The Fear of Islam

Since the horrific and inhuman massacre of more than 1400 people by Hamas’ evil Islamic terrorists in Israel on October 7, I have been horrified by a sickening outgrowth of the war.  Over and over, I see people in the media, among Jews and Christians individually, and all the way to the White House, virtue signaling in a way that diminishes the Islamist source of the evil and dismisses that at its core, it’s about antisemitism, Jew-hatred. 

Antisemitism is not unique to Islam, but how it is embodied in Islam is vile. Of course, that’s the case in Iran, Hamas, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and everywhere Iran’s Islamist regime spreads its tentacles.  We have even seen it from the “enlightened” Turkish president, who made a hateful speech against Israel, claiming that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, without mentioning the butchering of Jews and even threatening war against Israel.  

It seems that more and more, when the reality of virulent Islamist antisemitism comes up, the fearful reality and consequences of this are deflected, and a disgusting false parallel of “Islamophobia” is brought up, hijacking the very reality of Jew hatred. 

Part of the problem is virtue signaling. Of course, no good person wants to be accused of hating Moslems. Part of the problem is that Islamists have hijacked the dialogue, and people now broadly equate Islamophobia and antisemitism as the same, just directed at different people.  Part is the perverse fear that unless we recognize that Moslems are also persecuted in the same breath as acknowledging the scourge of antisemitism, we worry they will hate us more.  

But the parallels between Islamophobia and antisemitism are about as accurate as the lawless Sharia “no-go zones” in many European cities where average Europeans and even law enforcement are afraid to go and the European ghettos in which Jews were once herded and forced to live because of persecution from non-Jews. 

We see this dichotomy in major cities across the US and Europe and in Jewish suburbs and neighborhoods in the diaspora where Jews are living in fear because of threats and actual assaults that have been taking place.  I have yet to see anyone entering the no-go zones to slaughter Moslems. It is not just a false equivalence, it is vile. 

What’s become crystal clear is that hatred of Jews, based on their brand of Islam, is pervasive and not geographically isolated to Gaza. And the protests because of the war in Gaza are not about Israel but about threatening Jews.  

Not only is Islamophobia not simply a Moslem version of antisemitism, but to the extent that it is a reality, it is based on the root of what the term means.  Fear of Islam. Antisemitism is not based on fear of Jews, it’s “just” hatred. Yet a phobia is a fear.  

Sadly, fear of Islam is justified based on the violent protests, threats from, and assaults on others that we are seeing from American universities to Russian airports and to many European cities.  Ask my friend Tal Hartuv, an Israeli Jew who miraculously survived a terror attack. Tal survived the brutal December 2010 Islamist terror attack that left her friend, American Christian Kristine Luken, murdered, mistakenly assumed to have been a Jew.  Tal usually mentions that the doctor who saved her life was a Moslem, and she has many Moslem Arab friends.  However, she says, “I am not Islamophobic because I don’t have an irrational phobia. My fear is real. The evidence is my scarred flesh, carved and sliced with their adherence to the Koranic command to slaughter the Jews.” 

Tens of millions of Jews have been slaughtered because of Jew hatred. There is no parallel in Islam. Today, Jews live in fear of being attacked by Moslems, from Tel Aviv to Teaneck, Sderot to Skokie, and from Lod to London and Los Angeles. 

It’s become so politically correct to insert “we also are against islamophobia” in any conversation about antisemitism that God forbid we should just be able to call out evil as evil without any absurd parallels. Shame on anyone for allowing them to hijack what antisemitism is really about. 

I have no expectations from Turkish President Erdogan, but I do have expectations from the White House. 

Since the war began on October 7, speaking on behalf of the President, the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been under fire for addressing questions about antisemitism, and injecting islamophobia and being against all hatred when asked about antisemitism. 

Jean-Pierre sparked repeated controversy after responding to questions about rising antisemitism amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas by talking about Islamophobia instead. 

When asked, “What is [President Biden's] level of concern right now about the potential rise of antisemitism in light of everything that’s going on in Israel?” she responded by stating, “Look, we have not seen any credible threats. I know there have always been, always questions about credible threats. And so, just want to make sure that that’s out there. But, look, Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks.”

Jean-Pierre then stressed that Biden “understands that many of our Muslim, Arab American, and Palestinian American loved ones and neighbors are worried about the hate being directed at their communities.”  

Wait, back up. The question was about antisemitism. 

I don’t imagine that most American Jews were comforted by her noting that Homeland Security is to “prioritize prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm the Jewish, the Muslim, Arab Americans or any other communities.”  Basically, she said all hatred is the same. 

When asked, “Does the president view anti-Israel protests and sentiment on college campuses as antisemitism?” Jean-Pierre punted again. “A peaceful protest is really part of our democracy, for folks to be able to express their feelings. The president has been very clear in wanting to make sure that Jewish Americans, wanting to make sure that Arab Americans and Muslims are protected here. The president has been very, very clear on denouncing any type of violence. And so, as it relates to peaceful protesting, people have the right to do that. But we’re just not going to get into blow-by-blows of what’s going on across the country.” 

Does she have intelligence of anti-Moslem protests on US campuses that the rest of us don’t know about?  Why even mention that in an answer to a question relating to antisemitism? 

Pressed further about President Biden’s own comments that “silence is complicity,” Jean-Pierre muddied the waters further, stating, “The president is against antisemitism. Of course. This is a president that you have heard me say wants to protect communities, whether it’s the Jewish community, the Arab American community, [or] the Palestinian community.”

While Republicans excoriated Jean-Pierre for her comments and Biden for not being more vocal, one of the harshest responses came from within the Democratic party. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) was outraged by Jean-Pierre’s response, writing, “What a weak answer. And why are you looking in the book? What’s the approved answer? The simple answer is yes, you are concerned about the rise of antisemitism. Of course, we are also worried about hatred against Muslim Americans. Must do better.” 

If people want to have a conversation about Islamophobia, that’s great.  But it should not be conflated with conversations about Jew hatred.  

The fact is that support for Hamas as if they are righteous freedom fighters is antisemitism. The fact is that Hamas brings more suffering to Palestinian Arab Muslims than anyone else. The fact is that more Moslems are killed and persecuted by fellow Moslems than anything else. And if we need some kind of comparison, the fact is that more Jews are killed and persecuted by Moslems than anything else. 

So, fear of Moslems is not only not irrational but very real.  We cannot allow them to hijack what antisemitism is or draw any moral equivalence or parallels because there are none, and doing so is immoral. 

Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Motortion

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Christian Headlines.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

 Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes regularly for a variety of prominent Christian and conservative websites and is the host of Inspiration from Zion, a popular webinar series and podcast. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.