Understanding Anti-semitism

Post-Tour Course

In part-2 of the Israel Impact Online Course, we explore questions and issues relating to anti-Semitism. What is anti-Semitism? What happened to anti-Semitism after the Holocaust? How is anti-Semitism expressed today?

The need to confront anti-Semitism where it exists, and to prevent it from spreading, is an urgent need and a concern for all wanting to live in societies that are free from hatred. Israel needs people to stand up now more than ever as it faces more threats from enemy states, terrorists, and those seeking to delegitimize Israel like the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The need to build support for Israel among young adults is particularly important given the limited knowledge and lack of connection many students have when it comes to this unique nation.

* This course is a joint effort of the Israel Impact Tour & Israel Answers (www.israelanswers.com).

The Disease of Anti-Semitism

The horrific Pittsburgh synagogue massacre at Tree of Life left American Jews scrambling to erect new layers of security around their communal lives. Sadly, they are not far behind the Jews of Europe, who have already felt under siege for years. Indeed, there are now metal detectors and armed guards posted outside every Jewish synagogue, day school, and community center across the continent.

The list of recent terror attacks on “soft” Jewish targets is long and far-flung: a Jewish deli in Paris, a day school in Toulouse, a museum in Brussels, and a synagogue in Copenhagen. Even as far as Mumbai, India, and the quiet beach resort of Bondi in Australia, violence against Jews is lurking. Whether Muslim extremists, radical leftists, or far-right neo-Nazis like the Pittsburgh predator, Jew-haters are on the march everywhere.

No doubt, much of the resurgence in anti-Semitism today is fueled by hatred of Israel. Frustrated by their inability to dent or destroy the Jewish state, many anti-Semites lash out at vulnerable Jewish communities nearby. Still, they will never be satisfied until Israel is forced to disappear. And their latest strategy for achieving this goal is quite cunning.

Origin and Meaning of the Term

In 1879, German journalist Wilhelm Marr originated the term anti-Semitism, denoting the hatred of Jews. The Holocaust, the state-sponsored persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945, is history’s most extreme example of anti-Semitism.

3 Types of Anti-semitism

Scholars who study anti-Semitism have identified three main types of this uniquely persistent hatred— religious, racial, and conspiratorial. In the past, Christians were the worst practitioners of the religious form of bigotry toward the Jews, while the Nazis championed racial and conspiratorial theories that slandered and dehumanized them. Today, in the post-Holocaust era, it is blended with the hard-right, far-left, and radical Islamists.

For instance, they have accused IDF soldiers of killing Palestinians just to sell their organs on the black market. The Mossad was blamed for shark attacks on tourists at Sinai resorts. Israel is purportedly behind all the hurricanes and earthquakes of recent years.  While Jews are deemed racially and mentally inferior, they somehow are clever enough to control the world. Anti-Semitism is so irrational that some scholars even consider it to be a mental disorder that requires treatment.

At its core, anti-Semitism is a spiritual malady—a spirit of jealousy and rejection against the Jewish people. In these darkening times, it is crucial that Christians confront the anti-Semites of our day. The forbearers of our faith made grave errors when they spread outrageous lies against the Jews, with destructive results. Thus, we have a special moral duty to tell the Jew-haters of today that it was wrong then and it is wrong now.

Anti-semitism in History

The specific hatred of Jews, however, preceded the modern era and the coining of the term anti-Semitism. Among the most common manifestations of anti-Semitism throughout history were pogroms, violent riots launched against Jews and frequently encouraged by government authorities. Pogroms were often incited by blood libels—false rumors that Jews used the blood of Christian children for ritual purposes.

In the modern era, anti-Semites added a political dimension to their ideology of hatred. In the last third of the nineteenth century, antisemitic political parties were formed in Germany, France, and Austria. Publications such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion generated or provided support for fraudulent theories of an international Jewish conspiracy. A potent component of political anti-Semitism was nationalism, whose adherents often falsely denounced Jews as disloyal citizens.

The nineteenth century xenophobic “voelkisch movement” (folk or people’s movement)—made up of German philosophers, scholars, and artists who viewed the Jewish spirit as alien to Germandom—shaped a notion of the Jew as “non-German.” Theorists of racial anthropology provided pseudoscientific backing for this idea. The Nazi Party, founded in 1919 and led by Adolf Hitler, gave political expression to theories of racism. In part, the Nazi Party gained popularity by disseminating anti-Jewish propaganda. Millions bought Hitler’s book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), which called for the removal of Jews from Germany.

Nazi Anti-semitism

With the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the party ordered anti-Jewish economic boycotts, staged book burnings, and enacted discriminatory anti-Jewish legislation. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws racially defined Jews by “blood” and ordered the total separation of so-called “Aryans” and “non-Aryans,” thereby legalizing a racist hierarchy.

On the night of November 9, 1938, the Nazis destroyed synagogues and the shop windows of Jewish-owned stores throughout Germany and Austria (an event now known as the Kristallnacht pogrom or Night of Broken Glass). This event marked a transition to an era of destruction, in which genocide would become the singular focus of Nazi anti-Semitism.

Events Surrounding the Holocaust in Pictures

1931-1945

Take a moment now to familiarize yourself with these dates.

Holocaust Denial and Distortion

Holocaust denial is an attempt to negate the established facts of the Nazi genocide of European Jewry. Holocaust denial and distortion are forms of anti-Semitism. They are generally motivated by hatred of Jews and build on the claim that the Holocaust was invented or exaggerated by Jews as part of a plot to advance Jewish interests.

These views perpetuate long-standing antisemitic stereotypes, hateful charges that were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the Holocaust. Holocaust denial, distortion, and misuse all undermine the understanding of history.

Why It’s Important To Confront Denial

The Nazi persecution of the Jews began with hateful words, escalated to discrimination and dehumanization, and culminated in genocide. The consequences for Jews were horrific, but suffering and death was not limited to them. Millions of others were victimized, displaced, forced into slave labor, and murdered. The Holocaust shows that when one group is targeted, all people are vulnerable.

Today, in a world witnessing rising anti-Semitism, awareness of this fact is critical. A society that tolerates anti-Semitism is susceptible to other forms of racism, hatred, and oppression.

The denial or distortion of history is an assault on truth and understanding. Comprehension and memory of the past are crucial to how we understand ourselves, our society, and our goals for the future. Intentionally denying or distorting the historical record threatens communal understanding of how to safeguard democracy and individual rights.

Media Misconceptions

Most “Media Misconceptions” fall into one of two categories: those that speak about the very character of Israel, and those that focus on the actions of Israel, specifically with the Palestinians. We have assembled some of the most common misconceptions in both groups.

MEDIA MISCONCEPTION #1: Zionism is a racist ideology

Misconceptions on the Character of Israel

Response: 

Zionism is the Jewish national movement of rebirth and renewal in the land of Israel—the historical birthplace of the Jewish people. The yearning to return to Zion, the biblical term for both the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, has been the cornerstone of Jewish religious life since the Jewish exile from the land two thousand years ago, and is embedded in Jewish prayer, ritual, literature and culture. Rooted in the liberal principles of freedom, democracy, equality, and social justice, Zionism is fundamentally opposed to racism. Israel is a color-blind society, comprised of Jews and non-Jews from at least 100 different countries from diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds.

Israel’s Law of Return, which some critics of Israel accuse of being “racist,” is for Jews, a potent testimonial to the safe and free haven they will always have in the State of Israel after centuries of persecution and isolation. Israel’s uniqueness as a country which grants automatic citizenship to Jews (as well as their non-Jewish immediate family members) who seek to settle there is in no way racist. Individuals ineligible for automatic citizenship under the Law of Return are eligible for Israeli citizenship under regular procedures equivalent to such requirements in other countries.

The false equation of “Zionism equals racism” has its origins in the passage of the Arab and Soviet-sponsored United Nations resolution of November 10, 1975 which declared Zionism a “form of racism and racial discrimination.” The highly politicized resolution was aimed at denying Israel its political legitimacy by attacking its moral basis for existence. The resolution, which U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan described as a “low point” in the history of the U.N., was finally repealed on December 16, 1991. Unfortunately, there have been numerous efforts by Arab representatives at international conferences to reintroduce this heinous equation, most recently at the 2001 United Nations Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

Source: Anti-Defamation League; www.israelaustin.com/israelnow/inaccuraciesaboutisrael6.asp

MEDIA MISCONCEPTION #2: Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is similar to the treatment of blacks in apartheid South Africa

Response:

Even before the State of Israel was established, Jewish leaders consciously sought to avoid the situation that prevailed in South Africa. As David Ben-Gurion told Palestinian nationalist Musa Alami in 1934: We do not want to create a situation like that which exists in South Africa, where the whites are the owners and rulers, and the blacks are the workers. If we do not do all kinds of work, easy and hard, skilled and unskilled, if we become merely landlords, then this will not be our homeland.

Today, within Israel, Jews are a majority but the Arab minorities are full citizens with voting rights and representation in the government. Under apartheid, black South Africans could not vote and were not citizens of the country in which they formed the overwhelming majority of the population.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories—won by Israel in a defensive war forced upon it by its neighbors—is different. The security requirements of the nation, and a violent insurrection in the territories, forced Israel to impose restrictions on Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that were not necessary inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The Palestinians in the territories typically dispute Israel’s right to exist, whereas blacks did not seek the destruction of South Africa, only the apartheid regime.

If Israel were to give Palestinians full citizenship, it would mean the territories had been annexed.[Webster’s Dictionary: Annex—to take possession of a territory and incorporate it.] No Israel government has been prepared to take that step. Instead, through negotiation, Israel agreed to give the Palestinians increasing authority over their own affairs. It is likely that a final settlement will allow most Palestinians to become citizens of their own state.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. None of this was true for South African Blacks.

Source: Anti-Defamation League; www.israelaustin.com/israelnow/inaccuraciesaboutisrael6.asp

MEDIA MISCONCEPTION #3: As a self-described “Jewish State,” Israel is by nature an undemocratic and discriminatory country

Response:

People feel uncomfortable referring to Israel as a Jewish State because it suggests a Theocracy—i.e., a government run by priests or men claiming to know the will of God. Israel is NOT a Theocracy. It is governed by laws drafted by a democratically-elected parliament. It is influenced by Jewish values and adheres to many Jewish religious customs like Shabbat and holidays, but this is no different than the United States and many other “Christian” nations that are shaped by Judeo-Christian values and celebrate Christmas and Easter as national holidays.

Democracy, not religion, is the cornerstone of the State of Israel.As exemplified by its Declaration of Independence, Israel guarantees that its government will be “for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, peace as envisaged by the Prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”1When its Declaration of Independence was

being written, much debate surrounded the issue as to whether they would even mention the name of God in this foundational legal document of their nation’s birth; the religious Jews felt it was essential, while the nonreligious Jews felt it would infringe upon the FREEDOM OF RELIGION that Israel was to model in a sea of religious intolerance. The result is that God is NOT mentioned by name in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, and is only indirectly referred to as “The Rock of Israel.”

Israel has no state religion and ALL faiths enjoy freedom of worship.Unfortunately, Israel is attacked for its Jewish character, yet the twenty-one Arab States—that have Islam as their official religion and do not allow religious freedom—are regarded as legitimate. It is not unusual that one community should be a majority within a nation and seek to maintain that status; this is true for almost every nation. Moreover, societies usually reflect the cultural identity of the majority. “India and Pakistan were established at the same time as Israel through a violent partition, but no one believes that these nations are illegitimate because one is predominantly Hindu and the other has a Muslim majority, or that these nations shouldn’t be influenced by those communities (e.g., that cows in India should not be treated as sacred.)”2

Basically, the Jewish people are a nation with a shared origin, religion, culture, language, and history . . . like almost all of the other nations of the world; such as Australia, Germany, Norway, and so on. “And why shouldn’t the Jewish people have a state? No one suggests that the Arabs are not entitled to a nation (and they have not one, but 22**) of their own . . . or that Catholics are not entitled to a state (Vatican City) headed by a theocrat (the Pope). To suggest that Zionism, the nationalist movement of the Jewish people, is the only form of nationalism that is illegitimate is pure bigotry.”3

1 www.israelaustin.com/israelnow/inaccuraciesaboutisrael6.asp

2 Myths & Facts Online: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell G. Bard [www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org]

3 Myths & Facts Online: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell G. Bard [www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org]

MEDIA MISCONCEPTION #4: Israeli treatment of the Palestinians today is comparable to the treatment of Nazis toward the Jews, and policies of “ethnic cleansing”or “genocide”

In a speech to visiting delegates of Europe on Dec. 12, 2004 by Arnold Roth—and reported in Unity Coalition for Israel on December 14, 2004—it was stated that “a German survey of German-born Germans found that more than half think there is no difference between Israel’s current treatment of the Palestinian Arabs and what the Nazis did to the Jews. 68 percent of Germans believe that Israel is waging a ‘war of extermination’ against the Palestinians.”

Response:

Absolutely no comparison can be made between the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews. The Nazis’ “final solution” to the “Jewish problem”was the deliberate and systematic extermination of European Jewry. Hitler’s final solution led to the calculated, pre-meditated murder of six million Jews and the destruction of many thriving Jewish communities across Europe. Israeli policies toward the Palestinians are dictated solely by its need to defend its population and combat threats to Israel’s security, while promoting a negotiated resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nor can Israeli actions or policies be characterized as acts of ethnic cleansing or genocide.Nothing of the sort is occurring, or has occurred.

At the outbreak of violence in September 2000, 99% of the Palestinian population was living under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, and not under Israeli administration. While there have been tragic casualties through this conflict and instances when Israel has felt compelled to impose harsh measures in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there is no Israeli ideology, policy or plan to persecute, exterminate or expel the Palestinian population. Labeling Israeli treatment of the Palestinians as akin to the Holocaust, “ethnic cleansing” or “genocide” is an attempt to conjure up an emotional reaction through inflammatory rhetoric.

