We’re all too aware of the hilarious Jew “jokes” and Holocaust “jokes”, but how funny are these jokes really? These insults are attacking a religion, a culture, and a nation. But they’re just jokes right, we should be happy that we weren’t all exterminated, right? Hearing any of this makes my blood boil.
Antisemitism, defined as a prejudice or hatred against the Jewish people, has happened all throughout history. The biggest and most extreme example of antisemitism is the Holocaust. But it didn’t stop there, in fact it may have grown in larger, more silent ways since the Holocaust; pictures of political cartoons depicting the Jewish people as thieves and money hungry, pogroms launched against the Jews and often authorized and encouraged by government officials, and modern day verbal and physical attacks.
Antisemitism was quiet, albeit not dead, after the Holocaust ended. Presently, antisemitism is on a new rise since the Holocaust showing new ways for antisemites to attack and hurt the Jewish people. Antisemites have added a political dimension to their agenda adding publications such as the Protocols of The Elders of Zion, a slanderous and fraudulent publication solely produced to spread antisemitism towards Jews. The exact origin of the Protocols is unknown, although it’s heavily thought to be of Russian origin.
It’s not something limited to different countries either. Antisemitism is vast, spread out across the world, it’s like a plague that has no cure. Every Jewish or Israeli person I have met has said they have been the victim of antisemitism, more than once usually. It’s generally verbal slurs, but that does not appropriate the physical attacks Jewish people have experienced. Synagogues are meant to be a place of holiness, and for some, safety. We don’t have that anymore. Synagogues are becoming the target or antisemitic attacks, whether it be antisemites marching outside the synagogue or antisemites harassing the Jewish people attending the synagogue that day–it’s becoming an unsafe place.
With antisemitism on the rise, I can only hope to bring awareness by spreading articles and voicing about antisemitism as much as I can. There are publications solely based on the hatred of Jews, a constant boiling of antisemitism around the world, and even our places of worship and safety are becoming dangerous. The Jewish race is stronger than antisemites. We can slow down the rise of antisemitism.
