Gisèle Littman (; born 1933), better known by her
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Bat Ye'or (, ''Daughter of the Nile''), is an Egyptian-born, British-Swiss
author and historian,
known for her promulgation of the
Eurabia conspiracy theory. She claims that
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, and its perceived
anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...
,
anti-Christian sentiment and
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
hold sway over European culture and politics.
Ye'or has also written about the history of Christian and Jewish
religious minorities living under Islamic governments, as part of which Ye'or has popularised the term ''
dhimmitude'' to define the treatment of religious minorities in such contexts.
Early life and education
Bat Ye'or was born into a middle-class
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
,
Kingdom of Egypt
The Kingdom of Egypt () was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Eg ...
in 1933. Her father was Italian and had fled Italy during
Mussolini's rule, and her mother was from France.
She and her parents fled Egypt in 1957 after the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
of 1956,
arriving in London as
stateless refugees.
In 1958, she attended the
UCL Institute of Archaeology and moved to Switzerland in 1960 to continue her studies at the
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...
,
but never finished her master's degree
[ and has never held an academic position.
She was married to the British historian and activist David Littman from September 1959 until his death in May 2012. Many of her publications and works were in collaboration with Littman. Her British citizenship dates from her marriage.][ They moved to Switzerland in 1960, where she has lived since,] and together had three children.
She has provided briefings to the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
and the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
and has given talks at major universities such as Georgetown, Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
, Yale, Brandeis, and Columbia.[
]
Dhimmitude
Ye'or is credited with popularising the neologism '' dhimmitude'', which she discusses in detail in '' Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide''. Shahram Akbarzadeh and Joshua M. Roose suggest she equates it with servitude. Ye'or initially credited assassinated Lebanese president-elect and Phalangist militia leader Bachir Gemayel with coining the term. Later she said that she invented it herself and inspired him to use it through a friend. The term itself is derived from " dhimmi", the adjectival form of the word ''dhimma'', which means "protection" in Arabic and refers to the historical notion of an "indefinitely renewed contract through which the Muslim community accords hospitality and protection to members of other revealed religions, on condition of their acknowledging the domination of Islam".
Ye'or describes dhimmitude as the "specific social condition that resulted from jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
," and as the "state of fear and insecurity" of "infidels" who are required to "accept a condition of humiliation." She believes that "the dhimmi condition can only be understood in the context of Jihad," and studies the relationship between the theological tenets of Islam and the hardships of Christians and Jews under Islamic rule in different times and places. The cause of jihad, she argues, "was fomented around the 8th century by Muslim theologians after the death of Muhammad and led to the conquest of large swathes of three continents over the course of a long history."
Bat Ye'or acknowledges that not all Muslims subscribe to so-called "militant jihad theories of society," while arguing that the role of sharia in the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam demonstrates that what she calls a perpetual war against those who won't submit to Islam is still an "operative paradigm" in Islamic countries.
Reception
According to journalist Adi Schwartz from ''Haaretz
''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'', the fact that she is not an academic and has never taught at any university, but has worked as an independent researcher, has, along with her opinions, made her a controversial figure. He quotes professor Robert S. Wistrich, head of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, who notes:
Lewis on another occasion, called the notion of Jewish ''"dhimmi"-tude'', i.e., of their "subservience and persecution and ill treatment" under Islamic rule, a "myth", which, just as the myth "of a golden age of equality, of mutual respect and cooperation", "contain significant elements of truth," with the "historic truth" being "in its usual place, somewhere in the middle between the extremes."[Bernard Lewis]
'The New Anti-Semitism'
, ''The American Scholar Journal'' – Volume 75 No. 1 Winter 2006 pp. 25–36.
British historian Martin Gilbert in his book ''A History of the Twentieth Century'' has called her "the acknowledged expert on the plight of Jews and Christians in Muslim lands" who "brought the issue of heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
continuing discrimination to a wide public."
Hans Jansen, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...
and MEP for Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom ( , PVV) is a right-wing populist, far-right political party in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders is the founder, party leader, and sole registered member of the party.
Founded in 2006 as the successor to Wilders' one-ma ...
, wrote in ''Middle East Quarterly
The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative 501(c)(3) think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who now serves as its chairman. Gregg Roman serves as director of the forum. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 19 ...
'' that "In 1985, Bat Ye'or offered Islamic studies a surprise with her book, ''The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam'', a convincing demonstration that the notion of a traditional, lenient, liberal, and tolerant Muslim treatment of the Jewish and Christian minorities is more myth than reality."
