The Ottoman model of tolerance

The vicious attacks on two Jewish synagogues in Istanbul displayed equal measures of intolerance and inhumanity. But above all, they demonstrated an amazing degree of sheer callousness and irrationality. With one stroke, the perpetrators of this monstrous crime have lost any sympathy for their cause that might have existed in Turkey. 

What did Al Qaeda hope to achieve by killing Jews living peacefully in a Muslim country? In the event, the attacks have given Israel and the West a further excuse to brand Muslims anti- Semites although we have always claimed that historically, Jews were far better treated by Muslims than they were by Christians. The Ottomans were particularly welcoming to them and at one point, there were 400,000 Jews living in their empire (which included Palestine). 

Jews, driven out of Spain by the Inquisition in the 15th century, were welcomed in the Ottoman Empire. In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453: 

"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us." 

Pushed out by an intolerant Church in much of Europe, Jews began playing an increasingly important role in the Ottoman Empire. Several districts in Istanbul were identified with them and their synagogues were focal points in their daily lives. Retaining an archaic form of Spanish as the language they use among themselves to this day, Jews are thoroughly integrated into Istanbul society. Although there are only 27,000 left in the city, they are active and successful in business and professions. Over the years, I have met several of them in Istanbul and they were indistinguishable from other Turks; indeed, I had no idea they were Jewish until my friends told me later. 

As an example of the close relationship between Jews and Muslims in Istanbul, Mansel informs us that in one ancient market built during the days of Suleiman the Magnificent, a synagogue and a mosque shared the first floor. They both exist side by side to this day. According to the author, the Jews used their commercial skills to marginalize the well-entrenched Italian community by the 16th century. Mansel quotes a French diplomat from the period writing enviously: 

"They [Jews] now have in their hands the most and greatest traffic of merchandise and ready money that is conducted in all the Levant. The shops and stalls stocked with all the varieties of goods which can be found in Constantinople are those of the Jews. 

They have also among them very excellent practitioners of all the arts and manufactures, specially the Marranos [Jews] not long since banished and expelled from Spain and Portugal who to the great detriment and injury of Christianity have taught the Turks several inventions, artifices and machines of war such as how to make artillery, arquebuses [ancient muskets], gunpowder, cannon-balls and other arms." 

So clearly, the Jewish community was very useful to the Ottomans and were considered equal citizens in a vast empire that drew Janissaries from Sweden, slaves from Africa and traders and artisans from much of the known world. One reason for the empire's longevity was that most of the Sultans were tolerant rulers who realized the value of a multi-cultural society long before it became a buzz-word in the West. 

From this model to the growing intolerance that threatens world peace today is a long and tragic fall. Karachi had a synagogue and a small Jewish community until the Fifties and I remember having a couple of local Jewish kids with me in school. Now for a large number of Muslims around the world, a Jew is a caricature figure to be hated and reviled, regardless of whether he supports Israel or not. It is important to remember that many of them in the West firmly oppose the extremist policies being followed by Sharon and his ilk, as do many Israelis. 

We have demonized Jews to such an extent that we equate them all with extremist right-wing settlers. While most Jews supported the creation of Israel, many of them do not approve of retaining the territories occupied after the 1967 war, and accept the right of the Palestinians to their own state. 

In our righteous anger over the creation of a state perceived as a western outpost in Palestine, we forget that specially after the horrors they suffered under Nazi Germany, the Jews were desperate for a homeland. Now, whatever the rights and wrongs of the UN resolution that brought it into being, Jews will defend Israel's right to exist tooth and nail. 

By attacking and desecrating Jewish synagogues and graves in different parts of the world, Muslims are increasingly identifying themselves with right-wing extremist groups that feed on hatred of all things non-white and non-Christian. In a statement issued after the Istanbul attacks, Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Los Angeles based Simon Wisenthal Centre was moved to say: "They want to cleanse Europe of Jews so that it will be all open territory for the fundamentalist Islam groups..." He went on to charge that the goal of Islamic fundamentalists echoes "the policy advocated by the Nazis during World War II". 

Although these charges are farfetched, they reflect the fear and anger among the Jews and resonate in a West sympathetic to them for a variety of reasons ranging from cultural affinity to the collective guilt surrounding the Holocaust.

The attacks on the Istanbul synagogue have only alienated Muslim Turkey and the Christian West. Worse, they have further tarnished the image of Islam. All peace-loving people should firmly condemn the killers and their methods.

Source: Dawn