by Jacob Rueda
The conflict between the political and military organization Hamas in Palestine and the country of Israel was re-ignited on October 7th, 2023. Since then, an all-out war between the two has broken out, which has led to mass amount of death and devastation, both on the Palestinian and Israeli side of the conflict.
Likewise, a wave of antisemitic and anti-Islamic sentiments have increased around the world. According to The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), more than two thousand complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias in the United States were received between October 7th and December 2nd, 2023.
Conversely, the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Center on Extremism reports a 388 percent increase in antisemitic incidents between October 2022 and October 2023. Between October 7th and October 23rd, more than 300 incidents of harassment and general abuse toward Jewish people were reported in the United States.
The ADL is also monitoring and reporting anti-Islamic incidents in the U.S.
Speaking strictly of antisemitism, the hatred of Jews because of the policies and actions of the Israeli government is a form of antisemitism called "new antisemitism." This form of prejudice, which originated sometime in the late 1960s, is the latest in a series of antisemitic sentiments that have spread worldwide.
HISTORY OF ANTISEMITSM
Although the October 7, 2023 conflict between Israel and Hamas sparked a wave of antisemitism, prejudice against Jews has been persistent in human history.
The term "antisemitism" can be traced back to the late 19th century. Its creation is attributed to German politician and journalist Wilhelm Marr, who founded the Antisemiten-Liga in 1879. Marr was known for his documented disapproval of Jews, especially in universities. The year he founded the Antisemiten-Liga was the same year his written work Der Weg zum Siege des Germanenthums über das Judenthum (The Way to Victory of Germanism over Judaism) was published.
Rabbi Samuel Spector of the Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, Utah, said pinning down a specific type of antisemitism can be difficult due to the nature of Jewish culture and ethnicity, which are usually one and the same unlike other faiths.
"Jews are an ethno-religion," Spector said, "So, there's actually many different forms of antisemitism, including ethnic, religious, economic, political, and also cultural antisemitism."
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. dates the earliest signs of antisemitism to the early days of Christianity. However, Spector said it dates further than that.
"We see in the story of the Book of Esther, Haman saying that we should kill all the Jews," he said, "And also [there's] the oppression of Jews under [the] Pharaoh in Egypt."
Spector also said initial prejudice against Jews came as a result of their belief system, which was different from others at a time before Christianity appeared.
"Prior to Christianity, most most religions, aside from Judaism, were polytheistic, [they] believed in many gods," he said, "So if you were an adherent to, let's say the Greek religion, you have thousands of gods and you have one king god Zeus."
As human society progressed beyond believing in plural gods, debate over believing in only one god divided humanity further. Once Christianity and Islam were established, the idea of a messiah, who that messiah was, and their contribution to religious spirituality was contested among the Abrahamic faiths.
Prejudice against Jews went from the spiritual to the secular. Spector said Jews were historically prevented from participating in many professions, leaving them to work in money and finance.
"You have situations where Christians are not allowed to do usury, the giving of loans and [charging] interest on them," he said, "That's forbidden in Christianity but it was allowed in Judaism."
However, according to Spector, people started to believe they were being taken advantage of by being charged interest on their loans, which led to further antagonism toward Jewish people.
"You get this stereotype that develops of Jews being greedy and Jews being rich and conniving and things like this," he said.
From there, anti-Jewish sentiment became more widespread with people assigning blame to Jews for any number of things. Such a practice is called "scapegoating." Adolf Hitler capitalized on existing anti-Jewish sentiment during his rise to power in the 1920s through the 1940s.
Another factor contributing to antisemitism is Holocaust denial, or the idea that the Holocaust itself, or aspects of it, were exaggerated or completely made up. Spector said such denial is fueled by the idea that Jews are untrustworthy.
"We tap into the idea that jews cannot be trusted and that from anything Jews do, [it] is for [an] ulterior motive for financial or political gain," he said.
The State of Utah has a population of over three million people. Around six million Jews died during the Holocaust. Likewise, millions of other non-Jews, including gypsies, homosexuals, Soviet POWs, and persons with disabilities, died during that period as well.
"Imagine every single person in the state of Utah being killed over a period of seven years," Spector said, "And then another entire state of Utah, every single person being killed. It's unfathomable."
When it comes to racial prejudice, Jews face many of the problems that other groups face. The same energy that has gone to disparaging them has been used on others as well.
LIFE AFTER OCTOBER 7TH
Since October 7th, things have gotten worse, especially for Spector and his congregation, who now have local police stationed at their synagogue after a series of incidents following the start of the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
"In the last ten weeks, I've gotten death threats," Spector said, "We've also [had] four bomb threats at our synagogue. We have filed close to probably about a dozen police reports of hate crimes against our synagogue here in Salt Lake City."
"We're not the Israeli government. We're not the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces)" Spector said, "They do not take their marching orders [from] me."
Despite the attacks and the threats, Spector said there has also been an outpouring of support from others in the community.
"I also have received hundreds of letters from people, who are not Jewish, telling me how they love us and support us," he said.
From people of other faiths helping them out with yardwork to an offering of chocolates, the situation has been made easier for Spector and his congregation by way of kind acts from others. Donations have also been coming in, seeing that police protection is not cheap.
"We've had to cough up tons and tons of money for additional security here," Spector said, "When I say tons of money, I mean like half a million dollars." The donations help out so that the congregation is not as Spector said, "financially crippled."
When it comes to battling antisemitism, Spector provides some surprising advice.
"People who hate jews and want us to be eradicated, the best way you can do that is accept us and love us," he said, "because when Jews feel accepted and loved, they go out into the world and they become less affiliated with Judaism."
In contrast, Spector said that when Jews are hated, the reverse happens and people come out in support of their community. He said he's seen the number of people attending his synagogue grow as a result of anti-Jewish sentiments fueled by the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"Because people feel alone and they know the one place they can turn to is their Jewish community," he said, "So find your community and know that they're there for you."
See the entire interview with Rabbi Samuel Spector below.
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