Key Points
- Antisemitism has persisted for thousands of years, repeatedly changing form while keeping the same goal: hostility toward and destruction of the Jewish people.
- In the ancient world, Jewish faithfulness to the God of Israel often put them at odds with pagan rulers who demanded religious and political conformity.
- Religious and racial antisemitism led to centuries of persecution, including the Holocaust and Nazi efforts to eradicate the Jewish people.
- Modern antisemitism often appears as anti-Zionism, especially when criticism of Israel denies its right to exist or excuses attacks on Jewish people.
- Christians are called to recognize antisemitism as a spiritual evil and stand against it vocally, politically, and prayerfully.
Why Is Antisemitism Called “the Longest Hatred”?
The evil pursuit of the Jewish people has continued for millennia, which is why historian Robert Wistrich called antisemitism “the longest hatred.” Every time this irrational vitriol seems to be dying out, it reinvents itself with a different look and a different name. But the goal is always the same: to rid the world of the Jewish people.
How Did Antisemitism Appear in Ancient Empires?
In the ancient world, antisemitism was a clash between pagan rulers who demanded obedient homage and their Jewish subjects who would only worship and obey the God of Israel. The Jewish people could not bow down to other gods and incurred the wrath of tyrants. The Sinaitic Law also bound them to certain behaviors and observances that set them apart as non-conformists.
This was the situation described in the book of Esther, where Haman, the king’s consort, demanded the Jews bow to him, and when they would not, he turned the might of the Persian Empire against them. Hundreds of years later, the Hanukkah story took place under the rule of the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who attempted to make the Jews into Hellenistic pagans. He banned their religious practices and desecrated their temple, resulting in the Maccabean Revolt.
How Did Religious Antisemitism Take Root in Christian Europe?
One would think that once paganism gave way to Christianity, this problem would go away. Instead, antisemitism took hold in the heart of Christian Europe, and among those who persecuted and hated the Jewish people were professing Christians. Space does not permit a full treatment of this sad story, but anti-Jewish theology led to centuries of church-backed denigration, persecution, forced conversions, and expulsions that paved the way for the Holocaust.
Martin Luther’s antisemitic writings were published and distributed by Hitler to justify his treatment of the Jews and their eventual extermination. When two Catholic bishops questioned him about his policy toward the Jews, he replied that he was only putting into effect what Christianity had preached and practiced for 2,000 years.
How Did Racial Antisemitism Fuel Nazi Ideology?
However, the form of antisemitism found in Nazi ideology was not based on religion but on racial theories promoting the superiority of the Aryan race. In the late nineteenth century, Darwinism was infiltrating the sciences and replacing the God who created the universe with evolution and the idea that man was created in His image with the theory of survival of the fittest. They concluded that human evolution was ongoing, and that while the European people were the most developed, others were inferior and expendable.
Adolf Hitler became an enthusiastic supporter of Darwin’s evil ideas and applied them with fanatical zeal. The German Aryan race was, therefore, at the top of the evolutionary process, and the Jews were at the bottom.
Whereas Christianity had sought the conversion of the Jews and state leaders had sought their expulsion, the Nazis sought the “final solution” to the Jewish problem—the murder of all Jews and their eradication from the human race.
How Is Anti-Zionism Connected to Modern Antisemitism?
While classical antisemitism blames the Jews for the world’s ills, the new antisemitism, called “anti-Zionism,” blames the Jewish nation. UCLA Professor Judea Pearl, the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, gave this analogy: “Antisemitism rejects the Jews as equal members of the human race; anti-Zionism rejects Israel as an equal member in the family of nations.” Believing that the Jewish State (Israel) does not have a right to exist, these enemies of Israel have found a politically correct and sophisticated way to attempt to see the State dismantled.
Not all criticism of Israel can be considered antisemitic. However, criticism of Israel becomes antisemitic when it: 1) delegitimizes the State and questions its right to exist; 2) uses anti-Jewish rhetoric and stereotypes or compares Israelis to Nazis; 3) judges Israel by a different standard than any other nation; or 4) becomes an excuse to attack local Jewish individuals and institutions.
