User:DGG/Jewish stereotypes in banking and finance

Antisemites have promulgated a number of antisemitic canards related to money, banking and finance that form an "old and central part of antisemitic ideology." One example is the assertion that Jews control international finance. In the modern era, many such myths continue to be disseminated in books such as The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, and on the internet.

Characteristics of financial canards

Abraham Foxman describes six facets of the financial canards:

1. All Jews are wealthy
2. Jews are stingy and greedy
3. Powerful Jews control business world
4. Jewish religion emphasizes profit and materialism
5. It is okay for Jews to cheat non-Jews
6. Jews use their power to benefit "their own kind"

Gerald Krefetz summarizes the myth as "[Jews] control the banks, the money supply, the economy, and businesses - of the community, of the country, of the world". Krefetz gives, as illustrations, many slurs and proverbs (in several different languages) which suggest that Jews are stingy, or greedy, or miserly, or aggressive bargainers. Krefetz suggests that during the nineteenth century, most of the myths focused on Jews being "scurrilous, stupid, and tight-fisted", but following the Jewish Emancipation and the rise of Jews to the middle- or upper-class in Europe the myths evolved and began to assert that Jews were "clever, devious, and manipulative financiers out to dominate [world finances]".

Another aspect of the finance-related antisemitic myths is that Jews act do not produce anything of value, but instead tend to serve as middlemen, acting as "parasites in the production line" of non-Jews that are doing the real work. Krefetz lists middlemen occupations subject to this canard as distributors, shoppers, wholesalers, brokers, financiers, and retailers and writes that they are "all notably Jewish occupations".

Motivations

Jealousy

Abraham Foxman claims that money-based antisemitism is a result of resentment and jealousy of Jews. Gerald Krefetz makes a similar point: that the ability of Jews to make money occasionally stirs jealousy and hate in non-Jews, contributing to a fear that Jews will "ascend too high" in the economic sphere and begin to manipulate and control world finances.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) wrote "I am persuaded that in Russia, Austria, and Germany nine-tenths of the hostility to the Jew comes from the average Christian's inability to compete success fully with the average Jew in business in either straight business or the questionable sort."

Blame for ills of capitalism

Richard Levy writes that, although there were local variations, modern economic antisemitism is primarily defined by "the scapegoating of Jews for capitalism's ills." The tendency to blame Jews for the problems of capitalism and urbanization that arose in the late nineteenth century is attributed by Laurel Platt to antisemitic attitudes that extend back to medieval times.

Increase in times of economic hardship

Several commentators note that money-based antisemitism increases in times of recession or economic hardship, for instance during the Depression of 1873.

Accusations of controlling the world financial system

See also: Antisemitism in Europe (Middle Ages)

The Anti Defamation League documented various antisemitic canards concerning Jews and banking, including the myth that world banking is dominated by the Rothschild family, that Jews control Wall Street, and that Jews control the United States Federal Reserve. The ADL notes that the canard can be traced back to the prevalence of Jews in the money-lending profession in Europe during the Middle Ages, due to a prohibition against Christians in that profession. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion repeated this canard.

According to Howard Sachar, Christian Europe viewed the Rothschild family and the international network of Jewish bankers linked by intermarriage as "proof of Jewish internationalism". Sachar quotes Hannah Arendt as writing: 'Where, indeed, was there better proof of the fantastic concept of a Jewish world government than in this one family, the Rothschilds, nationals of five different countries, prominent everywhere, in close cooperation with at least three different governments (French, Austrian, British), whose frequent conflicts never for a moment shook the solidarity of interests of their state bankers? No propaganda could have created a symbol more effective for political purposes than the reality itself'".

