Jewish group demands the Bible and Koran use ‘trigger warnings’ to highlight anti-Semitic passages in bid to combat attacks against Jews
The European Jewish Congress wants annotations in the margins to highlight anti-Jewish sentiments
A JEWISH group has demanded the Bible and the Koran have trigger warnings added to margins to highlight “anti-Semitic passages” in the holy texts.
The European Jewish Congress (EJC), an umbrella body for Jewish groups, has produced a “catalogue of policies to combat antisemitism”.
Several of the recommendations focus on passages in the Bible and Koran that have been used to promote hate against Jews.
They are calling for the sacred scriptures to have warnings added to their introductions and margins.
Some Bible passages, particularly in the Gospel of John, discus Jews in pejorative terms.
Parts of the New Testament and the Koran seem to blame Jews for Jesus’ death, and there are several negative remarks in the Koran about some Jewish people.
Most scholars agree that these passages should be seen as evidence of tensions between different groups that lived at the time, rather than as blanket statements about the Jewish people.
But some say they have been exploited or misinterpreted to justify the persecution of Jews down the centuries.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said in 2016: “It is a shameful truth that, through its theological teachings, the church compounded the spread of this [antisemitism] virus.”
The EJC says: “Translations of the New Testament, the Koran and other Christian or Muslim literatures need marginal glosses and introductions that emphasise continuity with Jewish heritage [and] warn readers about antisemitic passages in them.”
Alongside such passages in the Koran “cross-references should be added to parts of these scriptures that describe Jews positively”, it adds.
It also calls for all states to adopt a global definition of antisemitism and for online platforms to be held liable for antisemitic posts.
Moshe Kantor, president of the ECJ, said there was “a growing sense of despair and pessimism about the future” among many Jews.
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Muhammad Abdel Haleem, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of London, said the Koran “does not brand every Jew as bad” and contains “very favourable” passages about Jews.
But he said it also showed tensions between early Muslims and Jews, adding: “If someone wants to get involved in antisemitism or anti-Islamic behaviour, they will do it whether or not you add warnings and footnotes.”
Oxford theology lecturer Dr Christine Joynes went further saying: “The whole Bible needs a health warning to read it through the right critical lens and in historical context.”
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