Anti-semitism/Anti-judaism and Discrimination (due Fri., Nov. 19)

[freemanjud]

Anti-Semitism/Anti-Judaism and Discrimination
What’s the Same? What’s Different? And Why so Virulent?

Among the populations we have been looking at this year, the Jews are yet another group to be “othered” or marginalized by society.

Anti-judaism, often referred to more broadly as anti-semitism, has a long and deep history. It is not all that different, in many, many ways, from the discrimination against and marginalization of other targeted groups during the past several centuries. We know—we’ve been studying some of them—African-Americans, Asians, homosexuals and lesbians, the Irish, Hispanics and Latinos, Arab-Americans, as just several of many, many examples we could explore. There are numerous similarities in the patterns of behavior directed at these groups.

We also know that anti-semitism has led to some of the worst violence in history. This was true for many centuries and certainly culminated in the Holocaust in this past century. And anti-semitism is, as you will have seen, alive and well throughout the world today. So too are other forms of discrimination.

First, can you identify how patterns of behavior that result in anti-semitism may be linked to other forms of discrimination toward other groups that we have studied? Don’t simply generalize—be sure that you support your views with concrete and specific examples.

And second, I would like you to speculate on the following: why did anti-semitism, of all of these, become so virulent in the early twentieth century that it would have led to genocide? Here I am not asking you to discuss the Holocaust, the Nazis, or Hitler in any depth—we haven’t begun our study of that yet—but I am asking you to wrestle with the general issues of “why” behind such an intense desire to eliminate one particular group of people. Was there something “different” or particularly distinctive about anti-semitism that, you suspect, led to the horrific events of the twentieth century?

To learn more about present-day forms of anti-Semitism, here are two options:
go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=1529391
Just beneath the headline, there is a line marked “listen.” Click on that. Depending on your computer, you may need to download Real Audio to hear this.
Listen to the program and take a look at the photo gallery on this main page afterwards.

Or you can read about globalism, globalization and the so-called “Jewish problem.” Go to http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/111303FP_A-S.shtml
It’s worth considering—and referencing in your post—what you think ought to be done about anti-Semitism today. Is there any way to diminish these views? Or to prevent people from acting on them?

[LouieJosie]

First, I do not know exactly what you mean by how anti-semitic behavior can be linked to that of other discriminatory behavior, but I can tell you how it is similar to those. It, like other types of discrimination, is based around one characterisiic of a group. For gays, it is their sexuality, for blacks it is their skin color, for Jews it is their religion.

The behavior of anti-Semitics reminds me most of those opposed to homosexuality in two respects. First, it involves, for many, religion. Many of those do not like gays because it goes against their religious beliefs, and most of those who do not like Jews have such animostiy because they are in fact Jewish. Secondly because those who are fully homophobes/anti-homosexual and anti-semitics tend to be extraordinarily radical, as far as my observation has been. I suppose it could be argued that those who chained the Africans up and threw them down to the bottom of the ocean to shed weight in Amistad were somewhat radical, but it is my opinion that those men were not necessarily racist but were more so ignorant and really truly thought those people were animals; I feel as though that type of racism did not fully develop into "racism" until those people were in the presence of the white slave holders. If they thought the Africans were animals, which they clearly did based on their treatment, then in essence, they were not being racist, but once slavery had existed for years and the blacks were in the presence of their slaveholders, who must have by that point realized that they were human being, then it was racism. The Nazi and other Jew-haters knew that Jewish people were people during the Holocaust, they just thought that they are extraordinarily inferior people. They treated them like animals out of spite while the slaveholders treated the Africans like animals actually thinking they were animals, at least at first.

My theory as to why anit-Semitism became so virulent is because it involves religion first and foremost and I think that religion is something that people can get very passionate, protective, and ignorant about. I think that religion is the world's most controversial institution because those who are very religious believe only what they believe and refuse to accept any other beliefs which can easily lead to disagreement, clashes, wars, genocides. I heard something interesting today about Buddhism, that it should not be technically considered a religion but instead a really big philosophy with lots of followers. I then heard that there has never in known history been a war caused by clashes between Buddhist sects or Buddhists and Christians/Jews/Muslims, etc. Buddhism has no g-d, only doctrines, goals, theories. It has no restrictions, it simply says that if you are gluttenous and greedy and desirous and do not want to be enlightened, well then you are not really Buddhist and you will not reach enlightenment, and that is your choice. It is my opinion that religions, with the g-ds to be believed in, social classes, restrictions, strong and necessary loyalties only cause problems and disagreement, something this world does not need. Why is Bush fighting "terrorism"? I'm willing to bet that, yeah...he's worried our country is in danger, and yeah...he thinks Osama Bin Laden is a jerk, and yeah...he wants oil, but also he thinks, like so many other people lately, that all Arabs, specifically Muslims, are terrorists. Hmmmm...sounds like religious discrimination to me.

