A great analysis of anti-semitism. A few excerpts:
There is something unusual about anti-Semitism. Of all discriminatory forms for hatred, hatred toward Jews is unique in four ways:
1) Longevity – Anti-semitism has been going on for an exceptionally long time.
2) Universality – Anti-Semitism is found world-wide.
3) Intensity – Hatred against the Jews is vented in a particularly virulent way.
4) Confusion – There is surprisingly little agreement on exactly what anti-Semites hate!
Jews are hated for being a lazy and inferior race – but also for dominating the economy and taking over the world. Jews are hated for stubbornly maintaining their separateness – and, when they do assimilate – for posing a threat to racial purity through intermarriages. Jews are seen as pacifists and as warmongers; as capitalist exploiters and as revolutionary communists; possessed of a Chosen-People mentality, as well as of an inferiority complex…
The profound message that Jews bear to humanity has gained such widespread acceptance that people tend to take it for granted: Peace, Freedom, Monotheism, Family, Education, Charity…
The pain that is part and parcel of being Jewish is obvious; if people cannot see any meaning to that pain, it is unlikely that they will be willing to stand by their Jewish identity. That is why we find such widespread assimilation today – Jews do not see why they should “lose out” on life and set themselves apart from their host societies…
The solution to anti-Semitism is exactly the same as the cause: It is Jewish values and beliefs that cause anti-Semitism, and it will be Jewish values and beliefs that ultimately will eliminate anti-Semitism.