Montag
11
JUL

18.00 Uhr

Algorithms, Anti-Semitism, and Alleged Jewish Life in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Dr. Jürgen Schaflechner, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie

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The number of Jews living in Pakistan is clouded in mystery. While some say that all Jewish communities left the Islamic Republic a few decades ago, others claim that hundreds live disguised as Christians or Parsees. While Pakistan’s society had not exhibited significant anti Semitic tendencies until the 1960s, mixing criticism of Israel’s policies with anti Zionism and anti Semitic rhetoric has become normalized in Pakistan’s public discourse today.

In this paper, Dr Schaflechner is interested in how the coming of social media has further exacerbated this anti Semitic atmosphere and how it has brought new ways to reproduce the narrative of “the hidden Jew” in Pakistan. Especially one video, circulating on YouTube since 2016, has captured people's fantasies in Pakistan and abroad. It shows a group of around 150 people dressed in traditional Jewish praying attire and facing towards the direction of Jerusalem while singing the Shema Israel , one of the most central prayers in the Jewish faith. For many, this served as the ultimate proof that Jews lived in hiding in Pakistan. This paper is a part of the speaker's upcoming book on the politics of visibility of non Muslims living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan today.

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