Balkan nationalists pivoted from antisemitism to pro-Israel anti-Muslim politics

Evidence

By this period—the 1990s—both Serb and Croat nationalists were more likely to identify with Israel on an anti-Muslim basis than they were to indulge in antisemitism. Anti-Semitic statements in Franjo Tudjman’s 1989 work ‘Wastelands of Historical Truth’ probably reflected his background as a general in the army of the fiercely pro-Arab Yugoslavia of the Non-Aligned Movement, and were edited when the work appeared in the 1990s in English translation. Although the more extreme elements among Serb and Croat nationalists in the 1990s did sometimes express antisemitic views, they were generally astute enough to know the propaganda value of not being seen to be antisemitic, and they did try to appeal to Jewish opinion—though not very successfully. — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 1083

Categorization

• XREF: Charts the same ‘enemy of my enemy’ triangle the chapter traces elsewhere: the move from anti-Jewish to anti-Muslim solidarity with Israel as a strategic pivot.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in…, 1083