@Desdemonadryeyes
Exactly why do Arabs hate Jews so much? I had a Persian boyfriend many years ago and I asked him and he couldn’t/wouldn’t even attempt to explain
Well I am both Arab and Jewish :) I can answer this question based on my opinion only, which is....
Traditionally, Islam did not demonise Jews much at all. They were almost not even that relevant. It was Christians whose teachings first propounded antisemitism for the basic reason that Jews would not accept Christ as the Messiah -so they were denounced, oppressed, exiled, enslaved or murdered. That antisemitism was almost completely religious and if you were a persecuted Jew, you could stop being persecuted by simple converting to Christianity (which many did). The with the age of enlightenment, the concept of race and ethnicity came along and Jews were seen as genetically different and antisemitism took a new turn.
I think antisemitism is cultural a bit like religion itself. Meaning people got certain ideas so ingrained into them through culture, history, media in a way certain beliefs almost become genetic. Something insane like 30% of British people in 2023 hold at least one antisemitic belief. Tropes are so old, woven into the psyche, so even now, you will find the least racist people will actually hold Jews to a completely different standard and be totally unaware they are doing it.
I also think a lot of work was put into antisemitism through modern history - the Nazis, obviously, who put massive amounts into stirring hate for Jews (including very widely across the middle east), but also The soviets. They put enormous amounts into anti-imperialist propaganda, casting Jews as the evil, rich, powerful enemy and therefore sowed antisemitism as the only prejudice which is held by both the left wing and the right wing.
But I think nationalism as an idea became a thing in the 19th century and in this time period certain religions or groups started to feel very strongly that their group should dominate. So this is the point where the idea of "alien" people took a stronghold. Jews were considered "alien" in Europe because they were from the middle east and they were considered "alien" in the middle east because they would not accept the religion almost everyone else had.
Moreover, there became the beginnings of the battle of traditional Islam against Western culture. This traditional Islamic authority who ruled purely on the basis they could use religion to dominate people, was under challenge from Western liberalism with completely different ideas like democracy, and the Jews provided a convenient scapegoat. During the 1908 Turkish revolution, the Young Turks installed new freedoms of religion and so there was an internal battle within the Ottoman empire of "new" and more liberal Islam (the revolutionaries) vs old / traditional Islam, and Muslim conservatives latched onto antisemitic propaganda, claiming that there was a secret Jewish plot to work with the revolutionaries and bring down Islam!
So remember at this time, Jews were living in the Middle East as Dhimmi - which meant they were typically segregated, made to wear special clothes, not able to marry Muslims and so on and so forth so obviously they had a very diminished status in the Arab world and that's now coupled with the propaganda that they are conspiring with the revolutionaries. And then lo and behold came the stirrings of zionism which appeared in the late 19th century - initially, mostly, with socialist style ideas of living like hippies in the desert and starting their own farms. These "dhimmi" (second class citizens) were talking about having their own country and equality and not just that - they were talking about an idyllic way of life (socialism) that was completely at odds with traditional Islam and those with power at the time.
Wow, that idea was not popular! So as they started to (completely legally) emigrate to what is now Israel and buy up land and start working it, there was friction right away. They had beef over land titles, grazing rights and so on and as the region became rife with antisemitic ideas - things got worse and worse. As we moved into the middle of the 20th century it was a really bad time for Jews in the Middle East and Europe. Antisemism was almost global. Hitler had spread his brand of antisemitism into the middle east and spent a lot of effort ensuring the media and so on what inundated with Jew hate.
The view of Jews as greedy, devious, and bent on world domination became bound up with the Arab critique of Zionism - as well as the Nazi ideas too. There were pogrums across the region over this time - Libya, Syria, Iraq and more as well as the crazy shit going on in Europe so for Jews, the concept of zionism went from ridiculous fantasy to "hmmm, maybe this is not a bad idea". And as their dreams of self determination and having a homeland where they could live with equal rights was a rosy thing for them, for the Arab world, the conspiratorial notion of the Jews as plotting to take over the world quickly developed.
Then we descended into WWII and in a lot of ways the Arab world became allies of the Axis powers because they hated Britain and their imperialist control over the middle east. They already, this early, hated liberal ideas like democracy or human rights. It was completely at odds with their conservative religious beliefs such as attitudes to women and so on so this all just built and built.
I think what also went on is that there is a kind of pissing contest element to traditional Islam that isn't "live and let live". It is far more "there is only one true religion" and this concept of basically killing anyone who wasn't a Muslim was a part of that, and when they saw the reality that Jews were being "given" their own country in a region Arabs believed to belong solely to Muslims and the "one true" religion, they were very angry about it and still are.