Alleged control of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank

Paul Warburg

Paul Warburg moved from Germany to the United States in 1902, as a partner of Kuhn, Loeb & Company. Warburg pushed the United States to establish the Federal Reserve System. In November 1907 Warburg published a paper entitled "The Discount System in Europe" in The New York Times Annual Financial Review. The paper summarized a proposal for a central bank that would lend money to privately owned commercial banks. Senator Nelson Aldrich embraced the concept and worked with Walburg to propose it to Congress and President Woodrow Wilson. It was enacted into law in 1913. Wilson appointed Warburg to serve as a member of the first Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system, and he retired from Kuhn, Loeb & Company and served on the Federal Reserve Board from 1914 to 1918.

The Anti-Defamation League reports the recent emergence of an anti-semitic allegation that "the Jews" control the U.S. Federal Reserve System. It traces the history of this canard as far back as the 1930s when A.N. Field asserted:"The Money Power that rules the world today is centered in the hands of individuals of a particular race and creed." According to the ADL, Field identified the founding of the U.S. Federal Reserve System as the point when the United States became "enslaved under this German-Jew engine of control."

This allegation has been adopted by ministers of the Nation of Islam. For example, the Dallas Observer recorded this dialogue between Nation-of-Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and an audience to which he was speaking:

Farrakhan: "Is the Federal Reserve owned by the government?"

Audience: "No."

Farrakhan: "Who owns the federal reserve?"

Audience: "Jews."

Farrakhan: "The same year they set up the IRS, they set up the FBI. And the same year they set up the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith...It could be a coincidence...[I want] to see Black intellectuals free... I want to see them not controlled by members of the Jewish community."

Accusations of plotting to control the world

Further information: Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Main article: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion purports to document the minutes of a late nineteenth century meeting attended by world Jewish leaders, the 'Elders of Zion', who are conspiring to take over the world.The forgery places in the mouths of the Jewish leaders a variety of plans, most of which derive from older antisemitic canards. For example, the Protocols include alleged plans for Jewish bankers to control the world's economies. The Protocols include allegations that:

• Jews manipulate the economy, especially through banking monopolies and the power of gold,
• Jews encourage issuing paper currency not tied to the gold standard, and
• Jews promote financial speculation and use of credit.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is widely considered to be the beginning of contemporaryconspiracy theory literature.

Included in this canard are not only writings that seek to accuse Jews of trying to control the world, but also graphic imagery depicting Jews, or their supporters, as trying to control the world. Examples of this imagery include Nazi cartoons that depict Jews as octopuses, encircling the globe. A more recent example is the 2001 re-printing of Henry Ford's anti-semitic text, The International Jew in Egypt, with the same octopus imagery on the front cover.

Among the most notable early refutations of the Protocols as a forgery were a series of articles printed in The Times of London in 1921. This series revealed that much of the material in the Protocols was plagiarized from earlierpolitical satire that did not have an antisemitic theme. Since 1903, when the Protocol sappeared in print, its earliest publishers have offered vague and often contradictory testimony detailing how they obtained their copy of the rumored original manuscript.

The text was popularized by reactionary supporters of the Tsarist regime, and was disseminated further after the revolution of 1905, becoming known worldwide after the 1917 October Revolution. It was widely circulated in the West in 1920 and thereafter. The Great Depression and the rise of Nazism were important developments in the history of the Protocols, and the hoax continued to be published and circulated despite its debunking. Despite the fact that numerous independent investigations have repeatedly proven the Protocols to be a plagiarism and a literary forgery, the hoax is still frequently quoted and reprinted by antisemites, and is sometimes used as evidence of an alleged Jewishcabal, especially in the Middle East.

According to Rabbi Sidney Schwarz,

"One of the most widely distributed anti-Semitic tracts in history is The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a book of canards authored in the nineteenth century that portrays Jews as conspiring to seek global dominance. Similarly, American-based racist groups in this last century have frequently leveled accusations against Jews for controlling both banks and public officials."

Accusations of causing wars, revolutions, and calamities

Further information: [[:Wandering Jew, Jewish Bolshevism, The Cause of World Unrest, The Franklin Prophecy, Judea Declares War on Germany]]

As many European localities and entire countries expelled their Jewish populations after robbing them, and others denied them entrance, the legend of the Wandering Jew, a condemned harbinger of calamity, gained popularity.

