When meaning of ’anti-’ is blurred in Turkish pro-Palestinian demos

Photo Ed: Turks protest Israel

Calls to boycott Israeli companies, farmer’s plans to stop buying seeds and agricultural pesticides, banners on billboards around the city saying "You cannot be the son of Moses," or "This is not written in your book either," students standing in silence in their school gardens for showing respect to dead civilians in Gaza by order of the Education Ministry É

Many people in Turkey continue to protest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip that have killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children. However, others fear that underneath the sonorous protests within Turkey, anti-Semitism is sprouting.

The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review spoke with experts and found that some were certain there was a strong anti-Semitic stance among the protesters that was dangerous, while others were more optimistic about the situation but still called for caution over any threat of a rise of anti-Semitism in Turkey.

"It is beyond doubt, especially those Islamist protests are anti-Semitic," said Semih İdiz, columnist of the Daily News and former diplomacy editor for CNN, who received many e-mails in protest to his columns that drew attention to the potential rise of anti-Semitism.

İdiz recalled some of the protests that had been held around the country. In the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, members of an association wrote on banners that Jews and Armenians could not enter their association, but dogs could, to protest both the Israeli attacks on Palestine and the apology campaign to Armenians.

In another central Anatolian province, Aksaray, an imam, asked in his Friday sermon, "What did the cursed É soldiers of the cursed clan leave behind?"

İdiz is not the only person to recall incidents like these. "If these can happen, what do they mean?" said Soli Özel, an international relations professor at Bilgi University. "Five years ago Hitler’s Mein Kampf was on sale in 14 different editions."

Journalist Ruşen Çakır is also among experts who said anti-Semitism has occurred for a long time in Turkey. "It is everyone’s right and beyond that, duty to criticize Israel’s policies. However, Israel is not doing this because it is a Jewish state, but because it is a state," he said. Çakır also criticized some banners on billboards that read, "You cannot be the son of Moses." This seems to be in favor of Judaism but in fact it is against Judaism, he said.

Hüsnü Kılıç, head of the Solidarity Foundation that organized the banner campaign said those criticizing the campaign did not understand the banners. "As Israel is defining itself as a state of religion, we address them with their own religious references. On the contrary, our banners defend the essence of Judaism," he said.

Meanwhile, some members of the Jewish community in Turkey were less critical of anti-Semitic themes in protests than Turkish experts. According to poet Roni Margulies, anti-Semitism in Turkey is "to a very large extent, low-level, non-aggressive, and almost sub-conscious." Many people in Turkey believe that Jews are rich and are attempting to gain control of the world, Margulies said, adding that conspiracy theories regarding Jews are widely believed. "Of course it is wrong, but I can understand it. Most people in Turkey automatically associate Jews with the state of Israel and with Zionism, without thinking too much or too deeply about it. In particular, religious people look at the world in terms of religion and assume that everyone does so. Therefore, they assume that all Jews side with Israel and they blame all Jews for the atrocities Israel carries out."

Meanwhile, human rights activist Avi Haligules said the difference between being a Jew and being an Israeli was starting to become more obvious. "At least people are asking less questions to me now," said Haligules, a member of Turkey’s Jewish community.
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