One presidential candidate once accused his rival of being a Jew. This infuriated the accused candidate so much, that he went to great lengths to emphasize that he was the furthest thing from being Jewish, adding that this sort of accusation was a cheap attempt at ruining his reputation before the electorate.
But supporters of the accuser responded by saying that their adversary’s name was the best indication of his faith, since each religion is known for specific names. It’s impossible for someone to be called Mohamed, Ahmed, Hassan or Hussein and not be Muslim, just as it is impossible to be Peter or John and not be Christian, or Rosenberg or Goldenstein and not be Jewish.
The accused candidate defended himself by saying that it was true that his father’s name is Jewish because his father was indeed a Jew, but that he was married to a Christian woman (the candidate’s mother) and that he followed his mother’s faith.
But then his rival’s supporters kept on insisting that he was a closet Jew and that he was hiding his true faith to win the elections. The moment he is handed power, they argued, he would begin to implement policies favorable to Israel and Zionism, which meant that the Jews would have the upper hand in everything.
In TV and press interviews, the beleaguered candidate responded to the accusations which threatened to ruin his entire political career and said, unambiguously: “I am not Jewish, I am Christian. I believe in Christianity and I practice it!
His wife Michelle also appeared publicly and explained that she too is a Christian and that they were married in church and their children were baptized.
But his rival’s supporters published counter news, claiming that the candidate was still in touch with his Jewish father’s family and that he secretly practiced his Jewish faith with them. Some of them even claimed that as a child he went to a Jewish school, which meant that he was indoctrinated with Jewish teachings.
So he answered back by saying that he had a regular Christian education because his parents were divorced when he was a child and that he grew up with his Christian mother not his Jewish father.
When two supporters of the accused candidate stood behind him during the election campaign wearing the Jewish kippah on their heads, his campaign organizers rushed over to them and asked them leave, demanding they don’t appear in any photos with him so as not to confirm accusations of his Jewishness.
When my friend had finished telling me this story, I was in disbelief. “This is a figment of your imagination, it’s a work of fiction, I said.
“No, he answered. “It’s a true story happening now in the US.
“But there are laws in the US that prohibit religious discrimination, which means that accusing someone of belonging to a certain religion could be punishable by law, I said.
“If this story really did take place, then this candidate’s rival would have been disqualified from the presidential race for being anti-Semitic, which is a crime by law not only in the US but in most of the Western world.
“If you replace all the references to Jews and Judaism in this story with Muslims and Islam, you’ll realize that this is a real story and that there is no law prohibiting the use of Islam as an accusation in the US, he said.
Mohamed Salmawyis President of the Arab Writers’ Union and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo.
