The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day Book

Something that has puzzled me for many years is why everyone hates the Jews. I can understand people not being too fond of Muslims these days as some of them are not going out of their way to be liked much. But what did the Jews ever do to be hated for 2500 years? An article in Foreign Affairs about Anti-Semitism in Europe caught my attention and I wrote the author and put the question to him. This is part of his response:

"Antisemitism provides an answer for people who struggle with their own weaknesses, failings and insecurities. In its purest form it is a complete worldview that explains all that is bad and dangerous as being the fault of the Jews. It has survived for so long partly because for centuries it was promoted by powerful institutions such as the Catholic Church (although officially at least, this is no longer the case); because it served a social, political and economic function for powerful people in society; and because it relies on conspiracy theories and irrational superstitions, so it is difficult to contradict."

This is one of the books he recommended and "Anti-Semitism - the oldest hatred" edited by John Mann is the other.

This book could also be called A Short History of Anti-Semitism because it is not a long book but covers a great deal of Jewish history. It was all new to me.

Jews could not win for losing. If they were poor because of a country's laws and treatment, they were reviled as parasites. If they were rich, well, we all know that stereotype and I was surprised to learn that most of the time most of them were living in abject poverty. If they refused to convert to Christianity, they were hated. If they did convert, it wasn't good enough because of their "character". They were driven out of Western Europe and a majority of them ended up in the "Pale of Settlement", in eastern Poland and western Russia. We all know how that ended up, too.

Anti-Semitism had different faces in different places and different times, ranging from laws barring them from owning land or from certain professions to outright massacre in a number of pogroms, especially in Poland, Ukraine and Russia. Jews were hated for different reasons sometimes at the same time by the same people. Jews were accused of both inflicting Bolshevism on the earth while at the same time being guilty of capitalist oppression of the workers. And so on.

Carving the State of Israel out of Palestine created serious problems which are still with us today and the author goes into some detail on the subject. Being upset at how Israel treats the Palestinians apparently puts one in the category of Anti-Semitism of the Left. I am not getting into that. Just to say that I would have given the book 5 stars but for the author's twisting of certain historical events and facts to suit his own narrative.

This is a book well worth reading just to get an idea of the treatment of Jews over the centuries and of how Anti-Semitism has changed with the times yet still remains.