At MEMRI, the second of their posts on anti-semitism in the Turkish media, this time looking at those drawing attention to the problem. This is from a petition titled “Zero Tolerance for Antisemitism”, signed by Muslim and non-Muslim intellectuals:
“As long as a danger is not properly articulated, it cannot be fought against. On the contrary: Vague words only conceal the evil.
“We, the undersigned, wish to draw attention to the ever-present and steadily increasing antisemitism in Turkey, and to share our observations and concerns with all those who may be interested.
“The various historical examples of racist violence and discrimination against non-Turkish, non-Muslim, non-Sunni citizens of the Turkish Republic have, albeit to a limited extent, been pointed out and criticized, whereas antisemitism remains, with few exceptions, a subject which is met with silence, underestimation, or outright denial.
“[…] Publications have become vehicles for promoting confusion regarding concepts such as Nazism, fascism, Zionism, the Holocaust, genocide, etc., emptying these of their [true] content and blurring their differences. They debase the Holocaust by stripping it of its historical uniqueness, thus giving a green light to Holocaust denial.
“[…] Antisemitism today is most actively perpetrated by the Islamist press, a large segment of which has gone so far as to recklessly praise Adolf Hitler for his ‘foresight.’ Concurrently, there has been an unprecedented array of publications and campaigns against so-called ‘Sabbetaists,’ whose Jewish roots are traced and emphasized in a manner reminiscent of the Nazi obsession with creating a ‘pure race,’ targeting them as the evil-intentioned members of a secret sect which is integral to the ‘Jewish plot to dominate the world.’
“This rising tide of antisemitism has been allowed to flow unhindered in the channels of the Islamist as well as the mainstream media, and to settle into Turkish daily life and discourse. It is now second nature to find a ‘Jewish finger’ under every stone, and to invent various conspiracy theories with ‘the Jew’ as the villain.
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