Half of the posters of kidnapped Israeli children that are put up in London are torn down within 48 hours. This act of violence reveals the inhumanity of man towards his fellow man. It is a terrible truth that many people do not see innocent Jews as innocent. What is even more incomprehensible is the darkness in the human heart that takes pleasure in destroying or defacing posters of missing children who have done nothing wrong. When I was 12 years old, a school friend asked me to show him the place where my devil’s tail had been, but I told him not to believe everything he learned in Sunday School.

A video filmed in London’s Leicester Square shows two women and a man tearing down the posters of Israeli kidnap victims. One of the women is accused of not valuing human life. People gathered outside the Qatari Embassy in London to demand the release of the estimated 230 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.Last night in London’s Leicester Square, a video was filmed showing two women and a man tearing down posters of Israeli kidnap victims.

However, when my friend introduced the subject, I had to tell him to stop using the verb ‘to Jew’ to mean to cheat or swindle because I was not a son of Satan.

My friend was not an anti-Semite, but rather he displayed a low-level superstitious ignorance of Jews.

Even though it was 1954 and he lived in an area with a large Jewish community, I was the first Jew he had knowingly met, and he held me in awe rather than Hatred.

This awe of Jews, mixed with fear and respect for their rumored capabilities, is one source of anti-Semitism.

Feelings of awe can lead to inferiority, resentment, and suspicion, which can eventually turn into hatred.

Since October 7, acts of hatred towards Jews have been on display, resembling the Nazi attacks on Jews in the 1940s. These acts include spray-painting Stars of David on buildings in Paris, chants of ‘We are Nazis and proud of it’ on the Paris Metro, and calls to ‘gas the Jews’ in Sydney.

In addition, there have been threats to slaughter Jews on campus websites in America, and a heroization of Hamas, which recently called for Israel to be wiped off the map and vowed to repeat the October 7 massacre.

Furthermore, in a disturbing repeat of the Russian pogroms, a mob of pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the airport in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, hoping to attack Jewish passengers rumored to be on a flight from Tel Aviv.

The belief that Jews once had tails dates back to the early days of Christianity’s struggle to separate itself from its parent faith. The Gospel of St John described Jews as ‘Children of the Devil,’ and this label has persisted.

By the Middle Ages, Jews were believed to possess physical attributes of the devil and were accused of heinous acts such as desecrating the Host, poisoning wells, and kidnapping and murdering Gentile children for their religious rituals.

The question of why Jews continue to be hated is easier to answer than why they are hated as virulently as they are.Posters displaying the names and faces of the kidnapped individuals were exhibited on Santander bicycle docks. People gathered outside the Qatari Embassy in London, holding up posters of the missing individuals. A small group of police officers stood outside the embassy during the peaceful protest.

The article discusses the historical and ongoing issue of anti-Semitism. The ‘blood libel’ accusation, which falsely claims that Jews use Gentile blood in their religious practices, has fueled pogroms in Russia and the Arab World. A leading Muslim cleric even repeated this accusation on a Hamas-run television station in Gaza.

Throughout history, Jews have faced vilification in various forms, including theology, art, and literature such as the Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion. This anti-Semitic sentiment has persisted and has been ingrained in the Western and Middle Eastern imagination.

Interestingly, anti-Semitism does not require the physical presence of Jews for individuals to harbor these prejudiced beliefs. This is evident in the success of plays like The Jew Of Malta and The Merchant Of Venice during a time when there were no Jews in England due to their expulsion centuries earlier.

