The Core Roots of Antisemitism 101

Given the vile resurgence of worldwide antisemitism, the need to examine the roots of this  demented disease is paramount. For clarity, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary,  the definition of the word, “antisemitism” is; hostility toward or discrimination against Jews  as a religious, ethnic, or racial group. 

Antisemitism goes back to biblical times –thousands of years ago. A practical starting  point for modern time antisemitic behavior is the year 70CE. That is the year the Romans conquered the Israelites and destroyed the Second Temple in Israel’s ancient eternal  capital, Jerusalem.  

The nation of Israel was composed of twelve tribes. The name of the entire people who are  now called Jews is derived from the tribe of Judah. A more proper term to describe the  people of the nation of Israel, and or “Jews” is Hebrews. 

The names of the twelve tribes which composed the ancient nation of Israel were Reuven, Manasseh, Shimon, Ephraim, Yehuda, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Benjamin. Therefore, Hebrews should be the more appropriate term to describe all Jews  since the uniting factor for all the tribes as one nation is the Hebrew language. The tribes  

shared monotheistic beliefs, morals, and values based on the laws of the Ten  Commandments.  

Roman legions landed on the shores of Israel in the year 63 BC. At the time, the Roman  empire’s massive legions beat their enemies into submission. The Romans had the most superior navy, equipment, and advanced war experience than any army on the planet. In  addition, the Romans excelled in psychological warfare. Wherever the Romans had to  engage in war, they gave their enemies an option. Either surrender, pay the taxes, and  worship their Gods or die. Most did surrender since they had no chance of defeating the  Roman’s legions.  

However, when they landed in Judea, they faced the most unexpected challenge. The Jews  said no to all their preconditions and the tiny Judean army took on the massive Roman  legions. The Judeans fought heroically, however after several years and battles the Romans  advanced toward Jerusalem. After a bitter battle in the year 70 CE the Romans conquered  Jerusalem and went on to pillage the Temple’s immense treasures and destroy the Second Temple located in the heart of Jerusalem. As revenge against the Judeans who dared to  challenge the Roman Empire, the Romans slaughtered most of the residents of Jerusalem, 

and the ancient city streets ran with blood of the victims. All the historical accounts were  recorded by the noted historian Josephus Flavius, formerly known as Yoseph Ben  Matityahu. 

After their victory, the Romans enslaved the surviving Jews, put them on slave ships, and  shipped them to Rome. After crushing the Judean armies, the Romans robbed the Second  Temple’s treasures and took the riches back to Rome. Judean populations were exiled  from Israel. In Rome, the Judean slaves were sold, and the Second Temple treasures were  used to finance the building of the Roman Colosseum and other Roman landmarks. Using Judean slave labor, opulent architectural edifices were erected. 

As further revenge against the Jews, the Romans, who were highly educated, renamed  Judea as Palestina after the historical archnemesis of the Jews. The Romans knew their  history well, and they knew the last recorded historical information about the Palestinians  was in the year 604 BCE, the year the Palestinians were deported out of Israel after losing  the last battle with the Babylonians. The meaning of the word “Palestinians” is invaders. The Palestinians were white Caucasian colonialists. They were seaworthy people who  came from Europe. They were defeated and deported back to their home country in Europe  located in the Aegean Sea area. As a historical fact, they were never heard from again. 

Moving forward, the Church was formed, and Roman Emperor Constantine was the first  Holy Sea. Constantine himself is said to have converted to the Christian faith on his  deathbed. 

Constantine also conducted a vote at the Conference of Nicaea, as to what scrolls would  constitute the New Testament. Initially, there were approximately 366 Holy Christian  scrolls. As a result of the vote in 325CE, 66 scrolls were officially selected as the New  Testament for Christians. This was the official beginning of the Catholic Church. 

Now without any protection, the Roman Empire stripped the Jews of all their civil rights,  forbade them from engaging in most professions, demonized the Jews, and forced them  into professions that were despised by the Roman citizens. They forced the Jews to be the  tax collectors for the Church. However, at the very same time the Jews were accused of robbing the people as money lenders and tax collectors. The Jews became a very  convenient scapegoat for all of society’s ills. They had no protection from the ruling Romans. The Romans encouraged violence against the Jews, thereby taking the true focus  of the evil actions of the early Church. They placed their guilty actions onto the Jews. 

The Romans locked down the Jews in ghettos from sunset to dawn. They also enforced  strict dress codes for the Jews. They forced the Jews to wear a star to differentiate between  the Jews and the general population. At this stage in history, the Jews had no country, and 

or a government to protect them. The Jews were forced to abandon their primary  occupation of farming. The Jews knew the celestial cycles therefore, they had greater yield  of crops. The Romans described the superior crops as the work of the devil and unfair to  the Roman farmers. The Jews were demonized. Urban legends were devised to connect the  Jews to blood libels. Because the Jews were blamed for all of society’s ills, pogroms,  murders, rapes, kidnapping, and various other violent physical assaults on Jews became  common place.  

As Christianity spread, the New Testament was mistranslated to demonize the Jews by  intent. This led to numerous violence and savage actions against the Jews. Pogroms, Jews forced into ghettos, and terrorism in many forms against the Jews. 

Throughout the centuries, Jew have been villainized and viewed as “the other.” Since they  did not accept Jesus as the son of G-d and the redeemer of humankind, Jews have been  persecuted. Always a minority, Jews became a convenient scapegoat for generations. Culminating with the “Final Solution” of the genocidal Holocaust, one would think that the insidious nature of antisemitism would be eradicated. However, it has never gone away,  only swept under the rug. The re-establishment of Israel in 1948 has given the Jews their  only true safe haven. 

Currently, we are witnessing the explosion of the primitive and barbaric antisemitism of the  past. This behavior is once again gaining momentum and has infiltrated globally. The  recent war in Gaza, in which Israeli civilians were attacked, raped, tortured, murdered, beheaded, and kidnapped by Hamas and Gazans, has somehow evolved into sympathy for  the terrorists. The entire world community is failing to support the victim, Israel. This new  round of antisemitism is based on blind hate, alarming ignorance, and not facts on the  ground. Morally and ethically, the world has failed. The groundswell of protests in Israel has  spread like a pandemic. Radical Muslims and other various misinformed groups have  ignited and fueled this hatred. Financed and supported by petrol dollars as well as other  hate groups, this most recent escalation of antisemitism is intolerable and must be  eradicated. 

In order to overcome this barbaric phenomenon, Jews must take the offensive, and not  remain passive. Educating the masses of the true and actual recorded historical facts  would eradicate the sick lies and mythologies. When those who are spreading historical  lies are confronted with the facts, they will not be able to support their position other than  to finally admit they are racist.