- Islamophobia, Antisemitism (Prejudice), antisemitism and Islamophobia, Race and Racism, Contemporary History, History, and 23 moreFrench colonialism, French History, Islam, Religion and Colonialism, Holocaust Studies, Racism, Muslims in Europe, Medieval Iberia, Conversion, Polemics and Apologetics, Anti-Semitism, Islam in Europe, Nationalism, Nineteenth Century Occultism, Orientalism, Postcolonial Studies, Jewish-Christian Polemics, Extreme and Far Right, "Conversos" in Medieval Iberia and Early Modern Spain, Moriscos, The Spanish Inquisition, Limpieza De Sangre, and Race and Ethnicityedit
- I hold a BA in History from the University of Murcia, and a PhD in International Mediterranean Studies from the Unive... moreI hold a BA in History from the University of Murcia, and a PhD in International Mediterranean Studies from the University Autónoma de Madrid. I have been Postdoctoral Fellow at the University Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) and Predoctoral Fellow at the Universities of Castilla-La Mancha and Autónoma de Madrid. I am currently the director of the project "Islamophobia. Continuity and change in anti-Muslim tradition: the case of Spain", hosted at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.edit
- Ana I. Planet Contrerasedit
In this article we show that the Escrito de las diez causas, a text which some authors believed to be lost and attributed to Juan de Vergara, has never been missing, because it is a well-known document of which we conserve many manuscript... more
In this article we show that the Escrito de las diez causas, a text which some authors believed to be lost and attributed to Juan de Vergara, has never been missing, because it is a well-known document of which we conserve many manuscript copies. We also dispute Vergara's authorship, defending instead that it was a text agreed on by consensus among the opponents of the purity of blood statute promulgated by archbishop Juan Martínez Silíceo.
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This article sets out to demonstrate that considering Islamophobia as a form of racism prevents us from fully grasping the complexity of this phenomenon. The author contends that there are different types of Islamophobia and while some... more
This article sets out to demonstrate that considering Islamophobia as a form of racism prevents us from fully grasping the complexity of this phenomenon. The author contends that there are different types of Islamophobia and while some are racist, others are not. To argue this point, he draws on a conflict that was sparked within a Spanish extreme right party revolving around two different conceptions of the human being and society, one rooted in the völkisch tradition and the other in the Catholic tradition. By analysing the only book the leader of that party wrote, we see how these two conceptions engendered two different types of Islamophobia: one völkisch, the other Catholic. Both share the same vision of Islam as a vital "threat" to the "West", but they differ in their understanding of the foundations of the Muslim and European identities: racist versus religious perspectives.
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In this article we analyse how French Catholic Anti-Semites perceived Islam during the nineteenth century, to which end we examine the works Louis de Bonald, Louis Veuillot, Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux and D. Kimon devoted to Islam. The... more
In this article we analyse how French Catholic Anti-Semites perceived Islam during the nineteenth century, to which end we examine the works
Louis de Bonald, Louis Veuillot, Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux and D. Kimon devoted to Islam. The aim of this exercise is, firstly, to improve our knowledge of the European image of Islam in the nineteenth century, focusing on a ideological trend that has hitherto aroused scant interest among scholars. Secondly, this article will enhance our understanding of anti-Semitism as an ideology and a political movement, showing how Catholic anti-Semites, far from being solely obsessed with the Jewish peril, were also obsessed with other threats, primarily the Islamic menace. Finally, it attempts to demonstrate that, despite the arguments brandished by many scholars in recent years, anti-Islamic or Islamophobic sentiments are not necessarily based in racial prejudices, but can spring exclusively from religious intolerance. This certainly was the case among nineteenth-century French Catholic anti-Semites. However, their hostility was no less virulent because of that, far from it.
Louis de Bonald, Louis Veuillot, Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux and D. Kimon devoted to Islam. The aim of this exercise is, firstly, to improve our knowledge of the European image of Islam in the nineteenth century, focusing on a ideological trend that has hitherto aroused scant interest among scholars. Secondly, this article will enhance our understanding of anti-Semitism as an ideology and a political movement, showing how Catholic anti-Semites, far from being solely obsessed with the Jewish peril, were also obsessed with other threats, primarily the Islamic menace. Finally, it attempts to demonstrate that, despite the arguments brandished by many scholars in recent years, anti-Islamic or Islamophobic sentiments are not necessarily based in racial prejudices, but can spring exclusively from religious intolerance. This certainly was the case among nineteenth-century French Catholic anti-Semites. However, their hostility was no less virulent because of that, far from it.
