A friend back in the States has told me that he’s heard several anecdotes about anti-Semitism in Europe, weird comments made to Jews, and he’s scared by it. In Jordan, I’ve run into a couple Europeans who remind me of my friend’s concern.
In one instance, a European scholar who is deeply upset by the colonization of Palestine– “it’s ethnic cleansing in a quiet way”–said that she has stopped collaborating with Israeli scholars because they are too grabby. They take her research, they are stingy with credit.
In the second instance, I ate dinner with several researchers and an Italian woman said, “May I ask you a question, why are Jews so rich?” She told me that the wealthiest people in Italy are rich. A Jordanian at the table then stated a belief across the Arab world, Jewish wealth sustains Israel politically. And a Mexican scholar said that the richest people in Mexico are also Jews.
In response, I talked about the history of usury in Europe and the reliance on Jewish outsider-traders to perform a function that Christians opposed in theory. (Reading Slezkine.) I said that when the nation state rose in the 1700s and 1800s, Jewish bankers were essential to its growth (reading Ginsberg). And that for cultural/textual reasons that were hard to fathom but undeniable, Jews were skilled at capitalism (reading Muller). The people at the table listened.
I didn’t feel threatened by either conversation, though I think many Jews would feel that way. In the first instance, I think that there may have been some anti-Semitism in the woman’s response but she clearly dislikes Israel and I find it hard to blame her. Israel is expansionist; Jordan is filled with Palestinian refugees forced off their land. Jews who say that anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism are generally the people who are in complete denial of Israel’s conduct.
In the second instance, I continue to believe that honest conversations about American support for Israel will inevitably include references to Jewish wealth. I wish the disparity were not the case, and I know that acknowledging it is fearful, given the historical background. But it’s true; and people obviously want to talk about it. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.