[spongebobsquare]

Anti-Semitism is a very big problem in the world today. I believe that it can be coupled with the problems that Israel is also going through.

While listening to that first story, I heard many times that Muslims attacked Israeli families and students. I think that people don’t like the public policy (from the second link)
"Rising hostility toward Israel is also a significant factor. The 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifada was more violent than its 1987 predecessor, as helicopter gun ships and suicide bombers supplanted rubber bullets and stones. This second Intifada also marked the emergence of the “Al-Jazeera” effect, with satellite television beaming brutal images of the conflict, such as the death of 12-year-old Palestinian Muhammed al-Dura, into millions of homes worldwide. In Europe, Muslim extremists took out their fury on Jews and Jewish institutions."

People assume that since many Israeli’s are Jewish (I know that is a stereotype) and that since Israel’s government is harsh, so is Israel’s population, mostly Jewish. Just because I am American, I don’t think people who dislike American government should dislike me. I live here, I don’t agree with everything the government does. The same goes for the Jews in Israel, don’t hate them because of their association to the government. I fear that many irrational people don’t take the time to differentiate between the government and its people; they just rush to conclusions.

Originally Posted by LouieJosie

My theory as to why anit-Semitism became so virulent is because it involves religion first and foremost and I think that religion is something that people can get very passionate, protective, and ignorant about.

People do get very heated about religion, and thinking back to the Crusades, the Jews have been being persecuted. Religion was the reason they were persecuted then, as it was during the Holocaust too.

I think people need to realize that just because they have different beliefs than Christians, doesn’t mean they are bad people. They have been long enough persecuted and abused; they need to be left alone. Everyone goes through a period of abuse, but the Jewish people have taken far too much abuse—it needs to end.

[HeadOfTheMeadow]

I agree with most of what LouieJosie said. I think that a lot of the anti-Semitic feelings that are around today and were around in the past are caused by religion. For instance, in the Family Guy episode we watched they said “even though they killed my God,” and for that lyric the episode was banned. I personally had never heard that “the Jews killed Jesus” before, but as I was reading the article in Ms. Freeman’s post (second link) I saw it again:

“This crude caricature of Israelis as slaughterers of the innocent soon morphed into the age-old “blood libel”—as when the Italian newspaper La Stampa published a cartoon depicting the infant Jesus threatened by Israeli tanks imploring, ‘Don’t tell me they want to kill me again.’”

This discrimination because of religion can also be linked to Arab-Americans and homosexuals. Like LouieJosie said, the attacks of 9/11 were done by terrorists. And now all of a sudden Middle Eastern people = Muslims = terrorists. This is in not completely true. Yes, some Middle Eastern people are Muslim, and yes some of these people are terrorists. But to make an assumption that all Middle Eastern people are terrorists, or that all Muslims are terrorists, is just wrong.

Also, people seem to not like homosexuals because it is against the Bible. I think Ms. Freeman made it clear last week that no where in the Bible does it specifically say that homosexuality is a sin. The Bible says sex is for procreation. And I think we all know that sex happens without the purpose of procreation. So what does it matter if you are the same or a different sex than your partner – the Bible says it’s wrong anyway. I think that people basing their views on homosexuality solely on the Bible or other religious books isn’t fair because there are very few people who can live their lives based solely on those holy books.

The only reason I can come up with as to why anti-Semitism became so virulent is because it had been around so long. As Spongebobsquare said, the Jews had been persecuted before. Also in the article on the second link, it also mentioned how Jews were often used as “scapegoats” for economic difficulties. I think the reason Jews were discriminated against in the early twentieth century is due in large part to the economic distress the world was in, and the common feeling that the Jews work with money so the failure of the economy is obviously their fault. WRONG! But some people felt this way and took it to the extremes.

[EVELYNroar54]

As far as the patterns of anti-Semitism and other groups, they are pretty much the same. There are only slight but obvious differences. For example what LouieJosie said about religion. Religion plays a key role in discrimination for some people. The rallies with Fred Phelps against Homosexuals had signs saying “God Hates Gays.” Plus the situation with gay marriage, people say that it’s against God’s will to have two men or two women be intimate with each other. With Jewish people, they supposedly killed God. Therefore some hate Jewish people because they “put Jesus to death.” They are “enemies” of God.


There’s also the placement of blame. When many people were out of work, they blamed Jewish people for taking all the jobs. Same with the Irish in America. People were losing jobs, and needed some group to blame.

For the second question, I don’t really know why it became so virulent in the twentieth century. I think it was just that one person had such strong feelings that it eventually led to genocide. It was more reliant on one person to put out the idea and people went along with it.