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In this article we throw new light on the Advertimiento that bishop Andrés de Noronha sent to Phillip II’s secretary, Mateo Vázquez, in 1584. This document has been presented by some historians as a very early evidence of the circulation... more
In this article we throw new light on the Advertimiento that bishop Andrés de Noronha sent to Phillip II’s secretary, Mateo Vázquez, in 1584. This document has been presented by some historians as a very early evidence of the circulation of the famous apocryphal correspondence between the Jews of Spain and those of Constantinople. We analyse the Advertimiento by situating it in its context, thanks to the study of the correspondence that Noronha maintained with Vázquez. And finally, we analyse the document by comparing its content with that of the memorandum – unpublished until now – that the clergyman Felipe Botello handed to the inquisitor Martín de Salvatierra in 1569. Through that analysis we will demonstrate that almost all what Noronha said in his document was a forgery, a product of the misrepresentation of Botello’s memorandum.
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The correspondence between the Jews of Spain and those of Constantinople has occupied an important place within the European anti-Jewish tradition for around four hundred years. Anti-Jewish authors have used it for centuries as a proof of... more
The correspondence between the Jews of Spain and those of Constantinople has occupied an important place within the European anti-Jewish tradition for around four hundred years. Anti-Jewish authors have used it for centuries as a proof of the existence of a Jewish conspiracy designed to take control of the Christian society from the inside. Since the Nineteenth Century, the correspondence has also occupied an important place in historiography. This article focuses in this issue, reviewing the way the correspondence has been treated in historiography. It will show how the view that the letters were a fake prevailed, and how questions about its real origin and motivation emerged. Finally, we will show the answers that have been proposed to these questions, and that there are still many things unknown about those important documents.
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Enlightenment was the main ideological target of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century French counter-revolutionaries. They considered that it had undermined the religious foundations of the Ancien Régime, leading, ultimately, to... more
Enlightenment was the main ideological target of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century French counter-revolutionaries. They considered
that it had undermined the religious foundations of the Ancien Régime, leading, ultimately, to the Revolution.
Among the evils the counter-revolutionaries pinned on the philosophes was their «predilection» for Islam, in line with their alleged desire to destroy the Christian foundations of society. It was for this reason that the counter-revolutionaries took it upon themselves to combat the «falsehoods» concerning Islam spread by the philosophes.
In this article, we will analyse Louis de Bonald’s take on Islam. Bonald was one of the main counter-revolutionary thinkers and he was determined to dissipate the «falsehoods» spread by the philosophes and restore the «truth». To this end, Bonald availed himself of the view upheld by the anti-Islamic Christian tradition, but he also introduced novelties influenced —paradoxically— by the Enlightened thought. Thus, while maintaining intact the foundations of the anti-Islamic tradition, Bonald introduced discursive innovations that helped the anti-Islamic tradition to adapt to a new context, preparing it for the Colonial period.
that it had undermined the religious foundations of the Ancien Régime, leading, ultimately, to the Revolution.
Among the evils the counter-revolutionaries pinned on the philosophes was their «predilection» for Islam, in line with their alleged desire to destroy the Christian foundations of society. It was for this reason that the counter-revolutionaries took it upon themselves to combat the «falsehoods» concerning Islam spread by the philosophes.
In this article, we will analyse Louis de Bonald’s take on Islam. Bonald was one of the main counter-revolutionary thinkers and he was determined to dissipate the «falsehoods» spread by the philosophes and restore the «truth». To this end, Bonald availed himself of the view upheld by the anti-Islamic Christian tradition, but he also introduced novelties influenced —paradoxically— by the Enlightened thought. Thus, while maintaining intact the foundations of the anti-Islamic tradition, Bonald introduced discursive innovations that helped the anti-Islamic tradition to adapt to a new context, preparing it for the Colonial period.