German politician Heinrich von Treitschke in the 19th century coined a phrase "Die Juden sind unser Unglück!" ("The Jews are our misfortune!") adopted as a motto by Der Stürmer several decades later.

The term "Judeo-Bolshevism" was adopted and used in Nazi Germany to refer to Jews andcommunists together, implying that the communist movement served Jewish interests.

The Franklin Prophecy was unknown before its appearance in 1934 in the pages of William Dudley Pelley's pro-Nazi weekly magazine Liberation. According to the 2004 US Congress report, Anti-Semitism in Europe: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on European Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations:

"The Franklin "Prophecy" is a classic anti-Semitic canard that falsely claims that American statesman Benjamin Franklin made anti-Jewish statements during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It has found widening acceptance in Muslim and Arab media, where it has been used to criticize Israel and Jews..."

Some recent conspiracy theories hold that Jews or Israel played a key role in carrying out the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the paper published by theAnti-Defamation League, "anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have not been accepted in mainstream circles in the U.S.", but "this is not the case in the Arab and Muslim world." A claim that 4,000 Jewish employees skipped work at the WTC on September 11 has been widely reported and widely debunked. The number of Jews who died in the attacks - typically estimated at around 400 - tracks closely with the proportion of Jews living in the New York area. Five Israelis died in the attack.

In search of a scapegoat for the Iraq War, one commentator noted that "[f]rom left to right, anti-Semitic claims abound in U.S. press."

On October 16, 2003, the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed drew a standing ovation at the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference for his speech, in which he said: "...today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them... They invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power." He further urged Muslims to emulate Jews in this regard in order to achieve similar results.

Actor Mel Gibson caused controversy in 2006 after being arrested for drunken driving; during the arrest, he claimed that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world".

Accusations of usury and profiteering

Main articles: Usury and Loans and interest in Judaism

In the Middle Ages, Jews were ostracized from most professions by the Christian Church and the guilds and were pushed into marginal occupations considered socially inferior, such astax and rent collecting and moneylending. This was said to show Jews were insolent, greedy usurers. Natural tensions between creditors and debtors were added to social, political, religious, and economic strains.

... financial oppression of Jews tended to occur in areas where they were most disliked, and if Jews reacted by concentrating on moneylending to gentiles, the unpopularity - and so, of course, the pressure - would increase. Thus the Jews became an element in a vicious circle. The Christians, on the basis of the Biblical rulings, condemned interest-taking absolutely, and from 1179 those who practised it were excommunicated. But the Christians also imposed the harshest financial burdens on the Jews. The Jews reacted by engaging in the one business where Christian laws actually discriminated in their favour, and so became identified with the hated trade of moneylending.

Peasants who were forced to pay their taxes to Jews could personify them as the people taking their earnings while remaining loyal to the lords on whose behalf the Jews worked. Gentile debtors may have been quick to lay charges of usury against Jewish moneylenders charging even nominal interest or fees. Thus, historically attacks on usury have often been linked to antisemitism.

In England, the departing Crusaders were joined by crowds of debtors in the massacres of Jews at London and York in 1189-1190. In 1275, Edward I of England passed the Statute of Jewry which made usury illegal and linked it to blasphemy, in order to seize the assets of the violators. Scores of English Jews were arrested, 300 hanged and their property went to the Crown. In 1290, all Jews were expelled from England, allowed to take only what they could carry, the rest of their property became the Crown's. The usury was cited as the official reason for the Edict of Expulsion. According to Walter Laqueur,

"The issue at stake was not really whether the Jews had entered it out of greed (as antisemites claimed) or because most other professions were barred to them... In countries where other professions were open to them, such as Al-Andalus and the Ottoman Empire, one finds more Jewish blacksmiths than Jewish money lenders. The high tide of Jewish usury was before the fifteenth century; as cities grew in power and affluence, the Jews were squeezed out from money lending with the development of banking."