Mark R. Cohen said that Bat Ye'or "has made famous" the term ''dhimmitude,'' which he says is "misleading". He states that " may choose to employ" it keeping in mind that it "connotes protection (its meaning in Arabic) and that it guaranteed communal autonomy, relatively free practice of religion, and equal economic opportunities, as much as it signified inferior legal status."
Michael Sells, John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, argued that "by obscuring the existence of pre-Christian and other old, non-Christian communities in Europe as well as the reason for their disappearance in other areas of Europe, Bat Ye'or constructs an invidious comparison between the allegedly humane Europe of Christian and Enlightenment values and the ever-present persecution within Islam. Whenever the possibility is raised of actually comparing circumstances of non-Christians in Europe to non-Muslims under Islamic governance in a careful, thoughtful manner, Bat Ye'or forecloses such comparison."
In a review of ''The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude'', the American historian Robert Brenton Betts commented that the book dealt with Judaism at least as much as with Christianity, that the title was misleading and the central premise flawed. He said: "The general tone of the book is strident and anti-Muslim. This is coupled with selective scholarship designed to pick out the worst examples of anti-Christian behavior by Muslim governments, usually in time of war and threats to their own destruction (as in the case of the deplorable Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
of 1915). Add to this the attempt to demonize the so-called Islamic threat to Western civilization and the end-product is generally unedifying and frequently irritating."
Sidney Griffith, the head of the department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures at the Catholic University of America wrote in a review of ''Decline of Eastern Christianity'' that Ye'or has "raised a topic of vital interest"; adding, however, that the "theoretical inadequacy of the interpretive concepts of jihad and dhimmitude, as they are employed here", and the "want of historical method
Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be draw ...
in the deployments of the documents which serve as evidence for the conclusions reached in the study" serve as dual barriers. He goes on to say " uotationsare presented out of context, with no analysis or explanation. One has the impression that in their bulk they are simply meant to undergird the contentions made in the first part of the book", concluding that thus Ye'or has "written a polemical tract, not responsible historical analysis."
In a review of ''The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam'', City University of New York
The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
Distinguished Professor of History Chase F. Robinson writes,
According to the American scholar Joel Beinin, Bat Ye'or exemplifies the "neo-lachrymose" perspective on Egyptian Jewish history. According to Beinin, this perspective has been "consecrated" as "the normative Zionist interpretation of the history of Jews in Egypt."
Robert Spencer, an American anti-Islamic polemicist, described her as "the pioneering scholar of dhimmitude, of the institutionalized discrimination and harassment of non-Muslims under Islamic law". He argued that she had turned this area, which he believed the "Middle East studies establishment" has hitherto been afraid of or indifferent to, into a field of academic study.
Irshad Manji describes her as "a scholar who dumps cold water on any dreamy view of how Muslims have historically dealt with the 'other'."
Eurabia conspiracy theory
Ye'or's books ''Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis'' (2005) and ''Europe, Globalization, and the Coming of the Universal Caliphate'' (2011) originated the Eurabia conspiracy theory, which alleged a relationship from the 1970s onwards between the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(previously the European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
) and the Arab states.
Reception
The notion of "Eurabia" has been dismissed as a conspiracy theory by academics and other commentators. For example, writing in '' Race & Class'' in 2006, author and freelance journalist Matt Carr states, "In order to accept Ye'or's ridiculous thesis, it is necessary to believe not only in the existence of a concerted Islamic plot to subjugate Europe, involving all Arab governments, whether 'Islamic' or not, but also to credit a secret and unelected parliamentary body with the astounding ability to transform all Europe's major political, economic and cultural institutions into subservient instruments of 'jihad' without any of the continent's press or elected institutions being aware of it."
Carr argues that Bat Ye'or is the "main inspiration" for many conspiracy theories current on the far-right. Furthermore, Carr notes that " ripped of its Islamic content, the broad contours of Ye'or's preposterous thesis n ''Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis''recall the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories of the first half of the twentieth century and contemporary notions of the ' Zionist Occupation Government' prevalent in far-right circles in the US". He notes further that Bat Ye'or's analysis is driven by a contempt of "Islam's celebrated cultural achievements" and a view of Islam as a "perennially barbaric, parasitic and oppressive religion".
In a ''The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'' interview, referring to ''Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis'' the Jewish British historian Martin Gilbert stated "I've read Bat Yeor's book. I know her and have a great respect for her sense of anguish… I'm saying that her book – which is 100 percent accurate – is an alarm call that will ultimately prevent what she's warning about from taking place."