[LAB315]

As the two previous posters have pointed out, the main source of anti-Semitism has always been religion, a subject that has led to much intolerance and violence. Judaism is older than both Islam and Christianity; it contributed much to both faiths, being the first monotheistic religion. However, for as long as there have been Jews, there has existed anti-Jewish prejudice.

Much of this stems from othering, an overwhelming fear of the unknown – things that guide all irrational ethnic or religious bigotry. Jews lived in their own tight-knit communities, spoke their own language, and had their own distinct set of rituals. They were persecuted first by invaders like the Egyptians and the Romans. Christians blamed them for the death of Jesus, and they were later persecuted for denying his being the Messiah. Dispersing to parts of Europe and Asia, they faced still more hatred, which would flare up throughout the centuries. Anti-Semitism reared its ugly head during the Bubonic Plague. Obliquely referred to in “Schindler’s List”, the Jews were blamed for the disease, accused of poising wells. The Dreyfus Affair in France exposed a nasty undercurrent of anti-Semitism, which some would argue has not subsided. (The most recent spate of vandalism has been blamed on Muslim youth, but the government has been lax in stopping it.) Hatred of Jews, molded into state policy by National Socialists, was not invented by Hitler, rather it has existed in various forms for millennia.

Anti-Semitism in Germany was taken to such disgusting extremes for a variety of reasons. In a time of deep economic depression, Jews were still relatively well off, after years of working jobs banned by the Church, like banking. Hitler pinned issues of inflation, incurred during reckless wartime spending, on an international Jewish conspiracy. Prominent eugenics theories of the time, fabricated in America, provided a scientific backbone to his policies. Jews, according to these philosophies, were less than human. They would taint the glorious Nordic bloodline of all true Teutonic people, thus ensuring their downfall. Convinced they were being suppressed by an inferior people, it was not difficult to lead average Germans down a path of mass-murder. Anti-Semitism, which has been around as long as Judaism, has its roots, like all other hatred we have studied, in a fear of what is different.

(LouieJosie, I strongly disagree with many aspects of your post. I do not think any religion is more or less inclined to violence than any other. Somewhere along the line, the message of every religion has been warped to suit the needs of zealous madmen. Buddhists have in fact fought other faiths, a clash between Muslims and Buddhists in Thailand is occurring as I write. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3981159.stm Religion is not the problem, the adherents sometimes are. As for Bush’s War on Terror, why it popped up in a thread on anti-Semitism is questionable, but he fights Osama bin Laden and other ‘jerks’ not in the name of Christianity or oil, but because they pose a threat to his nation. Call it religious discrimination if you want, but we have not made this campaign a crusade, despite the hopes of radical Muslims everywhere. Bin Laden issued a fatwa against every American and Jew, he is a textbook anti-Semite, and a mass murderer, not the victim of discrimination.)

[waduppeeps]

Anti-semitism is created by religion, ignorance, stupidity (as in not having sufficient knowledge of the world), propaganda, fear and jealousy.

Religious and political propaganda was always the catalysts for mass hatred against Jews. The overall population is extremely gullible and miseducated from a young age and there are only a small percentage of people who deviate from the norm. When you go to church, and your priest tells you about how the Jews killed your god, about how Jesus is denied his rightful name as messiah to Jewish people, and when you hear your parents say,"THose Jews keep on destroying our jobs and their greedy and unscrupulous nature corrupts society", YOu start to believe how horrible these Jewish people really are. Unless you have read many books on history, strongly disagreed with your parents' harsh and threatening ideologies, or know many Jewish people who are nice, YOU will hate them with the fiery passion that the overall population had during WWII and you will be like one of the Anti-semetics around the globe today.

Religion was created to manipulate the masses to work and follow the people who were smarter/cunning than the rest. For instance, 5,000 years ago, I could say to someone, give me your goat and then the rain god will help you, and sure enough that person will hand it over. In all the uncivilized cultures, there are always sacrifices to the gods, intense superstition, human persecution based on religious/spiritual beliefs(this is the worst), torture(also very bad). The whole entire tribe or clan all believe in certain spiritual beliefs which if a civilized person from the world today sees, would scream in horror and call it an act of barbarianism. Imagine, watching "witches" burn, seeing children being sacrificed to the "gods", witnessing the spiritual leaders hoard money while everyone else is starving, and the list goes on. Most of the problems today, all stem from religion(spiritual beliefs) in one form or another. People fight endlessly for a plot of land. Doesn't anyone ever wonder, is it worth it? to live your only life on earth as a human and waste it on killing, bombing, and beheading people for the sake of a god?

