Oh, the Protestants hate the catholics,
And the Catholics hate the Protestants,
And the Hindus hate all the Moslems,
And everybody hates the Jews!
– National Brotherhood Week, by Tom Lehrer
Sorry, couldn’t resist, and this thread needed just a bit of levity. 
Oy.
Can this question be answered in less than a three thousand page thesis?
First off the historical institutional reasons:
Other religious institutions always resented that those stiff necked Jews wouldn’t “see the light” and it is a fine line from resentment to hatred. In The Church this dates back to Constatine at least. Luther too went from looking to Jews as probable allies likely to flock to his new Christianity, to publishing vitriolic tracts against Jews when that failed to occur. Mohamed was no different, first finding allies with nearby Jewish tribes against other “pagan” groups and then developing antipathy when they failed to embrace his new faith. Islam was tolerant compared to The Church’s stands, but it was a very second class existance nevertheless.
Second is the being an identifiable “other” in the midst. Otherness is always viewed with suspicion. Add to it that most individuals images of Jews were from by stereotypes popularized by the media of the day, rather than personal contact with large numbers of real people, and it is easy for those stereotypes to become entrenched in peoples minds. The succesful Jewish capitalist becomes “The Jew” to some. The Jewish communist/socialist organizer to others. And all worried about their loyalty. Hence stereotypes of Jews as communists and capitalists coexist and they are hated by all sides. Now if more knew my do-nothing Uncle Julius, they might be calling us lazy Jews!
Jealousy clearly cannot be all of it since antisemitism existed for the long periods when there were few Jewish success stories and no Jewish power. Take antisemitism and pograms in Russia when most Jews were confined to subsistance farming in “The Pale of Settlement” for example. But it clearly has played a role intermittently. Once in the Diaspora Jews were without land and resources and they were forced to travel between cultures. This made them a people with only one resource - trading in ideas. They took concepts between cultures with them and found new domains to translate and transform them into. Intellectualism became a prized attribute in jewish culture as a matter of survival. Intermittently an overrepresentation of Jews in venues that required intellectualism and creativity occurred as it was within Jewish culture that the world’s ideas abutted each other. This really had a chance to blossom in America, where creativity and hardwork could take people far. So new stereotypes occur. The visible and overrepresented Jewish scientist fosters the stereotype of the smart Jew. The visible and overrepresented banker of the money controlling Jew. The visible and overrepresented media mogul of the media controlling Jew. The visible and overrepresented neocon as the controlling conservative Jew and of course the visible and overrepresented liberal as the controlling liberal Jew.
BTW, Abbie, no, Israel’s policies are not to blame. Israel and Jews are not synonyms except to the established Jew-hater. More often the direction is the reverse - to a few Israel is held to a standard that no other country is held to because it is a Jewish state.
Now that you mention it…
does remind me that I need to be hanging at Hillel more often ;j 
[channeling my old college student self and speaking in the voice of sad experience]
Don’t waste your time, dude. ESPECIALLY the Hillel crowd. Soon as they figure out you’re Irish (or Finnish ) you’re dead to them. You’re better off trying to get a date at the Tri-Sig house, and you know how unlikely THAT is. 
[/channeling]
musicat,
I wonder if Lerher came up with that on his own or had read Mark Twain:
In the Ukraine there are obviously Jews born and non Jews born there.
The Jew who is born there is generally referred to as the Jew. The Non Jew is a Russian (Ukranian)…thusly if there are 10 native born Russians in the Ukraine in a room, there are 9 Russians and a Jew.
Why this exists, I do not know…I have had a great many young and old Ukranian friends who tell me this is true. Any comment?
Why do people hate Jews?
Well I can’t speak for others, but for me it’s because of Chanukah.
Christmas seemed great until I heard about these kids that get presents for something like 30 days straight…
Thanks for the reference, DSeid; very interesting. I am an admirer of Mark Twain and Tom Lehrer – both poignant satirists – and would like to think that they were of the same mind independently, but who knows?
From what I understand, Russianness in Russia is defined by religion, namely the Russian Orthodox religion. If there were any Catholics or Protestants present in that room, they would be considered “foreign” as well. I don’t know how that would work in the Ukraine, though
I think a very large part of it is, as tomndeb said, xenophobia. Historically, Jews have been identifiably different. They have not been ‘one of us’, but them. You could equally substitute virtually any other grouping at assorted times and places in history.
Right, and I already explained that “I’m talking specifically about reasons why anti-semitism is on the rise (not was whenever).” I also said: “For reasons contributing to anti-jewish sentiments pre-1948, have a read through this thread: some of the factors have already been brought up. I mentioned specifically recent history.”
Everyone knows that anti-semitism has been a problem for considerably longer than the relatively short existence of Israel. But that does not preclude the state of Israel and its policies from exacerbating an existing problem.
