Breaking Down Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism is most likely the oldest form of racism in existence. It is also, in my opinion, the most ridiculous form of racism in existence. Followers of Judaism and ethnic Jews have contributed to society in great ways. They have been great scientists like Albert Einstein, and successful politicians like Ben Stein and Joe Lieberman. They have been great musicians such as Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Joel, and one of my favorite singers, Adam Duritz (lead singer of Counting Crows). They have also been very influential in things that are a bit less serious, like comic books. Some great comic book creators that are three of my favorites are Jack Kirby, Art Spiegelman, and Peter David. Although some would consider it stereotyping, they are also known today for being successful business men and women.

There are three main categories in modern society that Anti-Semites tend to fall into. Since this is a very historical subject, I will address them in chronological order. The earliest would be the Islamic extremist group. It all started in the Old Testament, when Abraham dismissed Ishmael, his eldest son of a handmaiden, Hagar, who was also dismissed. This was done after Abraham’s wife, Sarah witnessed Ishmael tormenting their son Isaac. Ishmael and his mother were not given any part of the promised land of Abraham and his descendents, while Isaac (who is one of the main patriarchs of Judaism) did. From ancient times to today, the descendents of Ishmael, who now make up a large amount of the Islamic extremists, fight the Jews for the promised land of Israel.

The next group would be the “Christian vengeance” group (skinheads, klu klux klan, whatever you prefer). Christ was put to death by the Roman appointed Governor, Pontius Pilot, after a crowd of Jews who considered Christ a false messiah, urged him to. This group came to be at some point after the death of Christ. Because Christ was put to death at a crowd of Jews’ urging, theses people consider Jews to be the murderers of their lord, and they desire vengeance for it.

The final group, whether it be Nazis themselves or the Neo-Nazis, are those who wish to purify the Human race, until there is one master race (Aryan). The race they consider to be the most inferior are the Jews. In fact, they consider them to be vermin. They rounded up and eventually killed over six-million Jews in work, and death camps. This event is infamously known as the Holocaust.

I will now explain why the grudges of the three main Anti-Semitic groups are so bewildering to me. The Islamic extremists still to this day hate and fight Jews for the simple reason that Jews are the descendents of the favored son of their great, great, great …. Grandfather Abraham. So essentially these Islamic extremists have been responsible for the deaths of millions because of their ancestor Ishmael’s sibling rivalry and abandonment issues connected to his father. And for some reason, they believe it is their responsibility to get for themselves, what they think Ishmael deserved.

The Christian “vengeance” group hates Jews because a group of Jews helped put Christ to death. They seem to just ignore a few very important things; one would be the fact that Christ himself was a Jew! Another would be that in Christianity, the main purpose of Christ’s life was to die! So they hate the very people that their lord and savior came from, and they hate them for helping him fulfill his destiny.

What makes the Nazi and Neo-Nazi group different from the previous groups, is that they aren’t religious, they’re “scientific”. They hate the Jews because they believe that they are the most inferior of all races. So since they believe that their race is superior, those that are they believe to be inferior deserve to die. When you look in history books and read about Jews during WWII, all you see is people in ghettos and concentration camps. You don’t see the way they were before the Holocaust. Something that I think most people tend to overlook is that the supposed inferior Jews were not a bunch of homeless, gypsy like vagabonds, living in slums and ghettos. They were bankers, and factory owners. They were musicians and artists. They were restaurant and shop owners.

My main issue with Anti-Semitism is this; Jews aren’t a bunch of un-motivated people. They aren’t a group of uneducated and unintelligent people. They aren’t a cultureless annoyance to the world. They were, and to this day are, contributors to society.