Did antisemitism exist in the Middle East prior to the Israel-Arab conflict?

by AngelusNovus420

I should make it clear firsthand that I make a distinction between anti-Judaism, or pre-modern hostility to Judaism as a religion informed by theological disputes and/or sectarian prejudice (as exemplified by the general mistreatment of Jews in medieval, Catholic-dominated Europe) and antisemitism, or modern hostility to Jews as an ethnic group informed by nationalist politics and/or racial pseudoscience (as exemplified by the Dreyfus Affair, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and of course eventually the Holocaust) — though of course I understand there exists some degree of overlap between the two.

The reason why I'm asking is the fact that I found a surprising amount of contemporary Middle Eastern antisemitic literature (especially but not exclusively among Islamists) to be little more than a rehash if not mere endorsement of early 20th-century European antisemitism. The Hamas charter is directly inspired by the Protocols and in fact directly referenced the canard outright before its 2017 revision. The arguments employed by Iranian Holocaust deniers are essentially indistinguishable from prior neo-Nazi propaganda, which they sometimes shamelessly parrot.

Did antisemitism proper exist in the Middle East prior to the 1948? If not, what were the vectors for its introduction in the region?

ghostofherzl

This is beyond the scope, but since you mentioned it, the point about the Hamas Charter's revision is inaccurate. The Hamas Charter has not been revised, and the Hamas policy document of 2017 did not alter the original Charter or supersede it, as multiple Hamas officials and leaders confirmed.

That aside, you may find this thread with an answer by yours truly to be helpful on the question of how European-style antisemitism spread before the Arab-Israeli conflict. The main vectors, broadly speaking, were simply increased contact with European merchants, travelers, and society, who belonged typically to societies that carried that European-style antisemitism.

This does not mean antisemitism did not exist prior to that in the Arab world, however. It is worth noting that some of the described antisemitic policy, for example, in my answer, derives not from European-style views but from the development of social structures/hierarchy in the Middle East.

If you think of antisemitism as a virus, European-style antisemitism sort of virally out-competed other forms of antisemitism that had existed in the Middle East. It did not fully displace those forms or erase them, but it certainly overpowered them in how far, fast, and effectively it spread. This may be because antisemitism, while existing prior to European-style antisemitism's introduction, was not typically as prevalent/severe in the Arab or Muslim world as in Europe. There were still instances of destruction of Jewish synagogues, or expulsions, or mistreatment, or riots, but this often varied based on local conditions and was not nearly as systemic as in Europe, at least in earlier times before the 1800s.

I'm sure others could discuss further, but I wanted to reference the prior answer and expand on it slightly to help as well.