Islamic Anti-Semitism

In writing a reply to this Matthew Yglesias offering on TAPPED, I realized there's at least one key point about anti-Semitism in the Islamic world that needs to be in this discussion. The supposition that we're seeing Westernized leaders make anti-Semitic comments to appeal to the great Muslim masses has a serious weakness: The stereotypes of Jews usually usually drawn upon by these leaders have their origins in Western tradition, not in Islam. So the situation has to be a lot more complicated than that.

Just an indicator of what I'm talking about: Read this account of the 1840 Damascus blood libel and see if you notice anything. And lest you think I'm just a knee-jerk blame-the-West Middle East scholar here, it was a book by Bernard Lewis that got me thinking along these lines a long time ago.

I've been meaning to write something about Islam and Judaism ever since the run-up to Arrival Day, but I want to actually look through some things first, and it keeps getting pushed back. Maybe in a few weeks.

UPDATE: Read this Asia Times piece about the Mahathir speech. I don't agree with all its implications, but it has stuff of interest, mainly regarding Mahathir and PAS.