Hence a lot of effort is put into wiping them off the planet rather than just getting along. It runs contrary to the entire world view of traditional, theocratic Islamic rule. It raises a terror that power might be lost if women or young people become indoctrinated by the west and start thinking crazy shit like "I'd quite like to vote in an election please", so it's been aggressively fought. When Israel came into existence, it was to the complete rage of some Arab leaders who wanted no "non Islamic" country in the region and so they fought very hard to stop it.
This is a blow also to the toxic masculinity so inherent in religious extremists who believe women, Jews, Christians are "beneath" them. How fucking dare a woman talk back? How fucking dare a CHRISTIAN give OUR LAND to these filthy Jews? They have to account for their losses to a supposedly inferior people so they depict the Jews as weak protégées of a mightier power—the United States—a theme that can be heard now commonly from groups like the Taliban or Isis.
Now, of course, a lot of this definitely doesn't apply to ALL Muslims, of course it does not. But it applies I think quite generally to a lot of the more traditional and nationalist ones in the region. And for those more liberal / generous in nature it doesn't matter all that much for two reasons.
Firstly, Arab countries passed laws that discriminate not against Israelis or Zionists but against all Jews, simply for being Jews. That is more or less the situation across the middle east, so being liberal doesn't really come into it as much as the practical reality they have diminished status.
Secondly, while in Western countries, overt bigotry is scolded, ignored, or kept out of politics - in mainstream Arab culture extreme antisemitic ideas are openly promoted through schools, newspapers, television, popular culture, and official ideology. It’s hardly even controversial and is basically just treated as completely normal.
So here to are with I suppose, the perfect recipe for Jew hate. It has so many dimensions to it, but this is essentially why - IMHO - groups like Hamas care absolutely nothing for settling in to peace and finding security and prosperity for their people. Because this battle is about supremacy over liberalism and an invasion to a middle eastern region they want to entirely dominate politically, religiousness and culturally. They can, perhaps, accept in liberal countries that other religions quietly practice their faith - but the idea of a sovereign, recognised Jewish state is abhorrent to many groups in the area.
Also, and interesting point which I won't go into much because I have droned on long enough - is that a vast amount of Arabs are very prejudice against Palestinians! They often work with them against the common enemy of Jews, but there is massive prejudice against them.
Because many of them are not originally Palestinians at all. They are immigrants who came to Israel from all over the Arab world (particularly during the British Mandate) in order to find employment in the cities and on the farms the Jews had built. Irony huh!
These immigrants still have names designating where they originally come from. Like the Masti are Egyptian Palestinians or the Tzurani are from Lebanon), and to cut a very long story short there is jealousy going on. Those Arabs from poorer countries like Syria are pissed off that aid agencies provide them with food, medical care yada yada while their people starve. They see it as preferential treatment.
Hence weird stuff happened which doesn't add up entirely to the Arab world supporting Palestine - like Jordan annexing the west bank for 20 years. Or the fact that from the end of the 1948 Israeli War although the politics in the Arab world began to center on eliminating Israel, the Arab “refugees” were kept in camps, with explicit instructions from the Arab League that they be kept there and not absorbed into other Arab countries.
It was felt (and the full history is complicated) that a lot of Palestinian Arabs were getting rich off the refugee thing - for example selling food, medical supplies or creating "cities" and so on and it created a lot of bad blood. Likewise with certain leaders like Arafat getting very rich off international support and donations and this pissed a lot of people off. they have had simply billions donated - money most of these places will never see.
There is also beef between Arab nations with Iran - and at one point with Iraq. Some want a more chill life - to prosper, trade and have peace and others are more keen on war and perpetual bickering. It's a commonly held belief in the Arab world that the Palestinian leaderships don't want a "state of their own" because if that ever happens the gravy train of vast donations would disappear and they'd have to lose their palaces pretty sharpish. Of course while many citizens live in poverty in Palestinian territory, their leaders are extremely rich and live in luxury.
Also worth noting a bit of internal bickering over the fact that 20% of the Palestinian Arabs enjoy life in the only democracy in the Middle East, while the Arab countries sacrifice their soldiers’ blood to liberate “Palestine.” So some feel like they put life and limb at risk in wars for people who were basically on the side of the so called oppressor and wanted to stay living their liberal lives. On top of the worst kept secret in the region which is that Palestinian Arabs have been selling land to Jews for at least a century, profiting immensely from the deals, and then wailing to their Arab brethren to come and free “Palestine” from the “Zionist occupation.”
It's a bit convoluted but not a clear cut case of Arabs vs Jews. More a split of old fashioned antisemitism with modern political rivalry!