Anti-Semitism:
Religion of Power and Greed!
by Steven Shamrak
Contrary
to common belief, the foundation of anti-Semitism was laid not by Christianity
but during the Roman empire. Prevailing discrimination against Jews started
during the Roman empire because Judea and Samaria were its most rebellious
provinces and considered Jews atheists as they believed in one god only.
Those who
have read the New Testament closely and studied the political and religious
situation in the Roman-occupied Jewish provinces of Judea and Samaria know that
area was inflamed by rebellion against occupation. Religiously and politically
motivated rebels, the Zealots, were the leading force of the Jewish resistance.
Studying the actions of Jesus described in the Christian Bible, rather than the
politically motivated commentaries of the writers, it would be easy to come to
the conclusion that the Jesus’ group was, most likely, part of the resistance!
After the
Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70CE, spiritual and physical separation
of Christianity from Judaism had already started: millions of Jews were
dispersed throughout the Roman empire; some non-Jews, initially slaves, started
joining early Christians, actually more of a Jewish sect, which propagated the
message of hope and salvation. Cynically, the Romans imposed the Temple tax on
Jews and, in spite of the danger of persecution, in order to avoid paying tax
to Romans, many Christians denounced their Jewishness!
Only much
later, in 313, when Rome was in the state of political disarray, in order to
control the population of the empire, emperor Constantine issued the Edict of
Milan, legalizing Christian worship. After that, Constantine kept the pagans
fearful and cowed as he confiscated from their priests much of the wealth the
pagan religions had accumulated. This strategy Christianity used quite often
later against Jews as a new anti-Jewish trend emerged: Jewish synagogues were
destroyed by Christian mobs in 387-388 and in 493-526. Thus, violent
anti-Semitism is rooted in the beginnings of Christianity!
During the
process of political and spiritual consolidation, it has become inconvenient
for Rome to remain responsible for the slaying of the Christian prophet, Jesus.
Therefore Jews were chosen as a scapegoat in highly politically motivated
commentaries of the Christian Bible, which was commissioned by Constantine!
Writings of many apostles, including those of Thomas and Mary, were
deliberately excluded or edited. At the same time, the cruel, even by
contemporary standards, Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, and most Roman
soldiers were portrayed as saints.
At the
time of the Crusaders, expeditions of European Christians in the 11th,
12th, and 13th centuries to conquer Eretz-Israel from the
Muslims, many Christian knights and rulers in Europe became ‘misguided’ and
declared that they could not tolerate that even one man calling himself a Jew
should continue to live. Many Jewish communities sustained deadly sufferings
and material loses at the hands of Crusaders and many atrocities were committed
against Jews at the time in Europe and the Holy Land!
Through
the centuries, as Christianity gained power, Jews were systematically harassed
and physically abused. Many of them converted to Christianity under duress or
due to social and economic reasons.
The
Inquisition was a Roman Catholic tribunal for discovery and punishment of
heresy among Christians. Initially it was directed against heretics like the
Abilgenses and the Catharians in France. In 1309 Philip IV, king of France,
used the charge of heresy against the Knights Templar to free himself from debt
and their influence. In 1483, in fear of influence of Jewish Conversos
(converted to Christianity Jews) and in order to solidify their own power, in
quest of unification of Spain, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand brought the
Inquisition in Spain. Finally, hoping to eliminate ties between the Jewish
community and Conversos, Spain expelled the Jews in 1492.
Summary of
Expulsions:
Jews
expelled from England (1290)
Jews
expelled from France (1306 and 1394)
Jews
expelled from Hungary (1349 and 1360)
Jews
expelled from Germany (1348 and 1498)
Jews
expelled from Austria (1421)
Jews
expelled from Lithuania (1445 and 1495)
Jews
expelled from Spain (1492)
Jews
expelled from Portugal (1497)
Most of
the time Jews were not able to take their possessions and wealth with them and
Jewish properties were confiscated by kings, governing authorities and looted
by local populations. The same technique of enrichment was used by Nazi Germany
and the Soviet Union more recently!
Experience
of the centuries laid the ground for the genocide of the Jews by Nazi Germany
with the active and eager participation of the anti-Semites of Poland, Ukraine,
Latvia and other countries. In contrast to the Spanish rulers who allowed Jews
to live through the horrors of the Inquisition and leave Spain, even before
WWII, the international community (led by the United Kingdom, France and the
United States) prohibited Jews from leaving Europe and escaping the shock of
Holocaust. This was a well-coordinated international plan of the “final
solution” for Jews!
Even 60
years after Israel’s declaration of independence, this plague of anti-Semitism
is still prevailing and spreading. It has moved to the Muslim world and Africa.
Almost 60% of all resolutions of the United Nations adopted since 1948 are
against Israel. No other country is disallowed to defend itself and stop the
suffering of its own people from enemy terror like Israel.
The Jewish principles of “Love”, “Forgiveness” or “Repentance” of sins, which were adopted by Christianity, have never been applied by mainstream Christianity toward Jews! But greed for the wealth of others and thirst for power, in order to control and keep the general population in fear, were always the driving factors behind anti-Semitism! Even now the words of the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, are still applicable to the international anti-Israel hypocrisy: “The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.”