Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism (or antisemitism) is discrimination or hatred of Jews. Anti-Semitism has had a huge role in history and today is on the rise yet again amongst fundamentalist christians. Jews have proven to be a convenient scapegoat for dictators and conspiracy theorists.

Blood libels

One of the oldest instances of anti-Semitic claims was made in the first century AD by Apion who claimed Jews sacrificed Greeks in their temple in a ritual known as a blood libel. Christianity later brought this up again in England in 1144, after William of Norwich was found murdered. William was called a martyr and created a second wave of anti-antisemitism, this time in Europe. It was mostly popularized with the story of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, and was even present in the Canterbury Tales. This continued on for many centuries until modern times. This blood libel accusation has survived the centuries and is today seen in Muslim anti-Semitic propaganda.

Modern anti-Semitism

"Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction--out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East--is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest."