Introduction
Antisemitism has been described as "history's oldest hatred." Through the ages, it has adapted to the prevailing biases and prejudices, shaped and encouraged by inherited bigotries. In the course of time as well, it has assumed other forms to echo the everchanging worries and concerns of an evolving society. Seen in this light, antisemitism is today’s best example of a historical bias that experts say dates back to antiquity and medieval times.
In present-day society, antisemitism manifests itself in every element of public life. We can mention the following: the spread of antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories, often through social media, physical attacks against Jewish individuals, vandalism of Jewish properties, discrimination against Jewish people, Holocaust denial, antisemitic political ideologies and movements, online harassment and threats, the perpetuation of negative stereotypes in media, literature, and popular culture, and boycotts of Jewish businesses.
However, by concentrating only on modern antisemitism, we overlook an important and tragic fact: antisemitism has a long history. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of Atlantic Monthly magazine put it succinctly: "What we are witnessing is an ancient and deeply rooted antipathy toward Jews that is resurfacing as the barbaric horrors of WWII fade from our collective consciousness."
Wilhelm Marr
In 1879, the German agitator Wilhelm Marr used the term “anti-Semitism” to characterize anti-Jewish acts taking place in Central Europe. Nazi anti-Semitism, culminating in the Holocaust, was racial in nature. It targeted Jews based on alleged biological characteristics, particularly those who had converted to other faiths or whose parents had converted. This kind of anti-Jewish racism emerged in the nineteenth century with the development of so-called "scientific racism" and varies from prior anti-Jewish biases.
In 1879, Marr published his polemic, “Der Sieg des Judentums über das Germentum” (The Victory of Jewry over Germandom). Marr seemed to be a secular modern-day guy. He specifically denied the baseless but long-held Christian accusations leveled against Jews, such as deicide or the ritual slaughter of Christian infants.
Instead, Marr relied on the popular ideas of the French historian Ernest Renan (who viewed history as a battle to form the world between Jewish Semites and Aryan Indo-Europeans). The Jewish threat to Germany, according to Marr, is racial. He blamed it on their immutable and destructive nature, as well as their "tribal peculiarities" and "alien essence."
Antisemitism in the Ancient World
In the ancient world, anti-Jewish attitudes persisted and gained energy with the accusation that it was the Jews who killed Jesus. Some scholars would look to the pre-Christian world and see in the attitudes of ancient Greeks and Romans the origins of an enduring hostility.
Religious Studies scholar Peter Schäfer believes the exclusive nature of the monotheistic Jewish faith, the seeming arrogant sense of being a chosen people, a refusal to intermarry, a Sabbath observance, and the practice of circumcision were all things that marked Jews out in antiquity for a particular hatred.
It is not difficult to find evidence of anti-Semitism in ancient texts. Cicero, the politician and lawyer, warned a jury once of "the odium of Jewish gold" and how they "stick together" and are "influential in informal assemblies."
Tacitus, the Roman historian who lived between 56 and 120 AD, despised "base and abominable" Jewish rituals and was extremely troubled by his countrymen who had abandoned their ancient gods and converted to Judaism. Juvenal, a Roman poet and satire who lived between c.55 and 130 AD, expressed his displeasure with the behavior of converts to Judaism and criticized Jews in general as drunk and unruly.
Antisemitism in the Middle Ages
Throughout much of Europe throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were accused of kidnapping and murdering Christian children as well as spreading sickness. As a result, anti-Semitic attitudes spread. As Jews started to participate in European society at the start of the modern era in the 15th century, negative rumors and speculations about their power and influence started to spread. These attitudes would develop into antisemitism.
Antisemitic views then began to be mirrored in medieval Europe's economic, social, and political life. Jews were denied citizenship and privileges, were forbidden from holding positions in government and the military, and were barred from joining guilds and professions.
To be sure, certain European monarchs and cultures, notably in the early Middle Ages, tolerated and accepted Jews. And it would be a mistake to envision Jews as confronting a constant and unending expression of persecution throughout this time.
In 1096, however, First Crusade knights unleashed a wave of anti-Semitic violence throughout France and the Holy Roman Empire, including murders at Worms, Trier, and Metz. Unfounded claims of ritual murder, host desecration, and blood libel (allegations of Jews murdering Christian newborns at Passover to get blood for unleavened bread) surfaced in the 12th century.
Another infamous example of these allegations, the murder of William of Norwich, were perpetuated in England. At any rate, the same claims were intermittently revived throughout the medieval and contemporary eras all over eastern and central Europe.
As European business expanded in the late Middle Ages, Jews rose to prominence in trade, banking, and moneylending. These Jewish financial successes inspired widespread jealousy.
As a consequence of economic and religious intolerance, Jews were forcibly expelled from various countries and localities, including England (1290), France (14th century), Germany (1350s), Portugal (1496), Provence (1512), and the Papal States (1569).
Rising persecution in Spain resulted in the evacuation of the country's substantial and long-established Jewish community in 1492. Only Christians who had converted to Judaism were permitted to stay, and anybody suspected of practicing Judaism was prosecuted by the Spanish Inquisition. As a consequence of this massive exodus, Jews left Western Europe for Turkey and then proceeded to Poland and Russia.