"Kosher Tax"

Main article: Kosher tax conspiracy theory

The "Kosher tax" (or "Jewish tax") is a canard or urban legend spread by antisemitic,white supremacist and other extremist organizations. It refers to the claim that food producers are forced to pay an exorbitant amount to obtain the right to display asymbol on their products that indicates it is kosher, and that this cost is secretly passed on to consumers through higher prices which constitute a "kosher tax."

Dispellers of this canard state that if it were not profitable to obtain such certification, then food producers would not engage in the certification process, and that the increased sales resulting from kosher certification actually lower the overall cost per item. Obtaining certification that an item is kosher is a voluntary business decision made by companies desiring additional sales from consumers (both Jewish and non-Jewish) who look for kosher certification when shopping, and is actually specifically sought by marketing organizations within food production companies.

Nation of Islam

Main article: Nation of Islam and antisemitism

The Nation of Islam has claimed that Jews were responsible for slavery, economic exploitation of black labor, selling alcohol and drugs in their communities, and unfair domination of the economy. Expressions of antisemitism have been voiced by Louis Farrakhan and other leaders of his “Nation of Islam.” Judaism is openly called “a gutter religion” and in 1994 labeled Hitler “a genius.” His aide Khalid Abdul Muhammad declared that “Jews are “bloodsuckers... You’re called Goldstein, Silverstein and Rubenstein because you’ve been stealing all the gold and silver and rubies all over the world.”

Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, Khalid Abdul Muhammad, and other NOI ministers are frequently critical of what they perceive as the Jewish control over African American society, their beliefs frequently approaching conspiracy theory. For example:

We are not giving them [Jews] power by getting into the debate, they already have power. They control Black intellectuals, they control Black politicians, Black preachers, Black artists—they control Black life. I’m not against Jews, I’m against control by any group, of us...I don’t know how you can talk about Black liberation without confronting that and not talk about those who stifle Black thought, freedom of Black liberation.

— 

Concerns about anti-Semitism in the African-American community, one of the principal sources of anxiety among American Jews, were fueled in late 1993 and early 1994 by statements made by Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan. Strains were exacerbated when, on November 29, 1993, Farrakhan deputy Khalid Abdul Muhammad, delivered an anti-white, anti-Catholic, homophobic, and virulently anti-Semitic address to an audience at Kean College in New Jersey.

Farrakhan gave a speech attacking then National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and presidential advisor Rahm Emanuel. In regards to their names, he stated that "Every Jewish person that is around the president is a dual citizen of Israel and the United States of America...and sometimes, we have to raise the question, Are you more loyal to the state of Israel than you are to the best interests of the United States of America?"

The Nation of Islam has repeatedly denied charges of antisemitism, and NOI leader Minister Louis Farrakhan has stated, "The ADL... uses the term 'anti-Semitism' to stifle all criticism of Zionism and the Zionist policies of the State of Israel and also to stifle all legitimate criticism of the errant behavior of some Jewish people toward the non-Jewish population of the earth."

Global financial crisis

The Anti-Defamation League documented the spread of conspiracy theories linking Jews and Israel to the global financial meltdown of the late 2000s.

According to a survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League, some 31 percent of European adults blamed Jews in the financial industry for the economic meltdown.

ADL

• ADL rebukes Rush Limbaugh for comments relating Jews and banking.
• ADL demands apology from Time Magazine

See also

• Antisemitic canards
• Stereotypes of Jews
• History of antisemitism
• Timeline of antisemitism

Sources

• Foxman, Abraham, Jews and Money: The Story of a Stereotype, Macmillan, 2010
• Krefetz, Gerald, Jews and money: the myths and the reality, Ticknor & Fields, 1982
• Penslar, Derek Jonathan, Shylock's children: economics and Jewish identity in modern Europe, University of California Press, 2001

Further reading

• Lipton, "Jews in the Commentary Text and Illustrations," chapter 3
• Lipton, "The Root of All Evil: Jews, Money, and Metaphor in the Bible moralisee^ Medieval Encounters 1:2 (August 1995)