Repost: New York Times (1942), “NAZIS REASSURE ARABS; Anti-Semitism Confined to Jews, Spokesman Explains”
On my blog, I never hyphenate antisemitism. The word is a known misnomer, coined in 1879 by the German agitator Wilhelm Marr. Marr later tried to distance himself from the antisemitic movement he helped re-brand. The damage was done. Decades later the Nazis adopted and popularized the term, making his late apologies a little too late. Decades after that, with the knowledge of branded hate, Soviets came up with antizionism (another word that should not be hyphenated).
All of this is public record. The term antisemitism was never meant to describe hostility toward “Semites” or speakers of Semitic languages. It meant hostility toward Jews, just like Holocaust is a specific thing.
No matter how bad the cope arguments from Jew-haters get, insisting they cannot be antisemites because they themselves are “Semitic” or “Semites,” the historical meaning of the word has always referred to hatred of Jews.
Besides, humans can hate humans, Jews can hate Jews, Mexicans can hate Mexicans. Non-Jews can hate Jews and speaking Arabic or having dark skin doesn’t absolve one of bigotry. Also, babysitters do not sit on babies, butterflies are not flying butter, etc. Compound words are not defined by the literal meanings of their parts.
The next time someone insists that “antisemitism” must mean “anti-Semitism,” think back to this short primary source from the The New York Times in 1942, where the Nazis themselves clarified that their antisemitism was directed only at Jews. They reassured Arab audiences that “we don’t include Arabs.” The Nazis sought alliances in the Arab world, something well known to anyone familiar with figures like Haj Amin al-Husseini.
It also hints at NAZIS believing Jews were inferior, the basis of the modern “I know you are but what am I?” ridiculous arguments about chosen people. Jew haters, today, think they’re categorically better than Jews, but try to invert their belief knowing that it is not a great argument.
PS: I usually just say “Jew haters.” It is clearer and avoids the tired excuse that keeps resurfacing, from modern op-eds to television debates to comment sections and the darker corners of the internet.
Credit: The New York Times Archives
NAZIS REASSURE ARABS; Anti-Semitism Confined to Jews, Spokesman Explains
Telephone To the New York Times; Nov 5, 1942
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 4– During today's Foreign Ministry press conference in Berlin, the German spokesman took great pains to assure Arabs that the anti-Semitic policy of the Nazis was directed solely against the Jews and not against them. "All the British charges to the contrary are lies,” said the spokesman. “The difference between Germany's attitude toward Jews and Arabs has been clearly shown in the exchange of letters between the former Prime Minister of Iraq, Rashid Ali, and the German Institute for Racial Problems. We have never said the Arabs were inferior as a race. On the contrary, we have always pointed out the glorious historic past of the Arab people."
