The Warped Mirror: Keeping the oldest hatred young

Anti-Semitism may be "the oldest hatred", but there is absolutely nothing old-fashioned about the way it is 'marketed' to appeal to the youngsters of today. The Hamas-version, or rather perversion, of "Sesame Street"  - a children's program entitled "Tomorrow's Pioneers" - made international headlines last year and even "earned" a lengthy Wikipedia entry when a Mickey Mouse look-alike named Farfour glorified "resistance", "jihad", and the killing of Jews. It was probably the unexpected international outcry that got Farfour "martyred" after just two months on the screen, but in the show he is beaten to death by a cruel and greedy Israeli official who wanted to "steal" Tel Aviv from the hapless Hamas mouse.

After Farfour's demise, it was the turn of Nahoul the bumblebee to take the lead - and to be eventually also "martyred", only to be replaced by the rabbit Assoud who doesn't think much of rabbits: indeed, his name means lion because he is resolved to "finish off the Jews and eat them."

In a recent article in the German news magazine Der Spiegel, Matthias Küntzel has argued that "anti-Semitic messages from satellite channels like the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa are helping to bring a message of hate and intolerance to Europe. The effects of such hate preaching can already be felt in Germany." Küntzel quotes a comprehensive study published last year by the German Interior Ministry on the worldviews of "Muslims in Germany", which noted that "anti-Semitic attitudes were found among young Muslims far more often than among non-Muslim immigrants or domestic non-Muslims."

As in his book "Jihad and Jew-Hatred", Küntzel emphasizes that whatever anti-Semitic tendencies may be rooted in Islamic teachings, it is important to realize that Nazi influences served to further strengthen these tendencies. According to Küntzel, just as the Nazis had "radicalized widespread Christian anti-Semitism in Europe, [. . .they] did their utmost to radicalize the latent anti-Judaism that had originated in early Islam. While everything Jewish was considered evil in early Islam, everything evil was now being labeled as Jewish, from wars and revolutions to the drug trade and the decline of moral values."

When it comes to spreading anti-Semitism among today's young people, Küntzel draws attention to developments that few may be aware of: he points out that Islamists have "used pop culture with as little inhibition as Hamas has unscrupulously resorted to a Hollywood cartoon character to recruit children. Trend-conscious clothing, music and lifestyle advertising bring ‘street credibility’ to the Islamist mission." Küntzel provides some examples from the German rap music scene, which is examined in more detail in a post at the German blog "Lizas Welt" that was also published in English under the title "German Rappers Steeped in Anti-Semitism, Jihad". 

According to this post, the German rap scene, which includes some performers whose families are Muslim immigrants, "increasingly spews Jew-hatred, extols terrorist attacks, and idolizes Osama bin Laden." As one observer of the scene notes: "in recent years the word 'Jew' has again become a general purpose insult, precisely among young people. Some German rappers also use the term 'Intifada Rap' to describe their music and they see themselves as belonging to a 'Generation Jihad.' They do everything they can to adopt the look and tone of Jew-haters. In videos that are accessible to anyone on YouTube, rap fans celebrate Hamas activists and other Islamist terror groups and challenge the right of Israel to exist. In these circles, Osama bin Laden has long since replaced Che Guevara as a symbol of emancipation."

In a recent lecture on anti-Semitic tendencies in German rap, a representative of an association dedicated to counteracting extremism and xenophobia in German youth culture offered very similar observations: "In the so-called 'Underground Rap' milieu - which, despite the name, includes genuine hit parade stars like Sido and Bushido and which dominates German-speaking hip-hop - anti-Semitic remarks have become part of the consensus, or, at any rate, they are not perceived as scandalous. In light of the violent imagery, misogyny, sexism, and homophobia that are commonplace in recent German-speaking rap, it seems that hardly any of the young musicians and fans are bothered by the expressions of anti-Semitism. ... In German-speaking hip-hop, the Islamist terrorist has become a metaphor for masculinity, toughness, and soldierly virtues."

A particularly chilling example of anti-Semitic rap is provided by the album "Enzyklonpedia" of the Berlin-based group "Zyklon Beatz". Supposedly the group's name refers not to the gas, but to the weather phenomenon of a cyclone; yet, it has been noted that "hardly any of the classical expressions of anti-Jewish resentment are missing from the album: The anti-Semitic legend of Jews poisoning water sources is used, as well as a slightly modernized version of the myth of Jewish ritual murder of children. Jews are dehumanized, presented as animals, and demonized as devils in human form: 'Satan's crowning achievement,' to which all the evils of the world have to be attributed. The anti-Semitic master narrative of the Jewish world conspiracy is also present in underhanded form: disguised, namely, as criticism of the USA. and Israel, who are supposed to be bent on imposing their economic interests across the globe."

However, it is important to note that the increasing acceptance, if not outright popularity of anti-Semitic rap cannot be explained only with the Muslim immigrant background of some rappers, because it is obvious that "[not] a single German rapper would have enough money to keep his refrigerator stocked, if it was not for the purchasing power of the white middle class kids who buy their recordings. They are drawn to the toughness of the Islamophile German rap and they pay hard cash for it. But they also can get their anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism on offer from 'white bread' rappers."

If the oldest hatred can even conquer such a modern form of youth culture as rap music, there is sadly little reason to hope that it will be possible to consider anti-Semitism as a thing of the past any time soon.