Jihad and Jew-hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11 [Hardcover]

Terrorism is not an area that I will claim to know a great deal about. Rather the Second World War is my forte. Which makes it that much more important for me to have read this book. It was nothing less than utter shock which greeted me when I was finally able to put two and two together. Nazism/fascism had not died with the destruction of the Third Reich. On the contrary, those ideals are alive and well in the Middle East today. After the end of the Second World War Hitler's anti-Semitic ideas became entrenched in Egypt and what today are the Palestinians, amongst a plethora of individuals and future groups/terrorist organizations. The author also makes the argument that after the collapse of the Soviet Union a new anti-US sponsor had to be found, that 'sponsor' turned out to be "Islamism" and everything that comes with it.

It is no wonder that behind practically any and every terrorist attack there is that vehemence against Jews, as if they are the real reason for why this terrorist attack had to happen. Even if on the cover it might be anti-globalization, anti-US _______ fill in the blank, behind it all is the "fact" that the Jews are the ones controlling ALL the moves that the rest of the world makes against the Middle East and, always, in support of Israel. The majority of what is presented here one will hardly find in our news media outlets. One would tend to think that a good portion of the US and the Western World are logical and rational, they cannot blindly accept conspiracy theories, like the idea that the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are the truth behind how the Jews have been manipulating the world. We cannot fathom the anti-Semitism that gripped Nazi Germany in the 1930's and 1940's but today's terrorists can and do, they are the embodiment of the racist ideals of that period. Terrorists and their supporters have no restraints in regards to how much they will believe the Jews are responsible for, it is an explanation to them for all they have suffered and continue to suffer. I can only commend the author on his efforts and what he will open your eyes to. This book has greatly changed my line of thought in regards to the past half century and terrorism in general.

This book begins by challenging us to examine the roots of Islamism and its anti-semitism. Most have denied that anti-semitism exists in Islam. But the truth is quite startling. The origins of Islam were full of anti-semitic tractates comparing Jews to dogs and encouring the extermination of the Jewish tribes of Arabia. But then a long lull set in. However with the fall of the Ottoman empire Islamism began blaming 'closet Jews' for creating a secular Turkey and Ataturk was seen as a descendant of Jews who converted to Islam.

In Hitler's Germany the dissemination continued with Mien Kampf translated to Arabic and Nazi propoganda in the Muslim world encouraging Islam to wage 'holy war' against England and Zionism. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al Husayni, was a collaborator of Hitler and helped raise SS divisions in Muslim Bosnia and Albania. Some of these men also fought against Israel in 1948. But Muslim anti-semitism grew from their as former Nazis found refuge in Syria and Cairo. In BAghdad in 1941 the Arab nationalists had become enthralled with Nazism and the Ba'ath party was based on Nazi ideology.

Later Islamism became entranced with Nazism because it could use this ideology against Israel. Hamas leaders read the Protocols of the Elders of Zionism and while they referred to Israel in the press as a 'nazi state' they also denied the Holocaust.

A fascinating book that deserves to be widely read. The author is a German scholar who has finally connected the dots.

Seth J. Frantzman

Mathias Kuntzel is one of the world's foremost experts on the Middle East. He has given special attention to the role that Anti- Semitism plays in the irrational ideologies of the Muslim world. In this work he shows how the Nazi Anti- Semitic ideologies have been incorporated into the whole pattern of paranoia that dominates Middle Eastern political thinking. He also shows how the those who have failed in modernization have made antisemitic ideas their means of shifting the blame away from themselves. Kuentzel stresses that for the Middle East to truly modernize it must make a determined effort to combat antisemitism.
Kunentzel argues that using Western modes of reasoning does not provide a sufficient basis for understanding Islamist thought. He suggests the suicide- bomber mentality is one which cannot be contended with by gestures of appeasement but one which must be rejected entirely.
In this he warns against the kind of Change imposed by Fascist Middle Eastern regimes and argues for the kind of change impelled by Western and democratic values.
He in other words makes it clears that the antisemitic regimes of the Middle East, and the Islamist terrorists are not simply the enemies of the Jews and Israel but of the Western world as a whole.
A truly outstanding and important work.