The Christian Roots of Antisemitism
Antisemitism has its deepest roots in Christianity. The most notable claim of deicide in history is that Jews should be blamed for Jesus Christ's death. Deicide, for those who are unfamiliar with the phrase, refers to the act of murdering a deity or heavenly creature. In historical and religious contexts, deicide has often been used to describe the killing of a person who has divine or godlike characteristics.
Deicide has been leveled at the Jewish people, who have been historically and erroneously indicted for the Crucifixion by figures like Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis in the 2nd century, and Ambrose, the bishop of Mediolanum, in the Middle Ages. This accusation is based on a New Testament statement from Matthew 27:25: "His blood be on us, and on our children." The "blood curse" is another name for this. Subsequent readings of John's Gospel aided in this demonization.
Suffice it to say that the claim that the Jews killed Jesus is a baseless and discredited myth that has been commonly used to fuel anti-Semitic sentiment. It has contributed to the dangerous perpetuation of antisemite hatred and intolerance. It has been categorically debunked by the Catholic Church, protestant churches, biblical scholars, educational institutions, and religious leaders.
When Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation in 1517, he failed to convert many Jews. Luther gradually developed a disdain for Jews, which grew into hatred. He soon started to advocate violence against them. "Their synagogues… should be set on fire, and what does not burn must be covered over with earth so that no man will ever see stone or cinder of them again," he went on to explain. "Their homes should likewise be demolished and destroyed. All of their prayer books should be confiscated."
The deicide undercurrent of antisemitism was rejected by the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Its influential text titled Nostra Aetate, or the “Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions” denied collective Jewish responsibility for Jesus' murder.
Protestant denominations like the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Church of Scotland, the Church of England, the Lutheran World Federation, the Alliance of Baptists, and the United Church of Canada have likewise denounced the accusation of deicide.
The antisemitic expressions of the past have been modified by their advocates to suit present times. They are being spread in countries with or without Jews, online, in textbooks in the Arab world, and in both marginal and mainstream discourse.
Antisemitism in the Modern Period
Toward the close of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Reformation resurrected anti-Jewish laws and reinforced the ghettoized isolation of Jews in Roman Catholic countries. As a result, there was no abatement in the plight of Jews in Europe. Jews continued to be subjected to mass murders consistently, such as those that occurred in the mid-17th century during the Khmelnitsky Uprising. This revolt was a struggle between Eastern Orthodox Ukrainians and the ruling Roman Catholic Poles
During this rebellion, Jews, were often seen as representatives of the Polish regime and, being a distinct religious and ethnic minority, were convenient scapegoats for the troubles of the time. These killings rivaled the worst Jewish massacres in the Middle Ages. In any event, Jews were persecuted in Western Europe until the Enlightenment lessened their plight in the late 18th century.
Much work remains to be done to rid the world of deicide. It is time and again being revived. Instances of deicide revival can sometimes surface in contemporary culture and media.
A recent example includes a social media post by actor Jamie Foxx, which implied the age-old antisemitic charge that the Jews killed Jesus. "They killed this dude named Jesus...," said Foxx in an Instagram post. "What do you think they're going to do to you?" Some took this as reinforcing the antisemitic stereotype that Jews were responsible for Jesus' killing.
The post drew criticism from various quarters, including antisemitism watchdogs and social media users. The actor later deleted the post and issued an apology.
"The deicide charge, falsely implicating Jews in Jesus' death, has fueled antisemitic hatred for centuries," the American Jewish Committee (AJC) reacted while praising Foxx's apology. The AJC underscored the importance of understanding the impact of words and the need for public figures to communicate carefully to avoid misunderstandings or the revival of harmful stereotypes.
The discourse kindled by Foxx's post led to further explicit antisemitic statements from other social media users, demonstrating how quickly such sentiments can be reignited in the public sphere.
This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of continued vigilance and education to combat the persistence of such accusations within the broader issue of antisemitism or even anti-Zionism.
Anti-Zionists, for example, have recycled the allegation of Jews being the killers of Christ by wrongly equating the death of Jesus to Palestinians being "crucified" by the Israel Defense Forces in the current Israel-Hamas war.
References
Anti-Semitism | History, Meaning, Facts, & Examples. (2023, December 17). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/anti-Semitism/Anti-Semitism-in-medieval-Europe
Berenbaum, M. (2023, December 14). Anti-Semitism | History, Meaning, Facts, & Examples. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/anti-Semitism
Grant, K. (2023, August 6). Jamie Foxx 'sorry for causing offence' to Jewish community with 'they killed Jesus' post. The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.thejc.com
Jewish Telegraphic Agency. (2023). In antisemitism discourse around Jamie Foxx's 'Jesus' post, evidence of a 'culture clash'. Retrieved from https://www.jta.org
Martin Luther - “The Jews & Their Lies.” (n.d.). Copyright 2023. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot
N. (2011, March 4). Pope: “Jews Are Not Responsible For Killing Jesus.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2011/03/04/134264425/Pope-Jews-Are-Not-Responsible-For-Killing-Jesus
Phillips, G. (n.d.). Antisemitism: how the origins of history’s oldest hatred still hold sway today. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/antisemitism-how-the-origins-of-historys-oldest-hatred-still-hold-sway-today-87878
Reddit - Dive into anything. (n.d.). https://www.reddit.com/r/Israel/comments/pftq92/jesus_was_a_palestinian_is_a_revival_of_the/?onetap_auto=true
Understanding the Origins of Antisemitism. (2023, November 13). AJC. https://www.ajc.org/news/understanding-the-origins-of-antisemitism
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