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Islamophobia is hostility towards Islam and everything identified as Islamic or Islamophilic, based on the belief that Islam is an enemy, a threat that must be countered. It is not therefore a merely critical attitude towards certain... more
Islamophobia is hostility towards Islam and everything identified as Islamic or Islamophilic, based on the belief that Islam is an enemy, a threat that must be countered. It is not therefore a merely critical attitude towards certain precepts of the Islamic religion or certain customs prevailing in so-called Islamic societies. Islamophobia is a form of rejection that differs from racism and religious intolerance, one with its own distinct character and history. It is an intellectual tradition originating in the Middle Ages, shaped by a set of ideas concerning Islam that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Changes have occurred in the course of its transmission process with the result that this tradition has adapted to different geographical and temporal contexts, paving the way for the emergence of various types of Islamophobia. Whatever form it may take, Islamophobia is a violation of human rights.
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This article introduces some facts concerning the life of Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, author of La silva curiosa (Paris, 1583), facts that belie much of the information that has been used by historians of Spanish literature of the Golden... more
This article introduces some facts concerning the life of Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, author of La silva curiosa (Paris, 1583), facts that belie much of the information that has been used by historians of Spanish literature of the Golden Age up to the present day. Medrano was born and died much earlier than presumed, and he was part of the court of the kings of Navarre at least from the 1540s onwards. He experienced the wars of religion in France first-hand, and towards the end of his life he became part of the court of Queen Marguerite of Valois. Finally, he founded a prolific lineage of lesser nobility in southwest France.
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Ahmed Merabet, Mostapha Ourrad, Imad Ibn Ziaten, Shahara Islam, Atique Sharifi, Ihab Slimane, Sanaa ben Salah Imadaquan, Mohamed Itaiben, Mohamed Salman, and Nasima Hameed Simjee. All of these people were either Muslim or from Muslim... more
Ahmed Merabet, Mostapha Ourrad, Imad Ibn Ziaten, Shahara Islam, Atique Sharifi, Ihab Slimane, Sanaa ben Salah Imadaquan, Mohamed Itaiben, Mohamed Salman, and Nasima Hameed Simjee. All of these people were either Muslim or from Muslim families, and all of them were killed in Paris, London, Madrid, and New York. Jihadi terrorism has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Muslims to date, and many more are killed each day in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries. Those fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria are Muslims. Those fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan are Muslims. Muslims confront and die at the hands of jihadi terrorism every day. But despite this, despite the overwhelmingly clear nature of this reality, many Europeans and Americans continue to interpret jihadi acts of terrorism through the prism of ‘Islam versus the West.’ They continue to argue that jihadi terrorism is no more than the ‘most authentic’ manifestation of Islam, that Islam is a ‘religion of terror’ and that Muslims are ‘our enemies,’ that ‘they hate us’ and ‘want to do away with us’: in short, that Muslims are a threat that non-Muslims must defend themselves against at all costs.
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Born in the thirteenth century, the myth that the Jews betrayed the Visigoths and facilitated, or even provoked, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula has proven to be one of the most enduring anti-Semitic myths in history. This... more
Born in the thirteenth century, the myth that the Jews betrayed the Visigoths and facilitated, or even provoked, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula has proven to be one of the most enduring anti-Semitic myths in history. This article will show how the myth was created and how it was transmitted in Spanish historiography for centuries. This analysis is a contribution to the study of the influence that medieval anti-Jewish ideas have had in building the image of the Jews and their role in society throughout history.
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This paper is a contribution to the history of contemporary Islamophobia. It examines the work of Abbé Julien Rouquette (1871-1927), Les sociétés secrètes chez les musulmans, and the context in which it was published. It sets out to... more
This paper is a contribution to the history of contemporary Islamophobia. It examines the work of Abbé Julien Rouquette (1871-1927), Les sociétés secrètes chez les musulmans, and the context in which it was published. It sets out to analyse Abbé Julien’s Islamophobia, its thematic content and ideological foundations. His work is analyzed in the context of fin-de-siècle French fears of secret societies and conspiracies, fears that were transferred to the colonial context and influenced the way in which French colonialism confronted Sufi brotherhoods. Rouquette's work is an example of how those fears shaped the way an important part of French society perceived Islam at the time, engendering a particular kind of Islamophobia, but one with strong ties with a long tradition.