Substantially the same as I have already stated, and as Tom, carnac, and others have argued in greater detail.
This is the convenient explanation so often cited for anti-Americanism as well: “they hate our freedom/existence/whatever”. It’s bogus, an empty excuse to engage in a bit of righteous pity and irrational response. I’ve already brought this up in previous posts, and other posters have done so in greater detail.
There is always a reason – whether it is rational or irrational is irrelevant here, the question is emphatically not “what good, and valid reason to despise the Jews”.
As I also said earlier, “it is naive in the extreme to ignore the causes of ethnic or religious tensions”. And hardly productive. This I also say to other posters who have somehow managed to ignore my argument that a cause or trigger may be rational or irrational, and still be in evidence. It is often a matter of perception that stokes tribalism and irrational fears or similar emotions.
Um indeed. You suggest I am contradicting myself, when in fact you left out of the quoted extract the subsequent explanation I provided in response to your challenge. Let me post it again:
“Jews don’t have any official policy any more than Americans do, nor have I ever suggested such an allegation. Both Jews and Americans however are forced to bear the consequences of the policies of their political/spiritual homeland, and here the relative cohesiveness and insularity of Jewish culture exacerbates the problem of collective judgement by third parties. Again no one is implying this is just and fair – it just is. Understand the problem before you try to fix it.”
So the majority of US Jews tend to vote democratic. Does that somehow prevent a disgruntled and ignorant bigot from the lower end of the socio-economic scale from feeling resentment against Jews? Does it prevent a militant fundamentalist Muslim from feeling resentment against them for various historical and political factors? Does it prevent a rabid Christian literalist (Mel Gibson springs to mind) from believing that it was Jews who killed his deity?
After 9/11, there was an increase in hate crimes and threats in the US against not just Muslims, but anyone who might to the average ignoramus look Muslim (i.e., turbaned Sikhs). These were usually American Muslims, who had done nothing wrong at all. Yet the clear trigger for these acts and sentiments was 9/11, irrational as it was to extend blame for that crime to anyone who even looked Muslim.
Rational or irrational. And we must remember that bigotry is seldom rational. That doesn’t mean causes and triggers do not exist, it just means that intelligent and educated people do not consider such causes and triggers logically valid – but that never stopped the rest of the rabble.
Relative to other ethnic grups, Jews are cohesive and insular, for whatever reasons you wish to posit. Anti-jewishness has nothing whatsoever to do with such assessments, since from the origin the study of the problem is (or ought to be) ethnically and religiously neutral.
I am tempted to take the reference to the great swatter of nonsense as a compliment, but I will simply say that you ought to take a look back and witness the invalidity of the “objections” I was quite justly deriding. The poster in question provided sloppy arguments that were de facto already addressed (at least partially) in previous posts, and flat-out stated to a poster who routinely provides good quality debate to “get off your pompous high horse”. You let me know what you make of that.
I notice I have not provided a link to the effect that Israel and Middle Eastern problems have contributed to the rise in anti-Jewish sentiment of recent years. I was thinking particularly of a 2002 poll by the ADL – not an organization I particularly trust, since they frequently engage in unnecessary alarmism, but the poll seems valid.
Here is the material in question, I quote quickly and dirtily from the “Major Findings”:
So, I trust it is clear I am not making up the claims and arguments I have put forward; Additionally, though some posters here may incorrectly think I hold an anti-Jewish bias, I doubt that the same accusation can be extended to the ADL.
And, just because I brought up this particular example earlier, One in Four Americans Believe Jews Were Responsible for the Death of Christ.
Rational or irrational? Irrelevant.
These data are for the US. Internationally, the picture is rather more complicated.
I went to a high school in Los Angeles in the late 50’s which then had a student body which was about 98 % Jewish. I had friends who went to another high school, not far away, which was almost entirely Gentile. The only differences I could see were that my school was nearly deserted on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hoshana, students at my school dressed better and the Jews wore mezuzahs instead of crucifixes…which they called, “Mezuzahs with handlebars”.
Also, it wasn’t until I was in the military that I realized that not all young men my age were circumcised.
My point? I never saw any behavior or any attitudes on the part of Jews that I didn’t also see in Gentiles. Anti-semitism made no sense then and does not make sense today.
Again, this ignores the point that there have been rising tides of anti-Semitism at many other points in history, for other irrational reasons. Suggesting that there is something unique about Israel that must be addressed by Jews worldwide is itself irrational.
It’s a pity that you must drag your feelings about Americans into this discussion. And once again, one must ask what other ethnic groups you feel are guilty of “righteous pity and irrational response” in their response to bigotry, or if you feel that this is some unique characteristic of Jews. Explain further.
It has been explained to you that these kinds of statements are tantamount to repeating common offensive and pointless stereotypes of Jews. Why do you persist in repeating them?
Provide cites to back up this claim.
