Myth 1: The Byzantine Empire

In 476 AD the undefendable and mostly conquered Western Part of the Roman Empire officially stopped being “Roman” while the rest of the Empire survived. The Empire did not collapse- just like how Japan didn’t collapse in 1945, it just shrank and changed.

The real major “decline” for the Romans came over 500 years later. In 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert, the Roman Army was eviscerated by a Seljuk Army in a massive battle- leaving Anatolia defenseless. The heartland of the Roman Empire was conquered and the Empire never recovered. Finally, in 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, and Rome officially ACTUALLY fell.

Then comes Hieronymus Wolf, a German Historian who focuses on Roman History in the 1500s. He decided that the Western Roman Empire was the actual Roman Empire and that the Eastern Empire was a whole different thing. Why does he do this? Well, then the Germans can take credit for conquering the glorious Roman Empire instead of the hertic Muslims. Those Muslims just beat this weird Greek Kingdom- not Rome.

During the life of the Roman Empire, nobody ever called it the “Byzantine Empire”. The people called themselves Romans as did everyone else. Well, the Germans didn’t but that is a rabbit hole. Regardless do you see my point here? This name came AFTER the ROMAN Empire fell and was politically motivated. Yet to this day, we call it the Byzantine Empire.

Myth 2: History is Written by the victors

History is written by men, not victors. Do you know which historians contributed the most to Civil War history in the US? Southern pro-confederate historians. Do you know how many statues there are of Union Generals? A few dozen give or take. Compare that to the 1,800 Confederate statues.

• A quick reminder that the Confederacy BETRAYED the USA and started a war resulting in the deaths of over 600,000 people to ensure slavery survived and they have 1,800 statues honoring them.

Do you know what history books for WW2 are the most popular? Memoirs from German Generals. Indeed much of the post-war history about German heroism, grand Nazi rallies, and unbeatable tanks comes from Nazi propaganda.

History is subject to bias, not victory. That bias is not based on the “winner” but rather on the person writing the history. Why is Napoleon a legend if he lost and was hated by the winners? Why is Cleopatra a legend despite losing in the end? PEOPLE write history and they have bias relating to their own lives and experiences. Historians try to be objective and some do better than this than others.

After WW2 a book called “The Destruction of Dresden” was published by self-taught historian David Irving. In it, he cites a German death tally and a report from the Chief Medical Officer of Dresden to conclude that some 200,000 died in the bombing raid. Turns out that the “death tally” was a document Joseph Goebels himself faked to stir up anger and the witness wasn’t the “Chief” of anything and wasn’t even there- nor did he claim to be. Irving invented his sources and it turned out his bias was pro-Hitler.

Myth 3: Jews and Muslims always hate each other

Israel has sparked conflict between Jewish people and Muslims. After the initial conflict with Israel was formed the “Nakba” happened which was ethnic cleansing. Arab/Palestinians were forced from Israeli territory while Jews living in the rest of the Middle East were expelled as well. This conflict which started even earlier the 1948 continues today.

After the Arabs conquered the Levant and Spain they lived in peace with Jewish people for millennia. The ruling Islamic Empires considered them “dhimmi” which means “protected peoples”. History is complex- it was not perfect- but Jews could participate in the economy, and society, and practice their religion in Islamic territories.

• They were declared “Dhimmi” meaning “the people of the covenant”. This was a title given to Christians and Jews. They had to pay taxes but were also extended rights to practice their faith freely. Under Sharia law, a “Dhimmi” individual's life, property, and freedom of religion were protected (again by law) in exchange for loyalty to the Empire and the jizya tax. Here is a recent academically reviewed source covering this topic.
• I knew I’d get pushback here because “Muslims are extremists who hate non-Muslims” and “Jews think of Muslims as animals” so there is some…. baggage to work through.

During the German occupation of France in WW2 there were “Jew roundups” where Parisian and French Jews were located and sent to concentration camps or death camps.

Enter one Si Kaddour Benghabrit, a Muslim interpreter and religious leader who resided in Paris. During the war, he hid Jews in his Mosque during roundups and forged documents for fleeing Jews that certified them as Muslim. Since there is no physical difference between a French Jew, French Christian, or French Muslim (unless they were ethnically different) it worked. He helped some 500 Jews escape Nazi-occupied regions and forged hundreds of fake documents for victims.

Then we have Abdelkader Mesli who was an Imam in Paris who joined the French resistance. He worked with Benghabrit and took it a step further, producing fake certificates of Muslim faith for Jews fleeing the Nazis. He was caught and told to stop but refused. This resulted in his arrest and torture by the Gestapo where he refused to give up any names. He was sent to Dachau in 1944 and survived the war.

This whole “Jewish vs Muslim” thing is relatively new, very new indeed. We see that Muslim communities not in the Middle East are far more likely to have a favorable opinion of Jewish people than those in say Jordan or Lebanon.

Jews and Muslims lived side by side in peace since the very foundations of Islam. There is no reason that love and peace cannot return. It will take work by both sides but with that work, a lasting friendship could return to both of these incredible peoples.