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This article contributes to the study of the image of Islam among French anti-Semites at the end of the nineteenth century. More specifically, it analyses D. Kimon's book La pathologie de l'islam, in which the author advocates the need to... more
This article contributes to the study of the image of Islam among French anti-Semites at the end of the nineteenth century. More specifically, it analyses D. Kimon's book La pathologie de l'islam, in which the author advocates the need to destroy Islam by annihilating one-twentieth of the world's Muslim population and subjecting the rest to a regime of semi-slavery until they finally convert to Catholicism. Various issues are analysed in the course of this case study: the attitude of anti-Semites towards ethno-cultural groups other than Jews, specifically Muslims; the relationship between anti-Semitism and racism; and the relationship between Islamophobia and racism.
Research Interests: Postcolonial Studies, Race and Racism, Genocide Studies, Antisemitism (Prejudice), 19th century France, and 12 moreRacism, Anti-Semitism, Antisemitism/Racisms, Fin de Siecle Literature & Culture, Islamophobia, antisemitism and Islamophobia, Orientalism, Antisemitism, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Racism, Identity, Islamophobia, Islamofobia, and Islamophobia In Europe
Islamophobia: on continuity and change in anti-Muslim tradition. Drawing on the first approaches that were made to Islamophobia in the early twentieth century, this article reviews the different theoretical trends that try to explain the... more
Islamophobia: on continuity and change in anti-Muslim tradition. Drawing on the first approaches that were made to Islamophobia in the early twentieth century, this article reviews the different theoretical trends that try to explain the phenomenon. Having done that, it then proposes a different perspective that considers that Islamophobia is a secular textual tradition shaped by elements of continuity and change. Finally, the article tries to escape global explanations that attempt to explain Islamophobia in any context. Rather, it points to the need to analyse the "environmental conditions" in which Islamophobia arises, as a prerequisite to explain it in concrete historical contexts.
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One of the main elements common to both the mediaeval anti-Jewish tradition and modern antisemitism is the use of Jewish religious texts—particularly the Talmud—in order to ‘prove’ that Jews pose a threat to non-Jews. Bravo López... more
One of the main elements common to both the mediaeval anti-Jewish tradition and modern antisemitism is the use of Jewish religious texts—particularly the Talmud—in order to ‘prove’ that Jews pose a threat to non-Jews. Bravo López considers how a series of anti-talmudic texts written by Sixtus of Siena in the sixteenth century were disseminated and used, up to the beginning of the twentieth century, to legitimize a threatening image of Judaism and Jews. Despite the changing historical context, that image remained virtually intact throughout the centuries, allowing these same texts to be used time and time again to ‘prove’ that it was a faithful reflection of reality. Although historical changes can account for differences in the specific motives that drove each author to use the texts of Sixtus of Siena, those authors all shared the same image of Judaism and the Jews, and they considered these texts—cited as an authoritative source, legitimizing their point of view—to be effective in support of their cause.
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This paper contributes to the debate on the meaning of the term ‘Islamophobia’. It proposes an examination of the early twentieth-century approaches to Islamophobia, both the term and the phenomenon. The aim is to show that the phenomenon... more
This paper contributes to the debate on the meaning of the term ‘Islamophobia’. It proposes an examination of the early twentieth-century approaches to Islamophobia, both the term and the phenomenon. The aim is to show that the phenomenon had already been identified at the end of the nineteenth century and that it had been defined by the beginning of the twentieth. That definition could throw some light on the current debate about the meaning of the term.
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This paper is a contribution to the debate on the meaning of the concept, and the nature of the phenomenon of Islamophobia. It begins by recovering the first approximations to Islamophobia made between the end of the nineteenth century... more
This paper is a contribution to the debate on the meaning of the concept, and the nature of the phenomenon of Islamophobia. It begins by recovering the first approximations to Islamophobia made between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. Then it presents what is the current state of the research concerning the meaning of Islamophobia. Afterwards the paper proposes the pertinence of comparing it with anti-Semitism in order to reach a better understanding of the phenomenon and its relation with other forms of rejection such as racism. Finally the paper will show how present-day Islamophobia has changed in recent decades to respond to a new context: that of the «Muslim emancipation». This change appears to be similar to that experienced by anti-Jewish prejudice, when it faced the context of the Jewish emancipation during the nineteenth century.