My views on Anti-semitism is pity, because I know it will never change as long as there is religion. Somewhere, people are planning bomb plans. In another place, someone is creating a radical group aimed at targeting Jews. The whole hatred of Jews is just allllll about religion if you really think about it. The economic success only plays a small role. People are jealous, but it is the Jewish part that really makes them want to kill and murder. it is so sad that all of the world does not understand that killing is a serious crime, even if they belong to a certain religious sect you really hate. People who buy into the whole "Jewish people are the culprits" are unfortunate to not have had the education and the living conditions people in other countries have. They are tricked by their religious leaders and politicians because they truly do not have enough unbiased knowledge to understand what is right and what is wrong. That is why education is really the most important thing in life. if you do not have it, society becomes chaos and everyone just follows a viscious cycle of hate and manipulation.

[GreyDaze]

People aren’t born anti-Semitic or racist or judgmental—they grow to be this way. In most cases I think anti- Semitism follows other discriminations and prejudices that you develop on your own. Meaning that your parents didn’t say things like “Jews are evil” every day to you…you formed those opinions on your own from media exposure or your environment outside of home. I only stress the outside of home part because when you are young you pretty much believe everything mommy and daddy tell you, so if they tell you every day that Jews are evil you will accept it as completely true.

As others mentioned, religion plays an enormous role in discrimination. In fact, I think most people use religion as an excuse to hate others because of something that’s different about them. God says “no” is always an easy way to defend your argument.

I was really surprised to hear about all the Israeli oppression in France from the radio piece in the first link. Of course there are major problems in Palestine and Israel right now, but I’m really surprised that Jews in France, Jews that were born in France, are being harassed by Muslims. It’s one thing to be against what is going on in Israel/Palestine right now, but, as silly as this sounds, what right do you have to take it out on people who have absolutely nothing to do with it! For gods sake, it’s not like they are even Israeli immigrants, maybe their parents were, but they are French born.

Something else that came up in the clip was the Holocaust memorial that is being built in Germany. An elderly man interviewed was concerned with how the children in Germany would deal with it. How would they “interpret” it? Hmm…how about as a long over due memorial for the millions slaughtered for not having the right nose or hair color…Many countries, their governments that is, have done things that they are not proud of but can at least admit their mistakes. It’s part of your history and you cant deny it, but you can acknowledge your mistakes and attempt to make peace and move on with life.

[cometaim81012]

Last night, as I discussed Schindler's List with my parents at dinner, my dad brought up how Jews are still going through discrimination and hatred to this day when it comes to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. I had no idea that places in France, Germany, etc. are still so hostile towards Jewish people.

The Jewish people were a threat in Germany. I believe that is how others saw them. They were a smart, wealthy group that were disliked. Envy and jealously can cause people do dislike others. I dont know how religion played a role and if it did, but it only helped the Nazis cause if it did. The Jews killed Jesus (supposedly according to Peter from Family Guy). Unlike my peers I believe that religion didnt play such a key role, and pure hatred played a much bigger role. If one was to search for a group unlike others during the early 1900s in Europe, one could easily distinguish that Jews and Christians were opposites. So, the Nazis who happened to be Christians decided that the Jews were prospering and doing too well in their country, and wanted them out. So that sparked the largest genocide in the history of the world.

Now, Jews are problems because they want their holy land. Jews, as stated in the NPR clip, are probably more loyal to Israel than they are to their own country they live in. Why shouldnt they be? Their friends and family were killed viciously by their own countries, so they should go flock to their motherland/holy land.


To conclude this puzzling post, I must say that I agree with EVELYNroar54 because I am dumbfounded about this.
For the second question, I don’t really know why it became so virulent in the twentieth century. I think it was just that one person had such strong feelings that it eventually led to genocide. It was more reliant on one person to put out the idea and people went along with it.

[Lloyd]

I never really thought about the all the anti-semiticism going on in the rest of the world. I knew it has existed but I didn't realize what a big issue it was.

Yes, religion play a role in anti-semiticism, but not entirely. Christians can hate them because they apparently betrayed Jesus, but also many stereotypes add to further discrimination of Jews. Stereotypes like Jews are cheap, have a lot of money, control investment banks, media. Stereotypes link Jewish discrimination to all ther types of discrimination. People will generalize a group of people and those generlatization mgiht offend them, or seem weird to them, or they just draw reasons to hate a group because of how they percieve them. Many anti-semitists may not hate Jews for their religion, they may also think they have weird dietary rules to follow, some have to dress a certain way. Things like are similar to people hating blacks becasue maybe they generlize them all as thugs and criminals and are responsible for high crime rates.

