The Roots of Anti-Semitism

The Roots of Anti-Semitism
Tom Marsland
Thursday, March 13, 2003

At a recent anti-war forum, Congressman James P. Moran Jr., D-Va., 'Freudian slipped' and afforded us a rare peek into the dark soul of anti-Semitism. He said what all anti-Semites have been thinking.

I'll paraphrase: "American Jews are responsible for pushing the country to war with Iraq, and Jewish leaders could prevent war if they really wanted to!"

It's the old "It's the fault of the Jews." You'd think we were in Nazi Germany or today's Saudi Arabia, but no, this is the politics of asininity, circa 2003.

Moran issued an 'apology': "I made some insensitive remarks that I deeply regret." Why do these yahoos always blow apologies with the insincerity of an "I regret"? Whatever happened to "I'm sorry"?

The congressman quite accidentally demonstrated his ill character for all to see. Instead of paying any more attention to him, I'd like to tackle one of the top questions in all of human history: Why does virtually the entire world hate Jews?

Historical understanding sheds considerable light on this mystery. It's a four-millennia-old argument over the inheritance rights of bloodline.

It's not even necessary to be a 'Bible believer' to understand the context of this cultural clash. But know this: The veracity of the historical record is very compelling. Even skeptics cede credibility to these, some of civilization's oldest-known books.

Moses five books were written 34 centuries ago, and they've been separately confirmed most recently with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, themselves dated at 19 centuries old.

The ancient Hebrew text speaks of God making Abraham an offer he couldn't refuse. Abraham lived 4,100 years ago in what is now Iraq. Moses wrote that God told him (Abraham) to move to Canaan, now Israel. He believed in the one true God, thus his faith was rewarded with an amazing promise. "This is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations."

Abraham must pass this rare gem of an inheritance on to the descendants of one son only. He does as God instructs and passes it on to his No. 2 son, Isaac, leaving a lesser promise to his first-born, Ishmael. They had different mothers; Ishmael’s was a handmaiden, Isaac’s was Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Moses foretold the nation's mixed future in his fifth book of Deuteronomy. God said: "Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The LORD will bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you."

It could certainly be said that this has been fulfilled since World War ll.

But this is problematic, as Ishmael clearly felt dissed! Though he too received a promised inheritance, he did not acquire the royal bloodline, and his foretelling was not all in the plus ledger.

As told in Genesis, God said to Abraham: "And as for Ishmael, I will surely bless him too; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac. He [Ishmael's lineage] will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

Hasn't this been fulfilled too?

Most scholars feel Ishmael's descendants represent the present-day 'Arab' bloodline, though frankly it cannot be proven. Islam, created by Mohammed 28 centuries later, rewrote the storyline to claim the royal bloodline belonged to Ishmael ... and thus the two civilizations have been at war ever since.

One last matter. I haven't yet explained why a James Moran or a Jesse Jackson (remember "Hymietown"?) or many other Americans hate Jews ... why?

Interestingly, the answer lies not in the Old Testament text otherwise used in this communiqué, but rather in the New Testament. In John's Gospel, Jesus was asked to explain some of these difficult matters. He said:

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. "

All anti-Semitism loves darkness and hates light.

I am fully cognizant of my overt religious explanation here and respectfully understand that not all are similarly inclined. If you can come up with a better one, secular or otherwise, I'll listen.

Ecclesiastes 10:2: "The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left."

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