Before you tie yourself into any further rhetorical knots, let me assure you that it is alright to say, “Well, I inadvertently made a misleading and inaccurate statement but corrected myself later.” It is not alright to deny having made the initial statement altogether. It goes to credibility.
We’re supposedly here (at least in part) to fight ignorance. Not to go around saying "Well, there are reasons some people are bigoted against Jews. I’m not saying that they are valid reasons, but gee, there are reasons. You can’t ignore the reasons.
Without wishing to interrupt your discussion with Abe, since you each seem to be having fun with it, could you explain what is the pointless stereotype to which you are objecting? Perhaps you two are not that far apart, but are tripping over misperceptions of each others’ statements.
I would tend to agree that Jewish culture, overall, is not insular (aside from some smaller sects who might equate to Amish among the Christians). I would also recognize that there are many non-observant Jews (and some number of Reform Jews) who are utterly indistinguishable from their non-practicing or Christmas-and-Easter Christian neighbors. However, the celebration of different holidays, the issues of dietary laws, and a number of other religious or cultural aspects to their society gives them a cohesiveness that does separate them from their neighbors. I’ve lived in Amish neighborhoods and in neighborhoods with large Conservative and Orthodox Jewish populations, and I would say that the Jewish groups appeared pretty cohesive to me.
I never found the Jewish groups to be quite as aloof as the Amish (although I have never lived among any of the stricter Jewish groups), but the idea that their distinctiveness or cohesiveness was merely a baseless stereotype imposed from the outside does not stand up to any serious scrutiny.
Some (maybe a lot) is imposed from the outside, though. If you have to wear special clothing, live in special neighborhoods, and are restricted from certain professions, as Jews have been throughout history, then you’re a distinct group, but a lot of that distinctfullness has been forced upon you.
Not to inhibit your amusement, but you might profit from reading the earlier posts.
As I said previously, “Every group that has been the target of murderous bigotry tends to hang together to some degree for protection, even as inevitable assimilation occurs. There’s nothing uniquely Jewish about it.”
Friend Abe believes there is something unique about it:
It would be interesting to see what hard data back this claim.
I’ve read everything posted, here, and I still suspect that you are talking past each other without being that far apart.
Basically you are attempting to argue a chicken and egg debate and I suspect each of you is minimizing the other’s contribution.
Yes, groups who are persecuted will stick together. We can see it among the Rom or, to a lesser extent, among Catholics in the U.S. prior to the 1960s.
On the other hand, groups who choose to maintain a cultural identity are easier targets of the sort of discrimination that will reinforce their cohesive nature. In the U.S., Jews have never been required to wear special clothing or live in designated ghettoes. They have never been compelled to limit themselves to specific occupations (although in earlier generations their being barred from some professions channeled them toward others). If you visit the Netherlands (where there has been a tradition of non-persecution extending back a couple of hundred years) you will still find a cohesive and identifiable Jewish presence.
I suspect that you and Abe are each presenting valid points, but that you are more interested in scoring those points than discovering how close you are.
Tom -
Try doing a Google search on “Jews” and “clannishness”. I think it’ll open your eyes.
Note the “Klannishness” of numerous sources that enjoy pushing this stereotype.
There are people who innocently use derogatory terms or stereotypes to describe ethnic groups. Once made aware that such terms are offensive, those with good intentions will stop using them.
Gimme a break. I dueled with John John in his multiple incarnations for years. While I have already noted that I do not find Jewish groups “insular,” I am not yet persuaded that Abe is using the word in to mean “clannish.” He may, indeed, believe that Jews tend to remain aloof from the rest of society or he may simply feel that a certain amount of separation is the natural result of the cohesive nature of Jewish culture. Lacking a direct statement from him that “Jews never want to join society,” I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he explains himself.
Alternatively, one might look at your posts and draw the conclusion that you are claiming that no one ever notices when the Jewish kids don’t come out for sports practice on Saturday, that yarmulkes are invisible, that when the gang gets together after work on Friday, no one notices that the Jewish guy never stays in the winter when it gets dark earlier, and that no one notices when all their Jewish co-workers take time off in September. As someone who has scheduled projects around the availability of Jewish workers (and listened to the sometimes good-humored, sometimes silly, and occasionally offensive remarks of their co-workers), I will attest that people do notice Jews in their midst, regardless whether the Jewish worker keeps to himself or is the most gregarious member of the staff.
I agree that claims that “Jews are clannish” or that “They don’t want to be like us” generally emanate from people with a desire to hate (or at least shun) Jews. However, pretending that there is nothing that makes Jewish society visible within the larger community fails on many grounds and I would posit that they do tend to demonstrate a “cohesiveness” (even when they can be as fractious as anyone else).
Perhaps Abe actually is putting forth the “clannish” thesis, but it seems to me that you are more eager to rebut it than he is to put it forth. I still think you might be talking past each other.