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In this paper we analyse the book by César Vidal España frente al islam. First of all we show how the book has been written from an undisputed a priori: the threatening image of islam. In other words: the book has been written from an... more
In this paper we analyse the book by César Vidal España frente al islam. First of all we show how the book has been written from an undisputed a priori: the threatening image of islam. In other words: the book has been written from an islamophobic point of view. Secondly we show how that image is built from an essentialist point of view. From that essentialists and islamophobic starting points, the Islamic sacred texts are used with the pretension of “penetrating” the “essence” of islam (its “soul”). A selective reading of those texts, guided by the undisputed premise that islam is a threat, allows the author to use them to “prove” that islam is actually a threat. At the same time, the using of the medieval texts reinforces the essentialist image of an islam that is incapable of changing, neither in time, nor in space. That image is also reinforced by the recurring use of anachronisms and of parallelisms between past and present. Finally, this threatening image of islam is used in order to legitimate discriminatory measures against the Muslim population in Spain.
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This text provides an overview of the history and current situation of the Muslim population of Spain and its organizations.
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In the last ten years, clandestine traffic of Maghribi and sub-Saharan immigrants between Morocco and Spain has become one of the thorniest elements of relations between the two countries. Spain’s inability to repatriate sub-Saharan... more
In the last ten years, clandestine traffic of Maghribi and sub-Saharan immigrants between Morocco and Spain has become one of the thorniest elements of relations between the two countries. Spain’s inability to repatriate sub-Saharan immigrants coupled with the ongoing tragedy of death by drowning in the Straits of Gibraltar has apparently served to catapult this issue into the spotlight. However, since the number of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa is small in
comparison with the number of immigrants arriving from other parts of the world, one may be led to think that the Spanish authorities are exaggerating the scale of the problem. In order to understand why this may be the case, this matter should be examined within the general framework of the traditionally tense relations between Spain and Morocco.
comparison with the number of immigrants arriving from other parts of the world, one may be led to think that the Spanish authorities are exaggerating the scale of the problem. In order to understand why this may be the case, this matter should be examined within the general framework of the traditionally tense relations between Spain and Morocco.
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This book makes a comparison of the ways in which anti-Semitism and Islamophobia create the image of the Jewish or Islamic threats by using the sacred texts of both religions. Although a brief historical analysis from the Middle Ages is... more
This book makes a comparison of the ways in which anti-Semitism and Islamophobia create the image of the Jewish or Islamic threats by using the sacred texts of both religions. Although a brief historical analysis from the Middle Ages is made, the book focuses on the post-eighteenth century period.
The study is based on the analysis of various authors. On the anti-Semitic side, the book analyses the works by Eisenmenger, Félix Alamín, Voltaire, d'Holbach, Michaelis, Chiarini, Gougenot des Mousseaux, Rohling, Dietrich Eckart, Léon de Poncins and David Duke. On the Islamophobic side, the book makes a brief analysis of the period between the Enlightenment and the decolonization and focuses on the works by Antonio Elorza, Oriana Fallaci, Robert Spencer, the extreme-Right politician Josep Anglada and the case of Anders Breivik.
The study is based on the analysis of various authors. On the anti-Semitic side, the book analyses the works by Eisenmenger, Félix Alamín, Voltaire, d'Holbach, Michaelis, Chiarini, Gougenot des Mousseaux, Rohling, Dietrich Eckart, Léon de Poncins and David Duke. On the Islamophobic side, the book makes a brief analysis of the period between the Enlightenment and the decolonization and focuses on the works by Antonio Elorza, Oriana Fallaci, Robert Spencer, the extreme-Right politician Josep Anglada and the case of Anders Breivik.
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La presente obra trata de acercar al público no iniciado la compleja historia de esa zona del mundo que se ha dado en llamar “mundo islámico”. Incluir en una misma obra la historia de países tan distantes como Mauritania e Indonesia, o... more
La presente obra trata de acercar al público no iniciado la compleja historia de esa zona del mundo que se ha dado en llamar “mundo islámico”. Incluir en una misma obra la historia de países tan distantes como Mauritania e Indonesia, o Sudán y Afganistán, sólo porque tienen en común que sus poblaciones son mayoritariamente de fe musulmana, puede parecer un exceso. A muy pocos se les ocurriría hacer una “historia del mundo cristiano”, y sin embargo, existe en Occidente la tendencia a reunir bajo el mismo concepto a toda una serie de países, pueblos y etnias que verdaderamente poco tienen en común, salvo la fe, a su vez expresada, sentida y entendida de muy diferentes maneras. Los autores de esta obra aunque también han sucumbido a este abuso conceptual, han tratado de mostrar en cambio que no hay una única historia del mundo islámico, sino muchas. El objetivo principal de este libro ha sido mostrar la variedad interna y la vastedad inabarcable de esa parte del mundo que en ocasiones se contempla como si toda ella fuera igual, arrancando del hecho profético fundador para llegar hasta la "primavera árabe" que replantea las relaciones entre religión y política.