I really don't understand why they is so much hate directed towards one group of people. The second article talked a lot about anti-globalization, and how the people blame the Jews for it. This is a current issue, but for a long time people have hated Jews. Maybe they were the scapegoat for all of European problems. The Jews were the religious minority, they killed Jesus, why should they call themselves the "chosen ones" and have all the money, power and influence. Some people Jews because of religion and perhaps others were just sick of bien gumemployed while the Jews had all the breaks, and these people banded together for one giant common complaint---it's the Jews' fault. People look for someone else to blame, and you justify your bitterness with a comtempt for a religion different from yours, a different lifestyle.
I don't really know if what I'm saying makes a lot of sense but that's what comes to mind.

I think what waduppeeps said about anti-semitism existing as long as religion exists is true. This is what discourages me about religion. I think it's fine if people are very religious, but its's not fair for them to preach to others that their religion is wrong. There are so many religions, who's to say which is true? You can't argue for religion with logic, so it is simply a blind faith. I think people should learn to accept that others don't have the same views as you, and they are entitled to their beliefs. And if they don't agree with you, then why do you have to punish them? Isn't that God's job? I just don't understand religion.

[speedy123]

Originally Posted by Lloyd

There are so many religions, who's to say which is true? You can't argue for religion with logic, so it is simply a blind faith. I think people should learn to accept that others don't have the same views as you, and they are entitled to their beliefs. And if they don't agree with you, then why do you have to punish them? Isn't that God's job? I just don't understand religion.

I STRONGLY agree with this quote. I think that religion is a big factor. It is very interesting the way everyone thinks theirs is "better".

What we are getting at here is almost more than just religion. There seems to be a basic human complex that finds anything out of the social normality to be evil, weird and wrong. One could apply this to many different things. Other religions, races, practices, and ethnicities that seem abnormal are often then seen as evil and then targeted for persecution.

Because Jewish culture has existed often as a privileged minority in many states and cultures that these larger social groups have all mutually disliked the "strange" and foreign ways of life that Jews happen to posses in relationship to the "normal" or native culture. But Jews and other "abnormal groups" then become more than just different. Societies twist them into "evil" groups of people and then they are persecuted.

I think that humans posses this right and wrong mentality, that if it isn't your way it may be evil and wrong. This is how I am trying to explain the overwhelming anti-Semitic views that the world now possess and that were present thousands of years ago. Jews were simply different.

Of course there are many more reasons, besides the fact that they were just different, as to why Jewish people and culture have been singled out for persecution. Mainly they have done very well for themselves. People who are Jewish are often well to do, they are also often well educated. This makes them a target for resentment. Jewish people also are a very, very easy group to scapegoat. Scapegoating is another thing groups of people do when they resent others. I think scapegoating was an easy way to attack Jews for being in many cases smarter and wealthier and different. Scapegoating in particular is almost a way of not seeming as anti-Semitic. Scapegoating is really a guise for Jewish persecution and other types as well. People who blame a group for a specific wrongdoing seem more justified than people who just outright attack a group based on their beliefs or social customs.

Overall the question of anti-Semitism is truly puzzling. It is puzzling, in particular because anti-Semitism has been around for so long. Jews have lived in so many different places and have very often been singled out or targeted for persecution. It is important to remember that some of the things I have talked about as being "Jewish" may be stereotypes. Obviously not all Jewish people are rich or smart. But many Jewish people are. It is a very complicated issue that really is getting at something deeper than just prejudice. It really is an issue of cultures, beliefs and coexistence.

[PinkPanther21]

Its hard to diminish Anti-Semetic views because its hard to change people. The values that people grew up wtih are not going to be easily changed. Many as a matter of fact are narrow minded and unfortunately I don't think that thier views are going to change.
I think there is a better chance to prevent people from acting on their views than changing them. Its a bit difficult to stop all violent acts but there are many of them that can be stopped. i think that people should be more aware of other races than just assume things. We are all humans and share many common qualities. If people were to just sit down and think about why they are so anti-semetic i don't think they would have valid reasons.
I mean most of the views that they have stem off from stereo-types. If not that then they have exaggerated truths in their minds. So if people were more aware of the other races around them and really knew that facts then i think things would be a bit better. But we all know its not that simple but hopefully one day people will be more open-minded and change their views on other races out there.

[LouieJosie]

TO LAB315...

I never said that any religion was more inclined to violence than another, I simply said that religions tend to cause violence, either within one or between two or more, because beliefs from one religion never fully coincide with that of another religion and so this causes conflicts among passionate religious people. Further more, I was not saying that Buddhism was a peaceful religion not inclined to violence, I was saying that it isn't a religion when looking at the standards of others, and therefore is not inclined to violence.

Also, the article you noted in your post backs up my point that Buddhism has never been the source of fighting, in that the Buddhists are the ones fighting, because it actually says "They (the Muslim militants) are exacting revenge on innocent Buddhists who have nothing to do with the ongoing violence."The Muslims are attacking the Buddhists and according to your article they are not fighting back but are fleeing. "Many of this year's deaths have been blamed on Muslim militants targeting local (Buddhist)officials, teachers and members of the security forces."

