On September 18, 2024, Qatari journalist Ibrahim Bin Hashim Al-Sada published an anti-American and antisemitic article in the daily Al-Sharq, in which he outlined a sequel to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, featuring the Jewish moneylender Shylock.
In Al-Sada's story, Shylock's uncle Sam advises him to leave Venice for the Holy Land – an allusion to the state of Israel as a imperialist American project aimed at taking over the region. According to the story, Uncle Sam's real goal is to get rid of Shylock, i.e., of the Jewish "nuisance" that is a burden on the U.S. and the West – a claim prevalent in both Western and Arab antisemitic discourse.[1] In the Holy Land Shylock, acting on Uncle's Sam's advice, sows discord among the locals and encourages corruption in order to attain wealth and further Uncle Sam's arms trade. He does so with the help of "agents" and "fools" who, seeking personal gain, come to trust him and his "cursed" uncle more than they trust "their own brothers in the Holy Land" – an allusion to Arab countries that hold ties with Israel. Al-Sada predicts that Allah will punish these countries.
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The following are translated excerpts from the article:[2]
"One of the masterpieces of the English writer William Shakespeare is the play The Merchant of Venice, which takes place in that Italian city. It features Shylock, the money-hungry Jew, who accumulates a vast fortune by lending money at exorbitant interest rates. Antonio, a young Christian, is his sworn enemy, just because Antonio consents to give interest-free loans to anyone who approaches him. Shylock therefore waits for an opportunity to take revenge on Antonio.
"The truth is that this play had additional scenes, but the author died suddenly before he could write them down. After Shylock failed to take revenge on Antonio, and was exposed and condemned by society, his uncle Sam advised him to emigrate from Venice to the 'Holy City' and start over. He gave him a roadmap to ensure his success and advantage over his rivals—in exchange for [achieving] two goals: first, opening up new markets for his uncle's trade, particularly in his arms trade, and second, maintaining a partnership [with Uncle Sam] in interest-based lending so as to expand their control and influence over the centers of economy and wealth in the Holy Land. However, Sam's unspoken goal was [actually] to rid himself permanently of the nuisance that was Shylock, along with his demands and provocations.
"[Sam's] roadmap was a magic key for Shylock. He found in it everything he needed to devise plans that allowed him to confidently tear his rivals in the Holy Land to pieces and gain exclusive control over everything.
"His uncle's first piece of advice was to thwart any attempt by the local merchants to unite as a bloc, and to fight any honorable merchant who offered interest-free loans. Accordingly, Shylock befriended the corrupt merchants, supported them, and burnished their image in Uncle Sam's eyes, while fighting the good [merchants], demonizing them, causing others to hate them, and inciting others to boycott them and shun them.
"Uncle Sam's second piece of advice was to sow conflict among the inhabitants of the Holy Land by exploiting the political, religious, sectarian, and ethnic divisions that exist in any human society. [He urged Shylock] to fan these disputes and transform them from natural disagreements into conflicts, hatred, polarization and armed struggles that would undermine stability – in order to create fertile ground for the flourishing of trade in capital and in weapons.
"Shylock used every possible means to achieve his goals. He recruited armies of agents from among the powerless and the fools among the [local] merchants, dignitaries and religious figures, using their love of money, power and fame, as well as their ignorance and short-sightedness, to sow division among the inhabitants of the Holy Land. [As a result] the flags of unity and peace are lowered to half-mast, while the flags of nationalism, partisanship and sectarianism flew high. Lies become interlaced with the truth, and hatred among people reached a point where they trusted Shylock and his cursed uncle more than they trusted their own brothers in the Holy Land. These agents were fully willing to sacrifice everything for their personal and partisan gain.
"The people's condition grew worse and the people of truth no longer had a market or merchandise. The voice of falsehood grew stronger and [its] platforms proliferated. The voice of truth was silenced and there were no buyers for what it promoted. People began to draw close to Shylock, as individuals or groups, and their mouthpieces said, 'I shall appease you until you are satisfied.' Allah's words in the Quran [5:52] were true of the negligent among the merchants of the land: 'But you will see those in whose hearts is a disease hastening towards them [i.e., towards the Jews and Christians], saying: We fear lest a calamity should befall us; but it may be that Allah will bring the victory or a punishment from Himself, so that they shall be regretting on account of what they hid in their souls.'[3] This is what Shakespear omitted to say, as God is my witness."
[1] See section titled "The Jews Are A Burden For Humanity" in MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 1634 - Antisemitism, Holocaust Denial In Qatari Press – April 28, 2022.
[2] Al-Sharq (Qatar), September 18, 2024.
[3] This Quranic verse comes directly after a verse [5:51] that cautions the Muslims against forming an alliance with the Jews and the Christians: "O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people."
