Antisemitism is Rearing Its Ugly Head Again.
Part II of II
The statement below confirms the adage, “We learn nothing from history.”
The EU convenes to help protect European Jews.
The European Union’s 28 member nations signed a declaration promising to fund local governments to increase security and combat anti-Semitism. The document will also help law enforcement determine when someone has committed an anti-Semitic act.
But one must first know what anti-Semitism is, so the EU accepted the following definition only “as a useful guidance tool”
“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance developed this definition.
What does this kind of hatred look like today? Here are some examples.
Anti-Semitism accuses Jews of being responsible for nearly everything that goes wrong in the world.
Recently, a French teacher was convicted of anti-Semitic hatred, using COVID-19 as an excuse to blame French Jews. Some of the “yellow vest” rioters in Paris have previously blamed Jews for France’s financial woes, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended a Jewish ceremony at his official residence, the Elysee Palace. A banner above a busy French highway read: “Macron, whore of the Jews.”
How quickly biased people forget that 25% of the Jewish population of France was killed during the Holocaust.
Why do so many people single out the Jews?
They are often propagandized as wealthy puppet masters of the world. An 1898 caricature of Rothschild with the world in his hands represents his apparent domination of the world. Certainly, not all Jews are wealthy; most are middle-class. Many poor Jews exist around the world, including in stable countries like Canada, where over 14 percent of Jews live below the poverty line.
However, because Jews have worked in finance for centuries, the stereotype persists. Anti-Semitism prohibited them from holding government positions, attending universities, joining professional guilds, or owning land. This forced many of them to work as merchants and financiers.
Today, people think of billionaire George Soros, the Rothschilds (French President Macron previously worked as an investment banker at their financial institution), or Goldman Sachs (an investment bank started by and managed by Jews) as representing all Jews.
Conspiracy theories about Jews controlling the world’s finances have been floating around for centuries, but this is just anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head once again.
Sir John Gilbert, in his engraving “Shylock After the Trial,” depicts Shylock in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice as a merciless monster running madly through the streets lamenting the loss of his daughter, who eloped and took a hefty sum of his money with her.
In the 1500s, Shakespeare created the fictitious character Shylock, a greedy Jewish money lender. To this day, Shylock is history’s best-known caricature of the Jewish businessman. Unfortunately, this story justified anti-Jewish measures for centuries to come, and the Jews have been the scapegoat for many economic crises.
Economic anti-Semitism was even used in Hitler’s propaganda. And anti-Semitism is no different today than it was during the Holocaust. On all continents, anti-Semitism is on the rise.
Let’s begin by going through a few countries alphabetically, starting with A and looking at the Jewish communities of Argentina, Australia, and Austria.
In Argentina, there have been neo-Nazi attacks on synagogues; Jews were being blamed for the Covid pandemic in the media, which spurred hatred to the extent that a Jewish family was savagely beaten up.
In Australia, there have been 440 documented cases of Jewish hatred, including physical attacks on Jews, graffiti on synagogues, and bullying of children just for being Jewish.
In Austria, the land of Hitler’s birth, 562 anti-Semitic acts occurred targeting both the living and the dead, resulting in the desecration of 220 headstones in a Jewish cemetery. Anti-Semitism has risen by 118% this year.
However, in the Bible, God says, “Behold, all who rage against you [the Jewish people] will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.” (Isaiah 41:11)
Anti-Semitism reduces Jewish people as monsters deserving of death. This idea is increasingly expressed by youth across Europe, especially those influenced by the expanding neo-Nazi presence on social media.
“Anti-Semitism in Germany today is increasing to the boiling point like it was 30 years ago,” said a German woman in her sixties.
Even Germany’s anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein said, “The word Jew as an insult was not common when I went to school. Now it is, and it’s even an insult at schools where there are no Jewish students.” (CNN)
The Jewish people have not been a curse; the greatest blessings of humanity came through them. They gave us the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the Messiah, etc. The hope of a coming New World where men shall beat their “swords into shovels,
their spears into hoes” (Isaiah 2:4, Message Bible).
God says of the Jewish race, “You are a holy people to the LORD your God, and He has chosen you from all the peoples on earth to be His possession.” (Deuteronomy 14:2)
“We have to take [anti-Semitism] more seriously today than I think we have had to take it in a generation,” Steven Spielberg said on the 25th anniversary re-release of his epic Holocaust film, Schindler’s List. (NBC News)
Anti-Semitism accuses the Jewish people of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust and even mocks it. Iran and other Islamic regimes have developed mathematical formulas to deny that six million Jews lost their lives in the Holocaust, even hosting conferences that gather anti-Semitic elites from around the world to discuss their theories. These Neo-Nazism-type groups flippantly joke about the Holocaust, which ended about 80 years ago, in Europe and the US, relegating it to ancient history or irrelevant.
As one Polish woman in her 20s said, “Manifestations of anti-Semitism, including jokes about Jews, the Holocaust, Hitler, etc., are still strongly present in Poland in some circles, including among people with higher education.” (EU Poll)
However, no one understands where history is going until they understand God’s plan for Israel in these final days.
“I took you from the ends of the earth; from its farthest corners, I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:9–10)
The UN, which is no friend of Israel, required a two-thirds majority vote to approve a resolution against the terrorist organization Hamas; it passed 73 in favor to 72 against. The resolution against Hamas did not reach a two-thirds majority and, therefore, did not succeed. This same UN has passed over 700 resolutions against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, but it has never once passed a resolution against Hamas, the internationally designated terror organization that governs the Gaza Strip and whose purpose is to exterminate Israel.
How ironic that the UN is the headquarters of modern anti-Semitism. But what you sow, you reap; what you sow, you more than reap. The Judeo-Christian religion that Islam is adamant to wipe out will prove to be the very religion that will wipe them out. The end of the story has already been written. The Word of God has already written the concluding chapter of those nations that shall come against Israel in these “last days.”
“When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel.” (Joel 3:1–2)
What is our responsibility as Christians? As God’s chosen people, we stand with Israel, through whom the Messiah Jesus came once as a babe in a manger and will come again as a conquering king.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dr Robert Bryant