Anti-Semitism.

Anti-semitism has a long and ancient history going back to the time of Christ when the Sanhedrin ordered Christ be killed in exchange for the life of a thief.  Herod the Great a prime leader to the Jews was single handedly responsible in the ordering of the deaths of all the first born.  When Christ was crucified the Jews were cursed for having his blood be placed upon them.  From this time forth, Christians came to regard the Jews with suspicion for their role in the murder of Christ the deity.  A second cause of ancient anti-Semitism was the involvement of Jews in black magic, deviltry, demonolatry, and satanism.  This form of anti-Semitism was provoked by Jewish desecration of Christian images, Jewish devil worship, and the nefarious activities of the Kabbalists.  Along with witchcraft which was often linked with Jewish devil worship, this form of anti-Semitism proliferated throughout the middle ages.  Jews were seen as sorcerers who practised evil arts and were viewed as enemies of the Christian faith.  However, it was precisely because Jews were known to be sorcerers that kings and rulers often sought them out to serve in their courts as physicians, astrologers, and advisers.  This prompted a third form of anti-Semitism in which people viewed the Jews with suspicion because of their involvement with kings and rulers.  Further, Jews were seen as barbaric in their rites of purim and were frequently blamed for blood sacrifice, desecrating the host, and ritual murder which they often were involved in (especially in Eastern Europe and Eastern Germany).  Jews were related to ghouls and vampires, legends from Eastern Europe who haunted graveyards and conspired against the villagers.

Modern anti-Semitism began in accusations against Jews which took two forms.  First, it became clear that Jews were involved in radical activities and revolutionary movements.  This was seen especially in Russia as the ideas of German Jewish philosophers (such as Marx and also others) were brought into Russian society in an effort to overthrow the Russian tsar.  Jews were linked up with the Illuminati and other Freemasons who had been responsible for the French revolution and advocated anarchy against all earthly governments, kings, and popes.  Russian Jews came to embrace Bolshevism and posed as a new intelligentsia (given the natural Jewish intelligence).  Thus, Jews came to be seen as a driving force behind radicalism, socialism, and communism when they emerged and were seen this way especially by the Nazis and other right wing movements (even in America following the Second World War and during the Cold War).

A second reason for modern anti-Semitism concerned the involvement of Jews in finance and internationalism.  In the late medieval period, as Jews had come to play a new role in their involvement as advisers to kings and nobles it became clear that a certain group of Jews were coming to take on the characteristics of an elite caste.  In the late medieval period and throughout the Renaissance, gold came to take on an obsessive characteristic.  This was seen in Spain and Portugal especially in which gold became an obsession and monarchs commissioned voyagers to travel across oceans to obtain it.  In both these nations, Jews came to play an important role, but were persecuted by the church during the Spanish Inquisition.  This led many Jews to take on Christian names, some even joining the church or becoming priests and bishops to escape persecution.  These Jews became known as crypto-Jews or Marranos and hid themselves from religious persecution.  During the Renaissance in Italy, nobles became obsessed with gold and much gold was attained by the Vatican.  In the Crusades the Knights Templar had gone to the middle east and had come back with forbidden knowledge which they used to become involved in the banking industry.  In those days in Florence and Venice a merchant class began to appear and thus it became necessary for banking to evolve.  Jews of course were to play a principle role in the importance of banking.  In Europe, major Jewish families became involved in banking and finance.  One of the richest families to emerge from the middle ages was the Rothschild clan (which still continues to play some role in world affairs even in our day).  The Rothschilds moved to London and became rich through stoking the flames of war by betting on both sides (and were blamed for betting on both sides of the Franco-Prussian war).  London became a center of finance (and later New York City) and Jews were heavily involved in both sides in the financial sector.  During the First and Second world wars, populist opposition emerged to Jews in New York and London as it was claimed they were stoking the flames of war.  This populist and pacifist opposition to Jews sprang from an ancient tradition.  Many of these pacifists came to embrace the Nazis in their opposition to international Jewry.  Jews were seen as international conspirators who at once were heavily involved in finance and stoked wars by investing in both sides to be assured of winning through bloodshed as well as being involved in radical movements and communism in Russia.  Jews were blamed for killing the Russian tsar and creating a communist dictatorship in Russia.  Jews were also blamed for socialism and labour unrest during the heyday of industrial capitalism.

In the modern day, another form of anti-Semitism has arisen in that Jews are seen as having played a large role in the construction of nuclear weapons and thus as having played an important role in destroying the environment.  Radical environmentalists blamed Jewish physicists following the Second World War for bringing on nuclear catastrophe.  Further, the nation of Israel was deemed as harmful to world religions and cries against Zionism arose.  The Palestinians and other Arabs blamed the Jews for their troubles and Zionism was seen as a cause of world unrest and the source of war.

All of these forms of anti-Semitism may be seen in the modern world playing out.  Jews have long taken on a mythical nature in their claim to be God's Chosen people.  This mythical significance of the Jews is reflected in modern anti-Semitism which traces back to ancient times.