The Hebrew tribe and religion of ancient times was embroiled in a running series of conflicts with their Arab neighbors, over multiple centuries. There was frequent killing of citizens when a town or settlement was taken. Multiple atrocities were committed by tribe against tribe, and many of them are documented in the Bible. That kind of behavior and disgust directed toward other cultures is pretty much what we have come to expect from a primitive society. Humans have gradually learned that if you work together, all can prosper and defend themselves; but life was still, at that ancient time, small group against small group, and constant warfare as each group culture defended itself and/or aggressed against its neighbors.
Specific antipathy towards the Hebrew people and their religion is a phenomenon of the Christian era. After Emperor Constantine designated Christianity as the protected religion of the Roman Empire, in the fourth century, that hatred has shown remarkable resilience and strength over the last 18 centuries. It has even shown resurgent force and violence during this century. The obvious question is, why? Let’s trace the history of this enduring streak of violence in our global history. Then let’s pose an answer to that question of strong hatred directed toward Jews over multiple centuries. That answer will also contain a pathway for the Hebrew people and religion to end that hatred directed toward them, should they choose to use it.
After the Nicene Council in 325 CE, all Jews are expelled from Jerusalem.
In 415, all Jews are expelled from Alexandria.
From 608-618, massacres of Jews occur all across the Byzantine Empire.
From the ninth century on, throughout medieval Europe, Jews were denied citizenship, civil liberties and religious freedom. Visigoth kings and Muslim rulers forced Jews to either convert to Christianity, or suffer enslavement, or death.
In 1099, Jews fought side by side with Muslim soldiers to defend Jerusalem from the Christian crusaders. All Jews were massacred after Jerusalem fell.
In 1146, 100,000 Jews are massacred in Morocco, and 120,000 in Marrahesh.
In 1290, all Jews are expelled from England by King Edward I
In 1298, 100,000 Jews are massacred, often by burning at the stake, during civil wars in Austria.
From 1348 to 1351, Jews were falsely accused of causing the Black Plague. A series of violent attacks against Jewish communities and massacres followed. 100,000 Jews were burned at the stake.
In 1354, 12,000 Jews are massacred during civil wars in Spain.
In 1478, The Spanish Inquisition leads to the death of 5,000 Jews.
In 1493, 37,000 Jews are expelled from Sicily.
In 1543, Martin Luther posts his eight point plan to get rid of all Jews, either by conversion or expulsion. He advocates burning their synagogues and schools, razing and destroying all their homes.
In 1742, all Jews are expelled from the Russian Empire.
In 1917, in the wake of the Russian Revolution, half a million Jews are turned out of their homes. Up to 70,000 are killed. Tens of thousands of Jews are killed in Poland and Belarus.
Beginning in 1933, anyone in Germany suspected of Jewish heritage is deported to concentration camps. Synagogues are burned and Jewish businesses looted. Six million Jews are exterminated in those killing centers, 1.5 million of them children.
After World War II, Jewish armed personnel force 70,000 Muslims from their homes, in order to establish the state of Israel. That unethical act creates intense hatred directed toward the State of Israel and the Hebrew religion from all other Arab states.
In 2018, anti-Semitic assaults doubled in the United States of America, including a Synagogue shooting massacre.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, a Semite is any person of southeastern Asian derivation, which in Biblical times included Babylonians, Assyrians, Canaanites and Phoenicians. In modern times, it refers to those who speak Afro-Asiatic languages, which includes the Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and Ethiopian languages. Modern day use of the term “antisemitism”, however, has come to mean antipathy and hatred directed specifically toward the State of Israel, its Jewish inhabitants, the Hebrew religion, and any human, anywhere, who adheres to that faith.
There is a reason why this particular religious state and its people have been the subject of hatred throughout the centuries. It is because, as the basic tenet of their religion, they claim to be the chosen race of the one and only God of the universe. They claim the divine right to take whatever land they believe this imagined Supreme Ruler of the Universe has given them. All the rest of humanity has the right to look at this claim with derision. This egotistical claim of divine chosen appointment is pure anthropomorphic mythology. There is no Great Divinity who gives any human rights of domination or property over other humans. Our universe runs on the laws of chance and probability. It is entirely up to us as to whether or not we share property, responsibility and respect with each other, so that we can survive as a species. Equality of opportunity ceases to exist when one human group claims superiority or chosen status over all other humans.
There is an avenue through which the Jewish faith can end this centuries-long hatred. They can believe that their imagined divinity did not choose them to dominate over all other humans, but chose them to set an ethical example for all other humans. Whenever they practice that change of direction, antisemitism will end. Until then, antisemitism will continue unabated, till the end of human time.
Continued violence against those of the Jewish faith cannot be condoned. Strong opposition must be continued, however, against any human group which claims superior status over all other humans. Democracy and the advancement of our civilization depend upon our developing equality of status and equality of opportunity, regardless of race, color, creed, sex or religion. Give it up, Judaism. Superiority is tearing us all apart. Respect for all other humans, and all other life, is what can save us.