Anti-Semitism false accusations that against the Jews.
Anti-Semitism is a concept that began in the 18th and 19centuries and is still evident in the modern world. However, today it has takena new shape that is quite different from that of the ancient times.
Somepolitical institutions and parties have devised new means of promotinganti-Semitism. Even scholars have taken a significant role in supporting thefraudulent theories that about the Jews and made people to believe that theJews were disobedient citizens. In the nineteenth century, scholars, philosophers,and artists among other important people in the society also took an activepart in promoting anti-Semitism. The first movement to give anti-Semitism wasthe Nazi party formed in 1919, which served to increase the level of hatredamong the Jews.
The term anti-Semitism refers to the prejudice against or hatredof Jews. The Jews have faced different forms of atrocities from other ethnicgroups. Some of the harsh discriminatory occasions that the Jews have gonethrough include the Holocaust, state-sponsored persecution, and murder of theEuropean Jews by the Nazi Germany allies between 1933 and 1945 (Robert 115).The term anti-Semitism originated from the German journalist Wilhelm Marr, whoused it to denote the hatred of the Jews. The term also refers to the hatred ofdifferent liberal cosmopolitan and international political trends of the 18thand 19th century since it was associated with the Jews (Dave 216).
The trend ofthe attack on the Jews included the civil rights, constitutional democracy,socialism, finance, capitalism, free trade and pacifism. Before the modern era,the specific hatred of Jews led to the development of the term anti-Semitic. Ittook different forms of manifestations such as Programs, and violent riotsagainst the Jews (David 87). Governments and authorities were responsible forthe riots against the Jews. On the other hand, Pogroms were forms of violencepromoted by blood libels, who spread false accusations that against the Jews.
In the modern era, anti-Semitism is still evident and ispromoted by political influence. However, it has taken a new route as it isinfluenced by politics in different countries. For example, there were someanti-Semitic political parties in Germany, France, and Austria (Alan 34). Therewere some scholars who also developed theories of anti-Semitic fraudulenttheories. They played a significant role in supporting the fraudulent theoriesthat about the Jews and made people to believe that the Jews were disobedientcitizens. In the nineteenth century, scholars, philosophers, and artists amongother important people in the society also took an active part in promotinganti-Semitism.
The first movement to give anti-Semitism was the Nazi partyformed in 1919 (Gary and Sharon 119). Adolf Hitler was an influential politicalleader of the Nazi and managed to make his party popular by passing anti-Jewishpropaganda. Hitler used his book, Mein Kampf to pass the propaganda against theJewish communities. He was successful in his mission as millions of people readhis literature and adopted his ideas. True to the fact, this book formed thebasis of holocaust, which was an extreme expression of anti-Semitism. In thetwenty first century, anti-Semitism has resurfaced (Francis 78).
The prejudice and hatredagainst the Jews, and that took different forms, did not end with theholocaust. The most unique thing with the modern day anti-Semitism is that itis deeply rooted in the society and takes some forms such as verbalanti-Semitism. This type of prejudice is evident among the high officials andintellectuals. In some cases, there exist physical attacks by the common streetthug, who target the Jewish communities.
The modern form of anti-Semitism isvery evident in the Western Europe and among Islamic Nations (Dave 17). Even inthe United States (US), one of the countries termed as being very friendly tothe Jews, there exists anti-Semitism promoted by some groups like theright-wing extremists and ant-Israeli activists. In the Muslin countries, there exists a high rate of anti-Semitism.Presence of the Israel nation in the Middle East is not a welcomed fact by theMuslim nations.
The Muslim governments views Israeli as a country that lacks amoral or historical validation (Howard, 56). This kind of radical trait haspromoted tension between the Jews and Muslims. The Jews fail to recognize theauthority of the Muslim communities (David 12). On the other hand, the Muslimalso fails to recognize the authority of the Jews. The current violence evidentin the Middle East is a good example of anti-Semitism. In the extreme cases,the violence between the two religious groups has resulted in Muslim animositytowards the Jewish communities.
For the Jews, anti-Semitism is considered a paradoxical issueassociated some complex phenomena. The Jews have had a feeling of havingmanaged to experience directly the complexities associated with the phenomenonof anti-Semitism. There are various definitions that have been offered withregard to this phenomenon and they range from broad to specific descriptions.Broadly, anti-Semitism has been described as a phenomenon that denotes variousforms of hostilities that were historically manifested against the Jews.
However, a narrower description refers to this phenomenon as actions that wereonly able to go against certain specific boundaries such physical violence andlegal restrictions.
