Real-Life Villains

Anti-Semitism

Revision as of 22:17, 10 January 2023 by imported>RangerMan

Anti-Semitism (also called, but rarely referred to as, Anti-Judaism, Anti-Jewish Sentiment, or Judeophobia), is a type of discrimination that specifically targets Jewish people and people of Jewish heritage, or those that follow Judaism mainly because of Israel's attitude against Palestine and partnership with the United States. It is arguably one of the oldest and most widespread prejudices in the world as Jews have been the targets of innumerable acts of violence and harassment from ancient times (though they are by no means the only group to suffer such hostility). It can also include stereotypes, such as that Jews are obsessed with money. However, anti-Semitism is also associated with bigotry (or racism) against other semitic groups, such as Arabs/Arabic people and Samaritans. There are racist Ashkenazi Jews who are anti-Arabic like there are Arabic anti-Jews.

File:Anti-Semitism.jpg
“ The Jews are an irreligious, atheistic, immoral bunch of bastards. „
~ Richard Nixon, February 1, 1972

Etymologically the word would seem to indicate opposition to Semitic peoples (a group characterized by speaking or earlier speaking Semitic languages). This is problematic since there are other Semitic peoples than Jews. This was originally somewhat less of a problem since there were few Semites except for Jews in Europe when the word was coined. Proponents of the Khazar theory may consider the word to be etymologically incorrect since some Jewish groups are argued to descend from the Khazars and not from Semitic populations.

After the Holocaust (one of the most horrific genocides in history), a significant number of nations began to address Anti-Semitism and the importance of tackling it in order to try and prevent a regime such as the Nazis from reaching power again: however despite increased levels of awareness on the issue like all prejudices Anti-Semitism is difficult to completely erase.

History

Causes

The root causes of Anti-Semitism will likely never be fully understood, though some of it does stem from resentment of the fact many Jews in history were merchants or business people, who worked very hard to gain wealth but were nevertheless hated for their success: this was especially true in Medieval Europe and Jews were seen as a threat by other merchants, this coupled with xenophobia (fear of other cultures) probably fuelled most of the attacks on Jews at the time.

The deliberate demonization of the Jewish people also helped to fuel Anti-Semitism. This was rampant in Nazi Germany, where the Nazi Party continually tried to demonize the Jews so as to dehumanize them to the public: this became so bad that when the Nazis decided to commit genocide many did not see a wrong in it until much later, having become brainwashed by the power of propaganda.

In recent years, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been accused of promoting anti-semitism in United States campuses, going as far as physically intimidating other Jewish students.

Controversy

Anti-Semitism comes under fire from opponents of the Zionist Movement due to a common argument that those who oppose Zionism are inherently Anti-Semitic, despite the Zionist Movement not representing the views of many mainstream Jews: Anti-Semitism is also used by some to try and silence opposition to Israel or other controversial subjects, making some label Anti-Semitism as an example of a "race card" that is used to try and slander legitimate criticism of a people or culture.

Known anti-Semitic groups/supporters

Individuals

Organizations

Conspiracy Theories

Anti-Semitism in fiction

Similarly to other forms of discrimination, such as against Native Americans, Anti-Semitism has been portrayed in various forms of fiction, with the below being examples:

  • During World War II, there were various Nazi propaganda films targeted at Jewish, Slavic and Romani people.
  • In the broadway musical called The Book of Mormon, there’s an implication from Satan that all of the Catholic and Jewish people are in Hell.
  • In the adult animated sitcom South Park, a Jewish character and one of the protagonists named Kyle Broflovski is commonly left out of certain activities based on the fact that he’s Jewish in many episodes, almost always by Eric Cartman, who is a Neo-Nazi and White Supremacist himself.
  • In cartoons such as Family Guy and The Simpsons, jokes poking fun at Jewish people can be seen.
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