In one of our other discussions a poster gave a quote about
Jews being responsible for Bolshevism. It got me thinking
about how quite a few people blame the Jews for so many
things which are not accurate and I thought it may be
interesting to see how others feel and why.

Jews have experienced more expulsions from various countries
in Europe. And the explanations of Jew hatred have been varied
ranging from 1) economic reasons - that they possess too much
wealth and power. 2) That they claim to be the "chosen people."
3) Scapegoats - they are an easy group to single out and blame.
4) Deicide - they killed Jesus. 5) Outsiders - they're different
to us and don't fit in. 6) Racial theory - they're an inferior
race. And the list goes on.

But how accurate are these explanations?
In my view - not at all.

There's a joke that says the history of almost all of the Jewish
holidays can be summed up in this way:

"They wanted to kill us. We won. Let's eat!"

Then there's an old Yiddish saying :

"If one person calls you a donkey. Ignore him. If two people
call you a donkey - buy a saddle."

There's more at the following link:

http://simpletoremember.com/vitals/Why_Do_People_Hate_The_Jews.htm

Hi Foxy,

That's because its the "Christian" thing to do. For those people who hate, aboriginals, non-whites, gays, Muslims, socialists, progressives, liberals, women, etc etc, it easy to add Jews to the list. Anyway, I'm sure the forums gang of haters, our merry old men from the nut job department will be along shortly to explain why they hate anyone whose not like them.

Dear Paul,

I'm hoping that we'll be able to get rid of some of the
myths surrounding Jews.

I remember playing the role of Portia in Shakespeare's -
"The Merchant of Venice." And learning Portia's speech off
by heart - "The quality of mercy..." Of course this play
fed into many people's prejudices of Jews. And poor Shylock
got a bad rep. Of course we don't know Shakespeare's
intentions - but one question did come to mind - while
working on the play -

Why is Shylock - the Jewish character given the most
humanising speech in the play?

I loved it.

"Hath not a Jew eyes?"

"Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections,
passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons,
subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer,
as a Christian is?"

"If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not
laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us
shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that."

When Shylock asks these questions there's a shift; you have an
allegiance with him, and I don't think you ever really recover
from it.

In these few humanizing lines - the curtain is pulled back
and you get a glimpse of Shylock's character - what he's telling
his Christian enemies is - "I'm going to mirror back to
you what you really look like."

This could actually be an interesting discussion to explore, if it can be kept respectful.

Usually when any criticism of Israel or Jews are concerned, the discussion is shut down with claims that the person criticising is anti-semitic, and so the the question you asked 'Why Do People Hate The Jews?' is never actually fully explored.
- It's as if the topic itself is 'not to be discussed'.

I'm going to have to take some time to think about how I will lay my thoughts out, as I understand this topic and all it may entail can be a very sensitive topic.
I don't want any issues I raise to be considered racist or borne from hatred, but moreso from the perspective of a child's innocent curiosity.
- I certainly do not wish to upset anyone, nor do I wish to be accused of hatred if I am to take part in exploring this question.

One of the bigger issues I noticed that was missing from your short list was the Palestinian issue.
- This is probably one issue in which Israel gets a certain degree of criticism.

I've wanted to know that for a very long time. Weren't they already unpopular when Jesus was still a little boy ?

Armchair Critic,

I look forward to your contribution to this discussion.
And I should have included the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict in my list. There's probably a few other things
I forgot. However - please feel free to comment on that
as it is relevant - because some people do feel that any
criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. A view I don't agree
with.

Indyvidual,

I haven't looked at how far back the hatred of Jews goes.
Perhaps you could do that for us? And also tell us why?