Muslim Attitudes to Jews and Israel: The Ambivalences of Rejection, Antagonism, Tolerance and Cooperation

This book explains that while anti-Semitism is the credo of fanatic groups and regimes, such an attitude is not representative of traditional and contemporary Islam. Detailing how for centuries Muslim attitudes to Jews were ambivalent—contempt and antagonism alongside tolerance and cooperation—it explains that, in fact, Jews under Islam were better off than their Christian neighbors, and much better off than their Jewish brethren under Christianity. These complex relations are discussed here by Muslim and Jewish scholars—from Azerbaijan, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, the United States, and Turkey—who analyze the religious, cultural, political, and economic factors that have shaped Muslim attitudes to Jews and Israel. Ideas and suggestions are put forward to improve Muslim–Jewish relations—the theme of which was first conceived at an international conference organized by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and the Divinity School, Harvard University.