[LAB315]

My link was poorly chosen, however it should be known that, while rare, Buddhists have in fact fought other groups and amongst themselves. Without a major deity, it is hard to compare Buddhism to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. You are right, it does encourage peace, but its adherents, like those of every other faith, have fought those of other faiths in the past, and also those within their own tradition. In Medieval Japan, Zen, a philosophy adapted from Buddhism inspired Bushido, the set of rules controlling the conduct of warriors. Samurai would fight ferociously for their master, and commit ritual suicide before dishonoring their clan. Later primarily Christian traders from the Netherlands and Portugal presented a threat to the status quo. Following a rebellion of Christian peasants taxed near starvation, anti-Christian statutes were passed, and many were expelled or killed.

As for the last part of your original post, the anti-Bush tirade, your positions are all over the place. You say he wants oil, but where is he getting it from now, where did he turn when Arbusto was getting started? He turned to Arabs, whom he obviously knows are not all terrorists. During the election campaign, I frequently heard ads for John Kerry saying (I'm paraphrasing), “President Bush gives Saudi Prince Bandar classified briefings.” This is not cloak and dagger stuff, we need oil and the Saudis provide it. Not all Arabs are terrorists, his links to the House of Saud are well-known, but in addition to oil, he is also trying to coordinate efforts to catch those Arabs who do wish to harm both nations. Bandar is the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., he has the right to know if his country could be attacked. It is not logical to state that Bush thinks all Arabs are terrorists, when his history of business (however shady) with the leaders of that nation is so well known. Whether or not you like his close ties, they are just that – his way of ensuring the people who intend to do his nation or his associates’ harm are eliminated, regardless of religion.

[LuckyCharms]

Anti-Semitism came about in the same way that anti-homosexual, anti-African-American, etc. feelings came about: People used a stereotype to define an entire religion, race, or culture.

I really agree when Speedy123 said, "There seems to be a basic human complex that finds anything out of the social normality to be evil, weird and wrong. One could apply this to many different things. Other religions, races, practices, and ethnicities that seem abnormal are often then seen as evil and then targeted for persecution. "

For example it has been a part of Christian belief for centuries that homosexuality is unnatural because God does not agree with it. Of course the Bible is used to back up this belief even though first off it only implies it and secondly the Bible was written by men NOT God. Yet the Christians used their power and influence to put a stop to something that centuries before was the norm. This is still a part of our society today. In the Michael Moore clip with the sodomy mobile you saw protestors of homosexuality even making up Biblical text to support their beliefs.

Stereotypes come about for all different reasons. A lot of times is it because a “majority” looks down on a “minority” of people and tries to find concrete reasons for their hatred. In the case of the Jews, I think that Anti-Semitism came from more than just thinking Jews are different, it was about jealousy. A major stereotype of Jews is that they are good with money. Not every Jew is good with money but people bought into the stereotype.

I think that anti-Semitism came from a combination of the thought that Judaism is different and not as common as Christianity or another religion and jealousy.

Hitler obviously had some deep seeded hatred towards Jews. Maybe he thought the religion was unnatural and maybe he was also jealous of their prosperity since his life wasn’t coming out the way he wanted (he wanted to be an artist but he was rejected from school—> who knows how different things could’ve been if he had gotten in) so he used the Jews as scapegoats. He was able to manipulate so many people into the Nazi party because Germany was in bad shape after WWI and no one really had anything to believe in. Hitler was persuasive and gave the miserable people an outlet for their anger and confusion, which was persecuting Jews. He was also able to do this because of the 100s of years of anti-Semitism so he just convinced people Jews were sub human. Obviously, most of these people who became Nazis must have had ant-Semitist sentiments before they joined the party because I don’t know how else they could have done the horrendous and inexcusable things they did

Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is still everywhere. In the Middle East Israel is a major contention and has been for 1000s of years because like spongebobsquare said many assume that most Israelis are Jews and the problems of the government are linked to Judaism. I don’t know why else anti-Semitism is still around except that, unfortunately, it’s been past on to every generation.

[SauSweet]

Originally Posted by LouieJosie

I suppose it could be argued that those who chained the Africans up and threw them down to the bottom of the ocean to shed weight in Amistad were somewhat radical, but it is my opinion that those men were not necessarily racist but were more so ignorant and really truly thought those people were animals.

I was a little shocked when i read this. I don't think that the way these people behaved was ignorance. If we say that, then could we not say that the Nazi armies were ignorant or that the Europeans who killed 90% of the Native American population were ignorant? They decidely chose to treat those people that way because they were darker, they were "uncivilized", they were "animals". They did not choose to treat the other Europeans that way. Why? Because it was the "race" of the AFRICANS that made them appear to the Europeans as nothing!

