This is one of the best videos from PragerU.
The problem of anti-Semitism in the world cannot be understated.
It is breathtaking how Jew-hatred contributes to so many problems in the world, especially in the Middle East, where Arab Leaders have allowed scapegoating Jews and Israels to cover for their manifold crimes and their disregard for the well-being of the Arab peoples throughout the region.
–Bret Stephens
In the judo competition of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, an Israeli
heavyweight judo fighter
heavyweight judo fighter
named Or Sasson defeated his Egyptian opponent, Islam El Shehaby, in a
first-round match.
first-round match.
The Egyptian then refused to shake the Israeli’s extended hand, earning
boos from the crowd.
boos from the crowd.
If you want the short answer for why the Arab world is sliding into the
abyss, look no further
abyss, look no further
than this little incident. It illustrates how hatred of Israel and Jews
corrupts every element of
corrupts every element of
Arab society.
![]("https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qm2AwzaZXWg/XGjXOmOsmVI/AAAAAAABXsA/E3pZe0PT9MAIyrCHOabnzFW02h7xu53XgCLcBGAs/s1600/Bret%2BStephens%2BPragerU.PNG")
You won’t find this explanation for the Arab world’s decline among
journalists and academics.
journalists and academics.
They reflexively blame the usual suspects: the legacy of colonialism,
unemployed youth, the
unemployed youth, the
Sunni-Shia sectarian divide, and every other politically correct excuse
they can think of. For
they can think of. For
them, hatred of Israel is treated like sand in Arabia — just part of
the landscape.
the landscape.
Yet the fact remains that over the past 70 years the Arab world
expelled virtually all of its Jews,
expelled virtually all of its Jews,
some 900,000 people, while holding on to its hatred of them. Over time
the result proved
the result proved
fatal: a combination of lost human capital, expensive wars against
Israel, and an intellectual
Israel, and an intellectual
life perverted by conspiracy theories and a perpetual search for
scapegoats. The Arab world’s
scapegoats. The Arab world’s
problems are a problem of the Arab mindset, and the name of that
problem is anti-Semitism.
problem is anti-Semitism.
As a historical phenomenon, this is not unique. Historian Paul Johnson
has noted that
has noted that
wherever anti-Semitism took hold, social and political decline almost
inevitably followed. Just
inevitably followed. Just
a few examples:
Spain expelled its Jews in 1492. The effect, Johnson noted, “was to
deprive Spain (and its
deprive Spain (and its
colonies) of a class already notable for the astute handling of
finance.”
finance.”
In czarist Russia, the adoption of numerous anti-Semitic laws
ultimately weakened and
ultimately weakened and
corrupted the entire Russian government. These laws also led to mass
Jewish emigration,
Jewish emigration,
resulting in a breathtaking loss of intellectual and human capital.
hadn’t sent Jewish scientists
like Albert Einstein and Edward Teller into exile in the U.S.
cause was not the
creation of the state of Israel in 1948. There were bloody anti-Jewish
pogroms in Palestine in
pogroms in Palestine in
1929, Iraq in 1941, and Libya in 1945.
refusing to trade land for peace.
Among Egyptians, hatred of Israel barely abated after Prime Minister
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
returned the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. And among Palestinians,
anti-Semitism became
anti-Semitism became
markedly worse during the years of the Oslo peace process.
Johnson calls anti-Semitism a “highly infectious” disease capable of overwhelming
intellectuals
intellectuals
and simpletons alike. Its potency, he noted, lies in transforming a
personal and instinctive
personal and instinctive
irrationalism into a political and systematic one. For the Jew-hater,
every crime has the same
every crime has the same
culprit and every problem has the same solution. Anti-Semitism makes
the world seem simple.
the world seem simple.
In doing so, it condemns the anti-Semite to a permanent darkness.![]("https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CFoev-SgjCI/XGjXUrQ-MCI/AAAAAAABXsE/o0JPW0NxliU26FSK1T3_ykc0fJtLjojeQCLcBGAs/s1600/Keep%2BCalm%2Band%2BStop%2BAnti-Semitism.png")
Today there is no great university in the Arab world, no serious
scientific research, a stunted
scientific research, a stunted
literary culture. In 2015 the U.S. Patent Office reported 3,804 patents
from Israel, as compared
from Israel, as compared
with 30 from Egypt, the largest Arab country. Hatred of Israel and Jews
has also deprived the
has also deprived the
Arab world of both the resources and the example of its neighbor.
Israel quietly supplies water
Israel quietly supplies water
to Jordan, helping to ease the burden of Syrian refugees, and quietly
provides surveillance
provides surveillance
and reconnaissance capabilities to Egypt to fight ISIS in the Sinai.
But this is largely unknown
But this is largely unknown
among Arabs, for whom the only permissible image of Israel is an
Israeli soldier in riot gear,
Israeli soldier in riot gear,
abusing a Palestinian. Successful nations make a point of trying to
learn from their neighbors.
learn from their neighbors.
The Arab world has been taught over generations only to hate theirs.
This may be starting to change. Recently, the Arab world has been
forced to face up to its
forced to face up to its
own failings in ways it cannot easily blame on Israel. The change can
be seen in the budding
be seen in the budding
rapprochement between Jerusalem and Cairo, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
But that’s not enough. So long as an Arab athlete can’t pay his Israeli
opposite the courtesy
opposite the courtesy
of a handshake, the disease of the Arab mind and the misfortunes of its
world will continue.
world will continue.
For Israel, this is a pity.
For the Arabs, it’s a calamity.
I’m Bret Stephens.