will be studied. Why is that, do you think?

“To build the basis of our actions, reliable knowledge of the current manifestations of antisemitism, right-wing extremism and racism is indispensable,” said Felix Klein, Germany’s Federal Commissioner to combat antisemitism and promote Jewish life.

Again, the missing words are “Muslim.” “Muslim antisemitism,” “Islamic extremism,” “Muslim racism.” “Islamic racism.”

“The current funding guideline for research on antisemitism supports a wide range of research projects. Together with the funding guideline for right-wing extremism and racism, this gives us a clearer picture of these phenomena and their connections,” he said.

But even without needing to burn the midnight oil in study, without organizing conferences where scholars can meet to solemnly discuss what-oh-what could those “causes” of a sharp rise in antisemitism could be, and then to prepare detailed reports for the German government that will finally enlighten us all, I think we all know the answer – the hate whose name we dare not speak — don’t we? Let’s just cut to the chase. The fons et origo of today’s antisemitism, which is displayed overwhelmingly by Muslims, are the Qur’an and the hadith. Here are Qur’anic passages about the Jews, as usefully compiled by Robert Spencer:

“The Qur’an depicts the Jews as inveterately evil and bent on destroying the wellbeing of the Muslims. They are the strongest of all people in enmity toward the Muslims (5:82); as fabricating things and falsely ascribing them to Allah (2:79; 3:75, 3:181); claiming that Allah’s power is limited (5:64); loving to listen to lies (5:41); disobeying Allah and never observing his commands (5:13); disputing and quarreling (2:247); hiding the truth and misleading people (3:78); staging rebellion against the prophets and rejecting their guidance (2:55); being hypocritical (2:14, 2:44); giving preference to their own interests over the teachings of Muhammad (2:87); wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them (2:109); feeling pain when others are happy or fortunate (3:120); being arrogant about their being Allah’s beloved people (5:18); devouring people’s wealth by subterfuge (4:161); slandering the true religion and being cursed by Allah (4:46); killing the prophets (2:61); being merciless and heartless (2:74); never keeping their promises or fulfilling their words (2:100); being unrestrained in committing sins (5:79); being cowardly (59:13-14); being miserly (4:53); being transformed into apes and pigs for breaking the Sabbath (2:63-65; 5:59-60; 7:166); and more.”

Nothing further needs to be researched. Give that man $14 million. Or the whole 35 million euros. And spare us all the simpsonesque – O.J. rather than Homer – attempts to find the “real killer.” We know.