So is Anti-Americanism. According to the British historian Paul Johnson, anti-Americanism is “a function of cultural racism” (Johnson, npag). One of the arguments by which many Europeans try to prove their cultural superiority to Americans is that European civilizations existed long before the USA. Europeans share “spectacular and splendid accounts of the past, (…) similar institutions and ideas, and an enormous confidence in the superior manipulative power of their culture” (Roberts, p.171). Before the Great War Europe was a leading industrial power. And suddenly, after the First World War, this position was taken by the USA. Once lost their domination in world industry, Europeans instinctively try to keep at least the feeling of cultural supremacy over Americans. Furthermore – they bend even the economical success of the USA, by saying that “Americans are highly materialistic consumers” or “ a subcivilized mass, whose function is to be obedient consumers in a system run by big business” (Johnson, npag). Europeans try to prove that Americans are inferior and in this way to keep their own self-confidence.
Both Americans and Jews have been accused of an attempt to dominate the world. In 1905 an anti-Semitic book, called Protocols of the Elders of Zion was published in Russia (Glatzer npag). It “purported to reveal details of an international Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world” (Glatzer npag). Such propaganda was widespread. In the 1920s USA, a prosperous American automobile manufacturer, Henry Ford, “reprinted the discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion in his newspaper Dearborn Independent” (Glatzer npag). He spent a lot of money on spreading anti-Semitic ideas. In the 1930s in the USA Jews were considered “a menace of America” and a thread to its “security and welfare” (Kett npag).
Many people of Europe and the Arab countries feel that the power of America is a thread. This is incited by the US foreign policy. Example for that is America’s “policy in the Middle east” or the war with Iraq (Riemer npag). Hostile to foreign intervention in their own affairs, some countries see in the US foreign policy a sign for an attempt to dominate the world.
In terms of religious hatred, both Jews and Americans have been victims of it. A typical example is Arab anti-Semitism. In April 1920s Haj Amin Al-Husseini initiated an Arab riot against Jews. He “organized the first jihad against the Jews” (Kett npag). Until 1948 “many hundreds of Palestinian Jews were killed and thousands wounded” in series of attacks (Kett npag). The jihad against Jews reminds of the one against Americans, organized by Osama Bin Laden. In February, 1998, he issued an edict, appealing to all the Muslims to eliminate Americans: “The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies--civilians and military--is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it” ( Ben Laden, npag). An outburst of Arab hatred was the attack on The World Trade Center on 11th September 2001 in which a lot of innocent people were killed. Arab aggression against Jews and Americans has taken many victims,
Although anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism have many common features, there are some main differences. When Jews were persecuted in the 1930s, they were helpless, while America is among the greatest military powers in the world and can defend itself. Anti-Semitism is expressed mainly by persecutions and discrimination of Jews. Anti-Americanism is more of an attitude widespread among people of other nations, born out of envy. Anti-Semitism is much older. It is a dislike of Judaism, while anti-Americanism is mainly a disagreement with US foreign policy.
In conclusion, both anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism are global phenomena. They are incited by different factors, but are similar in their very nature. Both anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism have lead to mass killing of innocent people.