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Estudio multidisciplinar de la inmigración marroquí en España, en todos sus aspectos, realizado por los mejores especialistas españoles y marroquíes. Especialmente centrado en el estudio de las redes de la inmigración: la relación entre... more
Estudio multidisciplinar de la inmigración marroquí en España, en todos sus aspectos, realizado por los mejores especialistas españoles y marroquíes. Especialmente centrado en el estudio de las redes de la inmigración: la relación entre las regiones de origen y las regiones de destino. Acompañado de multitud de mapas, gráficos, tablas, producto de las bases de datos elaboradas por el equipo de investigación del Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
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"This PhD thesis contributes to the debate on the meaning of the term Islamophobia and it compares Islamophobia with anti-Semitism with a view to understanding and defining the Islamophobia phenomenon. The problems of definition in the... more
"This PhD thesis contributes to the debate on the meaning of the term Islamophobia and it compares Islamophobia with anti-Semitism with a view to understanding and defining the Islamophobia phenomenon.
The problems of definition in the scholarly debate on anti-Semitism are similar to those that can be found in the current debate on the meaning of Islamophobia. More specifically, the link between both phenomena and racism is problematic and broadly centres the debate.
This thesis concludes that attempts to build a relationship between the two phenomena and racism are indeed superfluous because a threatening image of Jews and Muslims can be built without having to resort to using racial categories. It can be enough to use an essentialist thought that attributes to the “essence” of the “other” a threatening character.
With regard to anti-Semitism, the Jewish sacred texts were widely used to build the threatening image of the Jewish “essence”. In the Orientalist tradition, anti-Semites believed that these texts embodied the “essence” of Judaism and that they could explain what Judaism was, is and will be forever. As an embodiment of the Jewish “essence”, these texts also explained what Jews were, anywhere and anytime, their behaviour, their thought… everything about them. Making a selective reading of these texts guided by the premise that Jews were a threat, anti-Semites used them to demonstrate that Judaism and Jews were a threat.
This thesis shows that a similar phenomenon is currently emerging in the case of Islam. Certain authors are constructing a threatening image of Islam and Muslims by making a selective use of the sacred texts of Islam.
Finally, this thesis attempts to differentiate between Islamophobia and “anti-Muslimism” -taking Fred Halliday’s term but giving it a different meaning- in the same way that scholars have traditionally differentiated between anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism. In other words, Islamophobia would be more akin to anti-Judaism, and anti-Muslimism to anti-Semitism. Islamophobia and anti-Judaism would be ways of building threatening images of Islam and Judaism. Anti-Semitism and anti-Muslimism would consist of using that image to legitimize the discrimination -or something worse- of Jews and Muslims in a context of “emancipation”."
The problems of definition in the scholarly debate on anti-Semitism are similar to those that can be found in the current debate on the meaning of Islamophobia. More specifically, the link between both phenomena and racism is problematic and broadly centres the debate.
This thesis concludes that attempts to build a relationship between the two phenomena and racism are indeed superfluous because a threatening image of Jews and Muslims can be built without having to resort to using racial categories. It can be enough to use an essentialist thought that attributes to the “essence” of the “other” a threatening character.
With regard to anti-Semitism, the Jewish sacred texts were widely used to build the threatening image of the Jewish “essence”. In the Orientalist tradition, anti-Semites believed that these texts embodied the “essence” of Judaism and that they could explain what Judaism was, is and will be forever. As an embodiment of the Jewish “essence”, these texts also explained what Jews were, anywhere and anytime, their behaviour, their thought… everything about them. Making a selective reading of these texts guided by the premise that Jews were a threat, anti-Semites used them to demonstrate that Judaism and Jews were a threat.
This thesis shows that a similar phenomenon is currently emerging in the case of Islam. Certain authors are constructing a threatening image of Islam and Muslims by making a selective use of the sacred texts of Islam.
