Why are Jews still hated so much around the world outside of the U.S.?

Great Debates
#1

This is something I have never understood. There are only about 14 million Jews in the world out of a population of about 7 billion (or less than 0.2% of the world population) yet they seem to be the focus of a disproportionate amount of world conflicts both today and historically. Speaking as a U.S. citizen, it makes no sense whatsoever. Jews have thrived in the U.S. and contributed a tremendous amount to many disciplines since the U.S unofficially adopted them. They are so mainstream in American society that even evangelical Christians defend them and support Israel with real money and lives at stake.

I am most curious about Europe and why they have had so many terminal conflicts with Jews over the years including an attempted genocide. I still hear anti-semitic comments coming from people I know personally even in England even though hardly any Jews live there today. There simply aren’t that many Jews outside of the U.S. and Israel today. Over 80% of Jews worldwide live in just these two countries.

To answer this question, you are going to have to break out of any current PC thinking and just tell it straight like it came from the mouth of Nazi even if you don’t believe it yourself. People don’t try to commit genocide without some hardcore hatred against the people they are targeting. What was it for the Jews and why do many people even outside of Islamic countries still harbor some of that hatred to this day?

#2

They’re just an easy target; a small but famous group that’s assertively insular and resistant to assimilation, has been forced to live in many places, and has been picked on by the world’s two major religious groups.

Who else do you pick on, really? There aren’t many Zoroastrians around. You’ve got other small religious groups but they don’t have the geographic spread or historical bona fides.

#3

Also, since they are a religion and not just an ethnic group they make better conspiracy-fodder. It makes them easier to portray as having a shared agenda even compared to other favorite targets of hatred like black people or homosexuals.

#4

I don’t think Jews are particularly hated outside the Middle East, but maybe I’m missing something. And Venezuela. No idea what Hugo Chavez has against Jews.

#5

The obvious answer is Christianity. New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, among others, has noted how you can trace the progression of anti-Semitism in early Christianity, from the Gospels on, as they put more blame on the Jews, and less on the Romans, for the execution of Jesus. IIRC there is even a Gospel of Pilate, but it didn’t make the cut when the canon was formed. Since the Church was very powerful in Europe for over a thousand years, and it’s always handy to have someone to blame when the crops fail or a plague hits, I’m sure the perfidy of the Jews was a common subject in medieval sermons.

More recently, see “On The Jews and Their Lies” by Martin Luther for all you need to know about German attitudes toward the Jews. From the wiki entry:

"Luther expounds, at considerable length, upon his views concerning Jews and Judaism and how these compare against Christians and Christianity. Following this exposition, Section XI of the treatise advises Christians to carry out seven remedial actions. These are

for Jewish synagogues and schools to be burned to the ground, and the remnants buried out of sight;
for houses owned by Jews to be likewise razed, and the owners made to live in agricultural outbuildings;
for their religious writings to be taken away;
for rabbis to be forbidden to preach, and to be executed if they do;
for safe conduct on the roads to be abolished for Jews;
for usury to be prohibited, and for all silver and gold to be removed and "put aside for safekeeping"; and
for the Jewish population to be put to work as agricultural slave labor."

And in the modern Middle East, obviously the establishment of a Jewish state on what the Arabs consider to be their land is cause for resentment.

#6

Polls have shown that 40% of all adults in France think that French Jews are more loyal to Israel than France and similar results have been found in the UK(regarding British Jews) and the results in most other European countries have been worse.

So no, not everyone is in Iran, but clearly many Europeans have issues with Jews.

You’ll notice that many of the posters on this board who tend to believe in Jewish conspiracy theories or dual loyalty aren’t Middle Eastern.

#7

Oh, you are. Jew-hatred is rampant in parts of central and eastern Europe. Did you miss the story about the Hungarian member of the European Parliament who was from an outspokenly anti-Semitic party? He had to resign when it was revealed he was of Jewish descent.

#8

I got news for you: They’re hated by plenty of people in the U.S., too.:frowning:

#9

Because nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.
And anti-Semitism is alive and well in the United States. Any Jew in public office with the ‘wrong’ politics will have challenges raised about their loyalty based on nothing but ethnicity.

