Five Focal Facets

Jewish People 1. Jews are a minority group sharing both racial and religious heritage, and comprise 0.2% of the world’s population. 2. Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism emanated from Abraham and is monotheistic (belief in one god). 3. There is diversity of religious beliefs in Judaism, with mainstream and Orthodox branches and non-practising Jews. 4. Most Jews follow social and religious customs, such as circumcision, adulthood ceremonies and various holy days. 5. Jews also follow dietary restrictions, eating only kosher food and avoiding products such as pork and shellfish.

Ancient and Medieval Times 1. Anti-Semitism is an irrational fear or hatred of the Jewish people. Its origins date back to ancient and medieval times. 2. In ancient Greece and Rome, Jews were targeted and persecuted for their social and cultural differences. 3. The development of Christianity gave rise to theological divisions and the accusation that Jews had killed Christ. 4. During the Middle Ages, Jews became convenient scapegoats and were blamed for a range of problems or disasters. 5. Though they caused less violence and abject persecution, these anti- Semitic ideas survived into the modern world.

Middle Ages 1. During the Middle Ages (400s-1500s) Jews were regularly excluded, persecuted, exploited and murdered. 2. This anti-Semitism coincided with the rise and dominance of Christianity, which preached hatred of the Jews. 3. Jews were often banished from regions, subject to restrictive laws or forced to live in remote or unappealing areas. 4. Jews were also scapegoats: they were blamed for disease, crop failures, pandemics or other social disruptions. 5. Wealthy Jews, many of whom were money-lenders, were often exploited by secular rulers, through additional taxes.

Blood Libel 1. The blood libel is a long-surviving myth that suggests Jews abduct and murder Christian children. 2. According to this myth, they do this to use Christian blood, either as food or for ritual purposes. 3. Though this myth is unsupported by evidence, it was widely accepted as fact during the Middle Ages. 4. Numerous instances of missing or murdered children were blamed on Jews, who were targeted in response. 5. The blood libel survived into the 19th and even the 20th centuries, particularly in Russia and eastern Europe.

Outside of Europe 1. Anti-Semitic violence decreased after the Middle Ages, although prejudice against the Jews did not. 2. European Jews enjoyed some emancipation and improved rights from the early to mid-1800s. 3. The emergence of Zionism gave rise to conspiracy theories about the Jews seeking world domination. 4. Anti-Semitism increased in France and Germany, with the Jews as scapegoats for domestic problems. 5. In Russia, Jews were indirectly blamed and subject to recriminations for the assassination of Alexander II.

1. The growth of European anti-Semitism in the mid-1800s was exported to other parts of the world. 2. The United States had no history of intense anti-Semitism, though it grew there in the late 1800s. 3. Discrimination against wealthy Jews and the lynching of Leo Frank are examples of it in the US. 4. Britain, despite its fast-growing acceptance of Jewish migrants, was comparatively free of anti-Semitism. 5. The decay of the Ottoman Empire led to increases in hostility, mistreatment and violence against Jews.