Finally, this thesis attempts to differentiate between Islamophobia and “anti-Muslimism” -taking Fred Halliday’s term but giving it a different meaning- in the same way that scholars have traditionally differentiated between anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism. In other words, Islamophobia would be more akin to anti-Judaism, and anti-Muslimism to anti-Semitism. Islamophobia and anti-Judaism would be ways of building threatening images of Islam and Judaism. Anti-Semitism and anti-Muslimism would consist of using that image to legitimize the discrimination -or something worse- of Jews and Muslims in a context of “emancipation”."
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Inventar enemigos no es un ejercicio inocuo. No puede creerse que no tiene consecuencias. Pintar durante siglos a otros pueblos con los peores rasgos, educar a generaciones y generaciones de niños en base a la idea de que somos lo que... more
Inventar enemigos no es un ejercicio inocuo. No puede creerse que no tiene consecuencias. Pintar durante siglos a otros pueblos con los peores rasgos, educar a generaciones y generaciones de niños en base a la idea de que somos lo que somos porque hemos luchado siempre contra éstos y aquéllos, pasa factura, antes o después.
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En ocasiones adoptamos una actitud muy cómoda ante la información que recibimos: si concuerda con lo que ya creemos, la aceptamos; pero si contradice nuestras creencias, entonces la rechazamos. Esta actitud es irracional y mortal para la... more
En ocasiones adoptamos una actitud muy cómoda ante la información que recibimos: si concuerda con lo que ya creemos, la aceptamos; pero si contradice nuestras creencias, entonces la rechazamos. Esta actitud es irracional y mortal para la ciencia.
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One of the main problems the study of antisemitism faces is to determine the historical origin of the phenomenon. This text will show that the traditional and radical differentiation between a pre-modern anti-Judaism based on “theological... more
One of the main problems the study of antisemitism faces is to determine the historical origin of the phenomenon. This text will show that the traditional and radical differentiation between a pre-modern anti-Judaism based on “theological reasons” and a contemporary antisemitism based on “racial reasons” is only relative, given the central influence of pre-modern anti-Jewish ideas in the contemporary period. It will show how anti-talmudic charges, central to the pre-modern period, were also so in the contemporary. Even pre-modern anti-Jewish texts survived in contemporary antisemitism. Specifically, this work will study how some anti-Talmudic texts from the Sixteenth Century, the work of Sixtus of Sienna, were reused over and over by Spanish antisemitic authors until the early twentieth century. We will also show that, using anti-Talmudic charges, antisemitic authors could produce their discourse without the need of using racial theories.
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Las acusaciones contra el Talmud son uno de los principales elementos de continuidad entre la tradición antijudía medieval y el antisemitismo moderno. Este artículo estudia cómo una serie de textos anti-talmúdicos escritos por Sixto de... more
Las acusaciones contra el Talmud son uno de los principales elementos de continuidad entre la tradición antijudía medieval y el antisemitismo moderno. Este artículo estudia cómo una serie de textos anti-talmúdicos escritos por Sixto de Siena en el siglo XVI fueron transmitidos hasta principios del siglo XX para legitimar una misma imagen amenazante del judaísmo y los judíos. A pesar de los cambios en el contexto histórico, esa imagen permaneció prácticamente inalterada a lo largo del tiempo, lo que explica que los mismos textos pudieran ser utilizados una y otra vez para “probar” que esa imagen respondía a la realidad. Si bien los cambios en el contexto explican las diferencias en los motivos concretos que llevaron a cada autor a utilizar los textos de Sixto de Siena, todos ellos manejaron la misma imagen del judaísmo y los judíos, y por ello todos consideraron que esos textos podían ayudarles como fuente de autoridad para legitimar su punto de vista.
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This paper is a contribution to the debate on the meaning of the term “Islamophobia”. It proposes an examination of the early twentieth Century approximations to both the term and the phenomenon of Islamophobia. The objective is to show... more
This paper is a contribution to the debate on the meaning of the term “Islamophobia”. It proposes an examination of the early twentieth Century approximations to both the term and the phenomenon of Islamophobia. The objective is to show that already at the end of the nineteenth century the phenomenon was identified and that at the beginning of the twentieth the term was already defined. That definition could throw some light on the current debate about the definition of Islamophobia.