Articles written by Mark Cohen and Norman Stillman

Hebrew 215 (sec 001) Fall 2014

Hebraic and Judaic Culture and Thought in the Medieval Islamic World 
Fabiano Schoenberg

 

 

The articles written by Mark Cohen and Norman Stillman quote from many writers that have used various methods to support their articles, chapters and books regarding the Lachrymose (inter-faith utopia) and neo-lachrymose (persecution) views of Jewish history in the Arab lands. Some write essays and use anecdotal evidence that supports their view but is too small a sample for statistics. Others are historians who use actual documented historical events that may or may not be complete or accurate. Many just render their own opinion. Most borrow from each other to support their side of the argument, which can be extremely inaccurate.
Mark Cohen identifies the historian Heinrich Graetz as the”father” of modern Jewish history. His study of Jewish history led him to conclude that Jews were persecuted under Christian rule from pre-Christian Roman times to the enlightenment in the 1800’s in Europe. He wrote the opposite was true regarding Jews in Islamic lands during middle Ages to the 1800s. He suggested the Jews had a “golden age” during Islamic rule in Spain. He continued with the idea of an interfaith utopia within the Arab-Muslim lands and the Ottoman Empire. However review of the fourth volume of the “History of the Jews” performed by Rabbi S R Hirsch found that Graetz often left out the second halves of quotations that would have contradicted his theses. He was biased and sloppy.
Yossi Yonah is a modern writer. He uses mass media in his article “How the Right-Wing are the Sephardim” discussing the argument regarding anti-Semitism in the Arab lands. He uses a recent television documentary discussing the recent immigration of Jews to Israel from Arab lands in 1951-1952. His view is that the documentary is misinterpreted as proof of historical persecution of Jews in Arab lands throughout history. More interestingly he notes that the purpose of the view of Jewish persecution in the Arab lands is to increase the share of the economic value of the state of Israel towards the Sephardim. This discussion by Yonah is very interesting but has no historical findings to support either side.
The book by Christian Arab writer George Antonius called “the Arab Awakening” (1939) supports the interfaith utopia view of Arab history and notes the democratic (American style) treatment of Jews in Arab countries. However we know from Yonah that more recently (1951-1952) the Iraqi Jews were persecuted and had to leave Iraq by an Israeli airlift completely destroying his argument of tolerance.
Edward William Lane lived in Cairo, Egypt during the 1820’s and 30s. He wrote that the Jews were “held in the utmost contempt and abhorrence by Muslims in general.” Samuel Romanelli, who was both Jewish and Italian wrote in the late 18^th century the following about Jews in Morocco, “oppressed, miserable creatures, having neither the mouth to answer an Arab, nor the cheek to raise their head.”  Both of these quotes are anecdotal evidence, if true, for a point in time in history. However it would inaccurate to assume the neo-lachrymose point of you from just these two quotes.
At the time of his critique entitled “Myth, Countermyth and Distortion”, Norman Stillman was Professor of History and Arabic at State University of New York at Binghamton. He had published two books on “Jews in Arab Lands.” He has the credentials and the expertise to discuss this topic. His argument is also very persuasive. You cannot squeeze fourteen centuries of Jewish-Arab history into two simple movements either lachrymose or neo-lachrymose. Beginning in the seventh century the rise of Islam in the Arab states was a time of huge prosperity. This included Islamic Spain. Although second-class citizens, the Jews prospered as well. Even in the Ottoman Empire this was true. But as the rise of poverty overtook most Arab countries towards the 17^th century and beyond, the Jews suffered poverty as well. Along with poverty came greater adherence to Islamic rules against Jews and persecution. Cooperation with European imperialism was a temporary fortunate circumstance for Jews. They were allowed to trade with Europeans and assisted themselves out of poverty and out of some of the persecution in the Arab lands. The rise of Arab nationalism and the rise of anti-Zionism have also contributed to more recent persecution of Jews within Arab countries in the 20^th century as well as the present.