#10

I didn’t miss that. I just figured it was an aberration.

I knew about the issues in France, but I assumed that was largely down to the North African minority. Didn’t realize we were talking about numbers that big.

#11

Sure there are a few but I am not buying it that anti-semitism in the U.S.is on the same scale as some other areas including Europe. I am from the South and know some of the most racist, xenophobic people you will encounter in the U.S. Jews sometimes questioned for being different but almost always get a general pass for their extreme contributions to U.S. culture. It actually goes beyond that. Even fundamentalist and evangelical Christian churches in the U.S. who usually aren’t very tolerant of different groups openly embrace Jews and Israel in particular and make a point of stating that over and over again. All presidential candidates in the U.S. have to state early that they support Israel and the Jewish people as an early rite of passage. That is an unusual unofficial requirement for a group that is only about 2% of the U.S. population.

There is the typical prejudice against anyone that is different but nothing on the same scale as segregation or genocide. Jews got promoted to ‘just regular white people’ (except for the few that aren’t) decades ago in the U.S. and became one of the most succuseful demographic groups very quickly.

Let’s not ignore the question based on isolated examples and say all societies including the U.S. are equally guilty of the same thing when obviously they aren’t. Most of the anti Jewish sentiment in the U.S. comes from the far left but that is based on the Israel-Palestine standoff and is a different question.

#12

Plain, naked, good ol’ fashioned JEALOUSY is a huge part of the equation as well.

I am willing to bet that if you could somehow magically evaluate (and then combine) the overall relative wealth, educational level, community status and general influence in both social & political matters that Jews worldwide enjoy (which is clearly impossible, I realize) the average Jew, no matter where in the world they live, is financially better off, better educated and more highly respected than any other single religion or ethnicity you can name.

#13

Are they really that hated? There are only a small proportion in Australia, but I have never seen much evidence of hatred towards Jews. It seems to be a well integrated and tolerated religion.

Maybe it is because Jews tend to be associated with zionist Israeli’s, ethnic cleansing and illegal settlements in Palestine.

#14

I dunno the details, but perhaps a lot of fundamentalist American Christians embrace Jews and Israel because of a set of prophecies about the coming Rapture and End of Times. Apparently it is somehow necessary for Israel to “succeed” before God can destroy all the sinners (which may include all the Jews for all I know) and Rapture up the rest of them.

Consult your local religious fanatic for more details.

#15

Jews have been hated pretty much the same amount, maybe even more, before there even was an Israel.

#16

I’ve come across straight-ahead anti-Semitism in California. In the San Francisco area, in fact. Not often, but it does exist even in this area that is known for its tolerance.

#17

I have heard it suggested (can anybody confirm this or offer a cite?) that the fundamentalist and evangelical Christians are not necessarily all that benign toward Jews. However, they are highly favorable toward the Holy Land, which is holy to Christians too. They view the Jews of modern-day Israel as the “custodians” of the Holy Land, keeping it until the day Jesus will return to take up his prophesied eternal reign in New Jerusalem.

#18

It’s more that they think that in order to fulfill Biblical prophecy the Jews have to be there in order to be slaughtered, as I understand it. Not so much custodians as human sacrifices.

#19

I doubt that very much. Certainly wasn’t the case when antisemitism was at its height in Europe, nor was it the case when Jewish immigrants to the US were second-class citizens. Convenient scapegoat characterisation of Jews, sure, but actual status, I don’t think so.

Nowadays, Israel feeds into it somewhat, but I think it’s largely a case of “hate the Jews because you’re told to” by leaders both cultural/religious and political, from local scale (“If you want to be in our gang, you have to hate Jews”) to national scale (“If you want to lead Iran, you have to hate Jews)”. A vicious circle kind of thing is going on, too - “We hate the Jews because we always have” (even when that’s not true). Just look at Roma for a reasonably close parallel.

#20

And on the Catholic side, with Catholicism being the largest Christian religion, policy up until Vatican II (in 1965) was that collectively Jews were to blame for the death of Jesus. That just may have caused some friction.