Bruce Bawer, writing in '' The Hudson Review'' on ''Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis'', wrote that " book explains the European Muslim situation, in all its complexity, more ably," " 's hard to overstate this book's importance… Eurabia is eye-opening and required reading for anyone seriously interested in understanding Europe's current predicament and its probable fate."
According to Daniel Pipes, "Bat Ye'or has traced a nearly secret history of Europe over the past thirty years, convincingly showing how the Euro-Arab Dialogue has blossomed from a minor discussion group into the engine for the continent's Islamization. In delineating this phenomenon, she also provides the intellectual resources with which to resist it.
According to historian , "future historians will one day regard her coinage of the term 'Eurabia' as prophetic. Those who wish to live in a free society must be eternally vigilant. Bat Ye'or's vigilance is unrivalled." Jewish British writer David Pryce-Jones called her a "Cassandra
Cassandra or Kassandra (; , , sometimes referred to as Alexandra; ) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecy, prophecies but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is e ...
, a brave and far-sighted spirit."[ Pryce-Jones, David.]
Captive continent
", ''National Review'', 9 May 2005
Ye'or's Eurabia theory gathered additional media attention when it was quoted and praised by the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway massacre Anders Behring Breivik in his manifesto released on the day of the attacks. Ye'or expressed regret that Breivik took inspiration from her writings. Breivik has later admitted that he in reality is a neo-Nazi, who only in later years exploited counter-jihad writings.
In a ''Haaretz
''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'' profile, Adi Schwartz likened her book on Eurabia to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...
.
"Eurabia: The Euro Arab Axis" has been cited as a probable inspiration for Renaud Camus's Great Replacement conspiracy theory.
Counter-jihad
The international counter-jihad
Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...
movement developed in the 2000s, influenced by Ye'or's Eurabia thesis. In 2007, she held the keynote speech at the inaugural international counter-jihad conference in Brussels. Ye'or also sits on the board of advisors of the International Free Press Society, identified as a "key organization" of the counter-jihad movement.
Works
Books
* ''Understanding Dhimmitude'', 2013, RVP Press, (paperback).
* ''Europe, Globalization, and the Coming of the Universal Caliphate'', 16 September 2011, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press,
* ''Verso il Califfato Universale: Come l'Europa è diventata complice dell'espansionismo musulmano'', Lindau, Torino: May 2009. ("Toward the Universal Caliphate: How Europe Became an Accomplice of Muslim Expansionism")
* '' Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis'', 2005, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press,
* '' Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide'', 2001, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, ; (with David Littman, translated by Miriam Kochan)
* '' The Decline of Eastern Christianity: From Jihad to Dhimmitude;seventh-twentieth century'', 1996, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, ; (paperback).
* '' The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam'', 1985, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, ; (paperback). (with David Maisel, Paul Fenton and David Littman; foreword by Jacques Ellul)
* ''Les Juifs en Egypte'', 1971, Editions de l'Avenir, Geneva (in French, title translates as "The Jews in Egypt")
Book chapters
* 17 chapters in Robert Spencer (ed.), '' The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims'', Prometheus Books, 2005. .
* "The Dhimmi Factor in the Exodus of Jews from Arab Countries" in: Malka Hillel Shulewitz (ed.), ''The Forgotten Millions. The Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands'', Cassell, London/New York 1999; Continuum, 2001, (pp. 33–51).
* "A Christian Minority. The Copts in Egypt" in W. A. Veehoven (ed.), ''Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. A World Survey.'' 4 vols. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1976, .
Notes
External links
Dhimmi.org
an
Dhimmitude.org
websites maintained by Bat Ye'or
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ye'or, Bat
1933 births
Living people
20th-century British non-fiction writers
20th-century British women writers
20th-century pseudonymous writers
20th-century Swiss non-fiction writers
20th-century Swiss women writers
21st-century British non-fiction writers
21st-century British women writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century Swiss non-fiction writers
21st-century Swiss women writers
Alumni of University College London
Anti-Arabism
British conspiracy theorists
British counter-jihad activists
British critics of Islam
British people of Egyptian-Jewish descent
British people of French-Jewish descent
British people of Italian-Jewish descent
British political commentators
British women historians
British Zionists
Egyptian emigrants to England
Egyptian Sephardi Jews
Eurabia
Jewish British writers
Jewish women writers
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Pseudonymous writers on Islam
Swiss conspiracy theorists
Swiss critics of Islam
Swiss women historians
Swiss Zionists
University of Geneva alumni
Writers from Cairo
Writers on the Middle East
Writers on antisemitism