Anti-Semitism
On Monday evening we went to a charity dinner for the Laniado Hospital, which is a private religious-run hospital in Netanya. The dinner speaker was Prof. Robert Wistrich, Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and Head of the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism. In his talk he referred back to his work on the "oldest hatred" (a phrase that he invented) and analyzed the causes of modern day anti-Semitism.
He focussed on the "chosenness" of the Jews as a basis for the antagonism of poor, ignorant populations that they lived amongst, that sparked envy and irrational hatred. In fact, there was a deliberate attempt by Christians, and Muslims in their turn, to replace the Jews as the "chosen" of God. This required of course, that Judaism and the Jews cease to exist, and the logical conclusion was the need to kill all those who did not or would not convert. Ironically the erosion of English chosenness in the UK has led to a loss of religious belief and tolerance there.
Can there be anti-Semitism without Jews? Of course there can and there has been. For example, Jews were expelled from England in 1290 and only allowed to return in the late 1600's by Oliver Cromwell, but during the period when there were officially no Jews in England, there was still rampant anti-Semitism, for example this is reflected in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice." In Poland after the end of WWII the extent of anti-Semitism did not wane and there were attacks on Jews who returned from the Holocaust in Kielce for example. Anti-Semitism was also evident in fascist, communist and secular democratic countries, showing an amazing vitality and ubiquity independent of ruling system.
In a sense, "Zionism" has become a metaphor for the predicament of the Jews, explaining its resurgence in modern times. Whatever we do, especially if we are successful, there is no escaping the hatred and the rejection. If there are Jews there is bound to be anti-Semitism, a visceral hatred that is racist and not merely theological, and we must continue to deal with it.
He focussed on the "chosenness" of the Jews as a basis for the antagonism of poor, ignorant populations that they lived amongst, that sparked envy and irrational hatred. In fact, there was a deliberate attempt by Christians, and Muslims in their turn, to replace the Jews as the "chosen" of God. This required of course, that Judaism and the Jews cease to exist, and the logical conclusion was the need to kill all those who did not or would not convert. Ironically the erosion of English chosenness in the UK has led to a loss of religious belief and tolerance there.
Can there be anti-Semitism without Jews? Of course there can and there has been. For example, Jews were expelled from England in 1290 and only allowed to return in the late 1600's by Oliver Cromwell, but during the period when there were officially no Jews in England, there was still rampant anti-Semitism, for example this is reflected in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice." In Poland after the end of WWII the extent of anti-Semitism did not wane and there were attacks on Jews who returned from the Holocaust in Kielce for example. Anti-Semitism was also evident in fascist, communist and secular democratic countries, showing an amazing vitality and ubiquity independent of ruling system.
In a sense, "Zionism" has become a metaphor for the predicament of the Jews, explaining its resurgence in modern times. Whatever we do, especially if we are successful, there is no escaping the hatred and the rejection. If there are Jews there is bound to be anti-Semitism, a visceral hatred that is racist and not merely theological, and we must continue to deal with it.
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:42 AM
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