Those that make the comparison between the Jewish state to the Nazis and Hitler, who perpetrated the greatest and largest act of anti-Semitism in world history, have not chosen this comparison innocently or dispassionately. It is a charge that is purposefully directed at Jews in an effort to associate the victims of the Nazis’ crimes with the Nazi perpetrators, and serves to diminish the significance and uniqueness of the Holocaust. To make such a comparison is such an act of blatant hostility toward Jews and Jewish history that it clearly bespeaks of a deeper hatred.

Source: www.israelaustin.com/israelnow/inaccuraciesaboutisrael6.asp

MEDIA MISCONCEPTION #5: Israel discriminates against its Arab citizens

Response:

Israel is one of the most open societies in the world. [Out of a population of 7,282,000, Jews make up 75.5%, Muslims 16.2%, Druze 1.6% and unaffiliated citizens 3.9%. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_groups_in_Israel) As of May 2008, the percentage of Israeli residents who are Arab is 19.8%], about the same as it was when the country was established in 1948.(www.palestinefacts.org/pf_basics.php,2002)

“Arabs in Israel have equal voting rights; in fact, it is one of the few places in the Middle East where Arab women may vote. [In 2001,] Arabs held 10 seats in the 120-seat

Knesset. Israeli Arabs have also held various government posts, including one who served as Israel’s Consul-General in Atlanta. Ariel Sharon’s cabinet includes the first Arab minister, Salah Tarif, a Druze who serves as a minister without portfolio. Arabic, like Hebrew, is an official language in Israel. More than 300,000 Arab children attended Israeli schools. At the time of Israel’s founding, there was one Arab high school in the country. Today there are hundreds of Arab schools.

The sole legal distinction between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is that the latter are not required to serve in the Israeli Army. This is to spare Arab citizens the need to take up arms against their brethren. Nevertheless, Bedouins have served in paratroop units, and other Arabs have volunteered for military duty. Compulsory military service is applied to the Druze and Circassian communities at their own request.

Some economic and social gaps between Israeli Jews and Arabs result from the latter not serving in the military.Veterans qualify for many benefits not available to non-veterans. Moreover, the army aids in the socialization process.

On the other hand, Arabs do have an advantage in obtaining some jobs during the years Israelis are in the military. In addition, industries like construction and trucking have come to be dominated by Israeli Arabs.

. . . The United States has been independent for [over 230] years and still has not integrated all of its diverse communities. Even today, nearly 40 years after civil rights legislation was adopted, discrimination has not been eradicated. It should not be surprising that Israel has not solved all of its social problems in only [60] years.”

Source: Anti-Defamation League; www.israelaustin.com/israelnow/inaccuraciesaboutisrael6.asp

Surge in anti-Semitism, but also in Aliyah

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Making You an Educated Ambassador

It is our intent that through the Israel Impact Online Courses every student becomes an educated ambassador for God’s purposes involving Israel. As Christians we are commanded to stand with Israel and pray for this nation, as God has not forgotten Her. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may those who love you be secure.” – Psalm 122:6

Many Christians, especially in the United States, are unaware of the acts of discrimination, harassment, and violence against Jews and their homes, schools, cemeteries and synagogues throughout Europe and Canada. This is not surprising since much of the news media writes little about it, and when they do, it is often found in the back of the paper. Many Christians are also shockingly unaware of the anti-Semitism that is happening with even more regularity on various college campuses throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. The Anti-Defamation League has verified countless incidents of anti-Semitism against Israel and harassment of Jewish students even at many “normal” U.S. colleges, such as the University of California, Colombia University, University of Oregon, University of Denver, University of Colorado-Boulder, San Francisco State University, and Rutgers in N.J., to name a few. It is as if a “politically correct madness” seems to have taken over most North American and European universities, filling campus life with a steady stream of anti-Israel conferences, demonstrations, petitions, debates, and articles.

It doesn’t seem to matter that much of the anti-Israel symbolism is based upon distorted facts, half-truths, and the misuse of language, all used by the media to sell more papers, because very few people are providing any ALTERNATIVE voice on these issues. When Israel does speak out, it is primarily dismissed by the world as defensive and self-serving, so we who understand God’s heart for Israel and the Jewish people must speak out on their behalf. We can no longer be silent.

As believers it is extremely important that we are able to engage in intelligent conversations with nonbelievers about our solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people and present them with an alternative view in language to which they can relate. We need to do the same with many people inside the Church as well. So often, people do not know the facts and when we are able to calmly present accurate statistics and information to them that support our position, they usually will listen and their viewpoints can change. If we can discredit just one false belief that they have about Israel with the truth, it then casts doubt upon all of their other false beliefs about Israel, and we begin to change the world around us . . . one person at a time.

QUIZ: Understanding Anti-semitism

Read the quiz trivia questions below and find out what you’ve learned by clicking on your answer!