The article raises the question of why the Elizabethan audience was so eager to watch plays that portrayed Jews in a negative light, despite having no direct experience with them. It highlights the irrationality and persistence of anti-Semitism as a form of mental illness.Is anti-Semitism a psychological necessity? This question arises when considering the central role of Jew-hatred in Western culture. While its persistence is evident, the intensity of the hatred requires further explanation. Freud and his followers proposed various explanations for the enduring psychological appeal of anti-Semitism. These include a hidden hatred of monotheism, a longing for paganism, resistance to the ethical demands of the Jewish God, resentment towards the Jew’s alleged murder of Christ, and a fascination with the Jew’s “exoticism.” Additionally, anti-Semitism may stem from resentment of the Jew’s intellectual arrogance and separatism, a hatred of culture and otherness, and even a murderous hatred of the father that can manifest as hatred of the mother. The question remains as to why these irrationalities persist over time, rather than coming and going like the passing phases of a psychotic patient. Even when combined into a single personality, it is still unclear why the desire to eliminate Jews entirely is so compulsive. Despite the historical expulsions, inquisitions, pogroms, and the Holocaust itself, the call for the death of Jews can still be heard today, both on social media and in Western cities. Will the death of every single Jew be enough, or will the memory of Jews also need to be erased, like the posters of kidnapped children?The aftermath of the Hamas slaughter on October 7 revealed a disturbing delight in the atrocity, with praise for the perpetrator and scorn for the victims. This victim-blaming mentality is fueled by a cessation of humanity, as compassion is replaced with hatred. The argument that this hatred is directed towards an illegal state rather than the people is a fallacy that allows individuals to lie about Israel without being held accountable for their racism.

Recent events have exposed the truth behind this pretense. Within hours of the massacre, calls for more Jewish blood were heard on university campuses and the streets of America and Europe. The distinction between Jew and Israel, which was previously guarded by Israel’s critics, was disregarded in the excitement of the bloodshed. The passion that drives anti-Semitism is the desire to kill more Jews, not for any specific reason such as wealth or influence.

It is chilling to acknowledge this definition of anti-Semitism, but it provides an explanation for the hatred that has been directed towards Jews throughout history. The Jews are detested simply for being Jews, not for any perceived faults or actions.The reason they are detestable is because of the sense of communality they promote and because there is a history of someone detesting them.

The friends and families of the murdered Jews in southern Israel were astonished and dismayed because they had considered many Gazans as friends. They had supported them in their struggles and had even driven some of the more infirm to hospitals in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. They had chosen to live close to Gaza in the hopes of promoting peace and making the lives of Gazans easier.

This same story of turning against Jewish neighbors was seen during the pogroms of Eastern Europe. Seeming friends were suddenly caught up in the hysteria of destruction and enthusiastically participated in the murder of Jewish neighbors they had once loved. This shows how animosities learned long ago can resurface and overpower the day-to-day human relations.

The question asked of German civilians in the 1940s about how they could stand idly by and do nothing seems insignificant compared to what we must ask today. How can people stand idly by and applaud the violence?

The academic community that supported the October 7 massacre has not been idle in promoting anti-Zionist propaganda. They have been at the forefront of marches, boycotts, and divestment motions. British and American universities have been spreading lies and half-truths, only tolerating those who share their narrative. This goes against the belief that universities exist to question and argue.

It is no secret that anti-Semitism has been growing on university campuses. Many British Jewish school-leavers choose universities based on how much anti-Zionist abuse they are likely to encounter.

The reason the Palestinian case has gained so much support in universities is partly economic and partly ideological. Many Muslims pay to study at British universities, and there is a strong ideological focus on the concept of ‘colonisers’ and the ‘colonised’.

It should concern everyone, not just Jews, that universities have become so obsessed with this narrative. Almost every historical event is now measured against the template of empire.

Jeremy Corbyn’s remarks about Zionism show that one does not need to know history to believe that the founding of Israel was a colonial enterprise. Questioning this belief can lead to accusations of being in the pay of the Israeli government, as happened to Jewish students at the University of Bristol.

The idea that the first Jews who came to Palestine were colonisers or empire builders is laughable. They were desperate refugees fleeing the pogroms of Europe, seeking a place of peace, spiritual renewal, and safety. While things changed over the years, Palestinian intransigence in sharing the country played a role in hardening Israel’s resolve.

Unfortunately, these facts are not taught in courses that focus on the evils of white supremacy.

Despite the academic support for Hamas, the bombs continue to fall on Gaza.Wishing Israel could find a more subtle and humane way of destroying Hamas does not make one anti-Semitic. However, rushing to false judgments about Israel’s actions and intentions, blaming them for things they did not do, and refusing to understand their existential fears is indeed anti-Semitic. It is also anti-Semitic to make the statement that Jews love killing babies, as this reactivates the blood libel that has resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews.

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