Social convention won't let you blame the Chinese? No problem! Pin it on the Jews. I was originally going to call this column "Leave the Jews alone, for Christ's sake," but then I figured that since 90% of the population of this country is not Jewish, the humor might be lost. So I put it on the shelf, did some thinking, and now finally I can come back to it.

The impetus for this is a short article I read in one of the celestial papers about a political debate in Terengganu. It seems that one of PAS's state assemblymen in that state asserted that the Barisan Nasional government is "worse than the Jews."

He was apparently upset about the demolition of some homes under questionable circumstances. Rather than chastising the assemblymen for his bigoted assault, the BN representative featured in the article upped the ante in the poker game of politico-religious imagery by accusing PAS of truly devilish behavior, a sort of "I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I" gambit.

Ah yes, the Jewish influence on Malaysian politics. It would be comical if it weren't so disgusting. In my time here I've seen numerous references to the Jews and their evil plots. I've spoken to a number of people about their image of the Jews. They represent all that is bad; they are greedy, clannish, irreverent, etc.

Somewhere along the line I started to make a connection. It seems like all these negative adjectives used to describe the Jews are also used in mumbled and prejudiced diatribes against the Chinese. Could it be that the Jews are a scapegoat, like so often in history? Could the socially acceptable disdain for the Jews be a mere projection of racist tendency best left unspoken and under cover? Could the anti-Semitism so often expressed here really have some social utility?

The King of Siam

Sometimes, in this magical world of ours, things just work out for you. As I was formulating my little hypothesis I ran across a passage in my favorite book, The Malay Ideals, by Dr. Asrul Zamani. Here it is:

The Siamese King from 1910-1925, Vajiravudh (Rama VI) similarly expressed such concerns albeit being more harsh in his accusations of the Chinese. He cogently argued under the pen name of 'Asavabahu' (Pegusua) in a series of pamphlets in 1914 entitled The Jews of the East that the Chinese only carried with them a racial loyalty and devoid of a love for the country that they resided in, even if they obtained full citizenship status. For the sake of convenience, he contended, the Chinese might show loyalty to a state.

Wherever the Chinese went, they remained essentially Chinese. Their purpose in life, according to the King, was to amass as much money as possible. They were willing to cooperate with anyone, no matter how unsavory, as long as they were promised economic gain, he alleged. His majesty wrote that, the Chinese divided that world into two classes, the Chinese and the barbariansThey recognized no right nor wrong. The feelings expressed by the King of Siam are commonly held by many indigenous peoples of the Southeast Asian region. The Malays are not precluded from this. The Malays have learnt to be cautious.

It's not proper to openly espouse ideas about the Chinese like those of Rama VI, the Henry Ford of the Orient, anymore. They are just too politically powerful. The more head-in-hole religious extremists get in trouble from time to time that way. But what you can do is to use the Jews as a surrogate for the Chinese, who used to be the convenient focal point for the unifying anger that weak politicians are so apt to stir up.

How do Jews look like?

I don't think any of the ulama up there in Terenganu have met many Jews, but of course that is not the point. To put a human face on the faith would destroy its utility. That's probably why anything that deals with Jews in a positive or even historically accurate light is censored, as in the case of Schindler's List a few years ago.

If you gave people access to accurate information, they might use it to make rational decisions and judgments. Where's the harm, though, if there are no Jews in Malaysia, one might ask.

To answer this question I'll refer to a conversation I had with a young man studying International Politics at Unimas. The student from Kedah, who was almost finished with his third year, and I happened to be sitting together in a restaurant, and he asked me where I'm from. We began discussing international issues, as well as domestic politics, and the ethnic diversity that the United States and Malaysia have in common.

Then he said something that stunned me. "In the United States, you have Blacks, Whites, and the Jews." He then proceeded to ask me how I could tell the difference between Jews and non-Jews in the US, and was especially curious as to how I felt about the Jews running the country.

I was surprised at the shocking naivet of this university student who had earlier explained to me that he wanted to be a diplomat. In some institution somewhere along the line this young man had been taught these things, and the lesson was sufficiently reinforced that it remained a part of his worldview.

I have been thinking about the whole Jewish issue for a while now. I can't get away from it, especially because every time I browse a bookstore or library (something I do very frequently), I see copies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and The International Jew staring back at me, mockingly. They are everywhere. You guys know that Protocols is a hoax, don't you?

I'm always shocked that these types of anti-Semitic rags are granted some merit (oh, and by the way, for the purposes of communication in the English language, anti-Semitism means "hostility towards Jews as a religious or social minority"; there's no subjective meaning; see below) in so-called scholarly circles.

Dangerous mixture

The utility of the Jewish faith, it seems, lies in its use in hyperbole. It is a literary device on one hand and on the other it is a convenient symbol of global conspiracy and evil, a rallying point for the perpetual underdog.

I have written about the conspiracy theorists that claim that all the problems of the world can be traced back to Zionist conspiracy, so I won't do it again here; suffice it to say that this unsophisticated view of the world is attractive because it puts the mind at ease. There is a motive and plan behind the evil that occurs, and there is a name for that evil. This type of thinking is very useful to certain agendas. It's a scary thing when religion and politics mix.

An argument I've heard several times, even from some members of the educated elite, is that anti-Semitism doesn't really exist because the Arabs are a Semitic people too. This is an effective argument, if only by virtue of its mind-numbing idiocy.

When I hear logic like this, I can feel the chemical bonds that constitute the information storage mechanism in my brain start to dissolve. A semantic subterfuge to dismiss the issue; the problem doesn't exist because of an etymological ambiguity. It's like arguing about driving on parkways and parking on driveways.

I also noticed that it is a frequent tactic to refer to events as a "holocaust", the term used to describe the eradication efforts of the Nazis against the Jews in World War II. Most frequently this is applied to the policies of the Israeli government in occupied Palestine. This reference is, no doubt, meant as a provocative and ironic observation by the commentator or journalist in question. It's become clichd and trite, though. It's also bad history.

The scale and efficiency of murder and mayhem witnessed by people of the Jewish faith in the Second World War is unparalleled in the whole history of human civilization. This is not to trivialize the sufferings of other people; indeed heinous acts have been perpetrated countless times in the grand march of history. It is just a statement of pure historical fact. Hopefully it will never happen again.

We need to talk

It's a shame that political debate in Malaysia so often turns ugly. The whole Jew thing is simply a way for politicians to draw attention away from real problems and to relieve themselves of their obligation to come up with enlightened and substantive solutions.

It's also a shame that this sort of prejudice is echoed throughout society. In most countries bigotry and hatred exist, especially when minorities are present. But in most countries politicians at least make an effort to move forward beyond tribalism and racism.

Malaysia has taken great steps towards the goal of true national unity thanks to heroic efforts by people on all sides. However, that progress should be questioned if instead of eradicating prejudice, it has merely been sublimated and directed against a different group.

"Developed country" status by 2020? Not with the seeds of 19th century hatred growing like weeds. You cannot adopt that legacy and be considered a developed nation. "Developed" not only describes a standard of living and technology, it also describes a standard of thought.

KEITH BETTINGER is a Fulbright Scholar based in KL. He's currently completing his research on national parks, and when he's in an urban jungle, he enjoys debates and encounters with Malaysians. If you want to contact him, his email is: kisu1492@hotmail.com .