Other than that i do agree with religion playing a role in connecting the anti-semitism and being anti-homosexual. Many people that i have heard discuss their contempt for homosexuals describe that homosexuality is against God. They believe that the act of two men or two women being sexually involved is unnatural and sac-religious. The types of people that blame their hate, disgust, or judgement on religion could be anti-semitic, in that people believe that the Jews killed Jesus. I think that a lot of uneasy feelings toward Jews, from Christians, is often times related to that.

While what i said about religion may have played a role in the genocide of the Jews, i don't think that this is the only reason. Because of laws placed on Jews before this period they had risen up as the money lenders and lawyers. I think that because of the attitudes toward these people they remained in their own communities and prospered amongst their people. At the time before the holocaust unemployment was high and yet these people were living pretty comfortably. I think that when push came to shove it was easier to point a finger of blame than to try to fix what was really wrong. The Jews could be seen as scapegoats. This was the backdrop, I believe, that allowed Hitler (a maniac) to become so powerful.

I also believe that people in this world are sick and they do not need a reason to hurt, to kill, or to destroy...they just do.

[Pucca]

I had always considered both Jewish and Irish as "Whites" because their skin tones were closer to the color white than black. And i had thought that all "whites" were considered first-class citizen in this country and it was just impossible that they could be discriminated against by the other (races/ groups). I also didn't get why the Jewish, who I considered them to be "whites", were still being persecuted in the Holocaust. If Hitler wanted a pure race, he could've started his genocide with other "inferior" races, why did he choose the Jewish as his principal target?

Many preceeding posters have mentioned that religion have played a main role in anti-semitism. I agree but i don't think that's the only factor. Society influences should have a role in anti-semitism as well. For example, a guy in the first link said that he wouldn't want to learn about the Holocaust if his country's history was not being taught. This guy may not be an anti-semitist but it is clear that anti-semitist sentiments are being developed in him.

I think there is a difference in anti-semitism and discrimination. Anti-semitism is a built-up of various animosities but discrimination has more of a prejudice tone than hostilities. Anti-semitism definitely has factors of discrimination but discrimination is not the only factor of anti-semitism. BUt in order to prove whether i'm correct, i need to have knowlege of what makes someone an anti-semitist.

As for why anti-semitism is so bitter, I guess that the bitterness first comes from religious discrimination ant then later it's involves into political animosity. I can't think of an example right now because I am ignorant what's going on in Israel, but that political reasons may be why anti-semitism has lasted so long.

[Anonymous2005]

I have to disagree that all of antisemitism has to do with religion. While it's true that a large portion of people that discriminate against Jews, discriminate against them because of their religion, but I think that it runs deeper to the whole idea of feeling superior. I think that people see it simply as Jews are different, they are a group that is weaker than us, by picking on them it will make us stronger ... therefore "i hate Jews." That's just my personal feeling on how a percentage of people come to dislike Jews.
I agree with LAB315 on the reason that Jews were hated during the 20th century

"Anti-Semitism in Germany was taken to such disgusting extremes for a variety of reasons. In a time of deep economic depression, Jews were still relatively well off, after years of working jobs banned by the Church, like banking. Hitler pinned issues of inflation, incurred during reckless wartime spending, on an international Jewish conspiracy. Prominent eugenics theories of the time, fabricated in America, provided a scientific backbone to his policies. Jews, according to these philosophies, were less than human. They would taint the glorious Nordic bloodline of all true Teutonic people, thus ensuring their downfall. Convinced they were being suppressed by an inferior people, it was not difficult to lead average Germans down a path of mass-murder. Anti-Semitism, which has been around as long as Judaism, has its roots, like all other hatred we have studied, in a fear of what is different."

I think that discrimination against Jews can be linked to the discrimination against Irish, Blacks, and homosexuals but it still has to be set apart because of the drastic methods people went through to get rid of the Jews. When we discussed discrimination against the Irish, we talked about how people dehumanized them by comparing them to pigs and other animals. The same were done to Jews by comparing them to rats. Blacks were considered to be subhuman, as were Jews. Homosexuals are still very discriminated against today, as are Jews.

cometaim was surprised to find out that Jews were still discriminated against. I wish that I could say the same -- but I know how deep the hatred towards Jews runs in France, this came out a lot during the Dreyfus Case. The Palestinians are also not very fond of the Jews. Even Black people remain hostile towards the Jews because of the NAACP (The Jews founded it, and some black people saw it as condescending and controlling)

And to SauSweet, I have to respond to your quote "I don't think that the way these people behaved was ignorance. If we say that, then could we not say that the Nazi armies were ignorant or that the Europeans who killed 90% of the Native American population were ignorant?"

