Parallels between Nazi and Islamist Anti-Semitism

Key Findings:

The Nazi ideology was built off the back of a single belief amongst its highest ranking leaders— Jewish people have an agenda to take over the world and destroy every other nation and religion.  This ideology was largely inspired by a text called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which depicts Jews as plotting for world domination and the extermination of all other people on earth. This text eventually became required reading in Nazi Germany, and a key piece of propaganda during the Holocaust. This text was and is still favored by leaders in the radical Islamist world. 

The shared belief between Nazism and Islamist Antisemitism is the “either-or” sentiment regarding Jews in their societies, and the world at large. The belief is if they don’t act first and exterminate the Jewish nation, their nations will eventually be overpowered by them. “Either-or” is what inspired Hitler’s final solution and radical Islamist groups spanning from the early 1920s to the present day. For these groups, the war against Jews is a matter of survival, life or death, “us or them”.

In this paper, antisemitism in the radical Islamist world is evidenced by texts and proclamations by key figures and groups such as Hajj Amin al-Husseini, The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, The Islamic Republic of Iran, and Hisbullah. The general consensus is that Jewish people are perceived as a legitimate threat to Islam and the survival of the Muslim world. This in turn has implications on the State of Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood proclaimed that “Jews are the historic enemies of Muslims and carry the greatest hatred for the nation of Muhammad.’ The author then states “the Muslim Brothers professed to see no difference between Judaism and Zionism.”