Matthias Küntzel, the German scholar who has written some of the most important academic work on Islamist antisemitism, has authored an op-ed which takes the Berlin Center for Research on Anti-Semitism to task for focusing upon “Islamophobia” - a term whose validity he disputes.

Küntzel doesn’t deny that Muslims in Europe are victims of racism and discrimination. However, he regards the term “Islamophobia” as a politically-charged construct which “mixes two different phenomena - unjust hatred against Muslims and necessary criticism of political Islam - and condemns both equally.”

David Hirsh has responded:

I agree that etymologically speaking the word Islamophobia is problematic but in this respect it is not unusual. The word antisemitism is in this sense also problematic, as are, for example, the words Holocaust and Shoah. When a word becomes generally recognized to have a particular meaning, it is normal to use it in that received sense without worrying too much about its literal derivation. We need to argue about what is important rather than about definitions.

There is nothing more tedious, for example, than the clever-cloggs who declares that antisemitism is also racism against Arabs, who are also ‘semites’. This pedantic reasoning is used to deny the legitimacy of the word which has come to mean ‘racism against Jews’. In general, I am content that if people won’t argue with antisemitism then I won’t argue Islamophobia. Neither word is etymologically logical but they have come to mean ‘racism against Jews’ and ‘racism against Muslims’ respectively. Unfortunately there is currently a pressing need for terms which refer to these phenomena.

For me, the key point in all this is made by Hirsh:

We need to use our political judgment to know when hostility to Islamism or hostility to Israel becomes threatening to Muslims in general or to Jews in general. No formulation of words can substitute for political judgment.

Exactly. And for that judgment to carry authority, vigilance is required. There is a well-established pattern on the far right of using Israel as a gateway to unabashed antisemitism; ditto in the case of Islamism and Muslims. So, by all means, let’s continue to engage in political critique, but let’s not obfuscate or play down real instances of racism when we do. Because acts like this one are, as the French President says, “repugnant,” and should serve as a reminder that Jewish and Muslim communities have a common enemy.

See David T here, as well.