Well, yea, we could say that. It was ignorance. The Nazis were practically brainwashed to see Jews as animals rather than people. Many of the Nazis were not leaders, as we saw in Schindler's list, they were just men who were carrying out orders. That would be considered ignorance.

[pinkpolkadots]

Maybe I’m naïve, but I thought that anti-semitism was not as much of a problem in Europe as it used to be. I was very shocked when I heard the NPR link about the verbal attacks by Muslims on many Jews. It’s very strange and disconcerting that Muslims are blaming Jews for the problems in Israel. They’re victims of prejudices too- many people think that any Muslim is automatically a terrorist. Maybe it’s only like that in the U.S. because of 9/11, but I’m sure that they are other kind of prejudices against Muslims in Europe.

Anti-Judaism/ anti-semitism and discrimination are the same. If you dislike someone based solely on their beliefs then that is discrimination. Anti-semitism is making a comeback perhaps because of the Israel/ Palistine conflict but I’m not quite sure why to others besides Muslims.

Religion plays a major role in discrimination against different ethnicities, races and sexualities. We learned that homosexuality is not accepted by those who are religious- both Christians and Jews. The English would discriminate against the Irish because they were Catholic. Etc, etc. Although there are many reasons for discrimination, and another huge one is xenophobia, the main one concerning Jews is religion. It wasn’t until the 1960’s (or 70’s? I forget) that the Catholic Church officially said that the Jews did not kill Jesus. So, this was an obvious huge belief that contributed to anti-semitism. There were all the stereotypes about Jews being tight with money that made others grow resentful. As well as that Jews were fairly prosperous during economic times because they were able to take those jobs that Christians could not as money lenders. I think that all these reasons were just more incentive for resentment against Jews that would eventually lead to the various events that would either dispel Jews from a country or kill them.

Not to be a complete pessimist, but I don’t think that there is much the world can do to stop anti-semitism. A better education and more knowledge of the facts would help but there will always be those who are blind to what is true (Fred Phelps?!). There will always be those people who think that Jews are the antichrist and that they’re subhuman rats. This is a problem deeply rooted in religion, and it has been around for hundreds of years. Unless all Jews suddenly decided that Jesus is the messiah, or all Christians suddenly decided that Jesus is not the messiah, I think there is always going to be a clash. Not only between Christians and Jews but as well as Jews and Muslims. As long as there is no answer to the conflict in Israel, there won’t be peace between those two groups either.

Anonymous2005, the point that religion was not the main reason for persecution against Jews in Germany is a good one. However, if you go beyond the Holocaust to the Crusades in Spain, which was for the main reason of spreading Christianity and expelling anyone who wasn't of that faith, you'll find that the main reason there was purely about religion. They wanted to spread their religion and forced Jews to convert to their faith. The discrimination there was purely about religion. Not to make them as a people feel superior, but because they strongly felt (like many people do today) that their religion was not just 'superior' but because it was the right religion, and the only one to follow because everyone else was wrong. In Germany there were many contributing factors, such as economic distress, the fact that only Jews could be bankers, as well as the 'only Aryan' idea, but these all stem from religion. Jews could be bankers because of their religion. Therefore, that is what made them more well off in the depression.

[rufusbluefish21]

I believe that hatred towards different races, religions, sexes and groups stems from a fear to understand. People do not want to be different; they want to blend in and be “right” and follow their “social norms” they learned from their parents, religions and lives. It doesn’t matter whether the difference is physical, mental or spiritual; people who discriminate will find anything to base their hatred upon. Perhaps hating a group of people makes them feel more connected to their own group, more a part of their heritage and beliefs.

The people who persecuted the Jews were Christian. They believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and the son of God. They probably felt threatened by a religion that opposed this idea and had a large number of followers. Their ideas of Jewish culture being morbid and immoral were caused by an unwillingness to understand and accept the differences we have as humans. People have different ideas and morals, there is no changing that.

I think the distinction of Anti-Semitism that caused it to be so horrifically carried out was the fact that the German government was behind it. Racism against African Americans in the Southern United States happened and still does due to private groups who persecute African Americans. Although we saw President Roosevelt’s somewhat lacking response to the problem, he did not come out and announce to the Nation that African Americans should be eliminated. When Hilter took power in Germany and began to persecute Jews, German citizens were probably afraid to go against the government to intervene in any way.

This new Anti-Semitism is different because the hatred is now targeted at Israel when before European Jews were being targeted. I have no idea at all how Anti-Semitism could be eradicated. AS far as [preventing action on these ideas, we could only do more of what has been done, extra security for targeted areas and maybe a harsher persecution of people who act on their Anti-Semitic ideas. I think that people have to start to understand each other for any change to be made. And we know that there are too many stubborn, ignorant people in the world for that to happen.