The danger of anti-Zionism was on display during the 2014 war in Gaza (a defensive war on Israel’s part to prevent further missile launches from Hamas) when there were attacks on synagogues and Jewish citizens in France. Refrains such as “Jews to the gas” in Germany, the use of swastikas at anti-Israel demonstrations in Latin America, and antisemitic caricatures in Middle Eastern newspapers clearly demonstrated the antisemitic nature of anti-Zionism.
However, what happened on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel, killed more than 1,200 innocent people, and took more than 250 others captive into Gaza, took antisemitism and, thus, anti-Zionism, to an entirely new level. The wave of antisemitism that erupted around the world has been described as the worst since the end of World War II. Pro-Palestinian fervor ran rampant—the Palestinians, the victims, and Israel, the evil oppressor. The world demanded that Israel back down, claiming Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians as if Israel were at fault. War broke out on seven fronts against Israel, with Hezbollah in the north, the Houthis in Yemen, and the puppet master, Iran, pulling the strings. Still, the world blamed Israel.
The mainstream demonization of Israel and its constant siding with Hamas militants “trying to liberate the Palestinian people” was most clearly seen on college campuses in demonstrations, vigils, and, often, violent protests. This, combined with identity politics and seeing Israel as a colonialist state occupying a land that wasn’t hers, fueled an already lit flame. Antisemitism was no longer just about hating the Jews; it was about the destruction of Israel.
How Does Antisemitism Appear in the Muslim World Today?
While anti-Zionism is the new “socially accepted” expression of antisemitism, it is important to note that religious bigotry still exists throughout the Muslim world. Muslims have held negative stereotypes regarding Jews throughout most of Islamic history based on the Quran and Hadith. This theological antisemitism was fertile ground for the racial and militant antisemitism that was transferred to the Islamic world by Nazi leaders during and after World War II and adopted by the jihadist movement birthed then by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Muslim antisemitism is a dangerous mix of religious, racial, and political antisemitism. It is responsible for the genocidal threats against Israel and the United States emanating from jihadist, terrorist groups, and the Iranian regime. It is a modern-day ideology of hatred and death that must be stopped.[1]
Why Is Antisemitism Ultimately a Spiritual Evil?
This brief history outlines how antisemitism can be likened to a virus that never entirely dies but mutates and grows again as a new strain in need of new treatments. There is no explanation for this but a biblical one. Antisemitism is, at its root, spiritual—the ugly face of evil.
Psalm 83:1-4 describes it as a war against God in which the Jews are the target:
"Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
It is imperative that Christians understand the dangerous forces behind antisemitism and aggressively stand against it vocally, politically, and prayerfully.
Get involved in the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem: www.icejusa.org/getinvolved
Frequently Asked Questions about Christians and Rising Antisemitism
- Why should Christians care about antisemitism?
Christians should care about antisemitism because hatred toward Jewish people is morally evil, historically dangerous, and spiritually serious. Scripture calls believers to reject hatred, defend human dignity, and stand against evil. - How did October 7 affect global antisemitism?
The October 7 Hamas attack intensified global antisemitism by fueling anti-Israel hostility, online hate, campus unrest, and renewed threats against Jewish communities around the world. - Is anti-Israel sentiment always antisemitism?
No. Criticism of any government can be legitimate, but anti-Israel rhetoric becomes antisemitic when it denies Jewish people dignity, safety, self-determination, or uses classic anti-Jewish stereotypes. - Why is Holocaust denial dangerous?
Holocaust denial is dangerous because it distorts history, dishonors victims, and weakens society’s ability to recognize and resist antisemitism when it appears in new forms. - How should Christians respond to antisemitism today?
Christians should respond by speaking truth, praying, rejecting anti-Jewish hatred, teaching accurate history, and standing with Jewish people against violence and evil.
For Further Reading
- The Uncomfortable Truth about the Rise in Antisemitic Sentiment
- What Are the Historical Origins of Christian Zionism
- Understanding the Theology Behind Christian Zionism
- What Is Christian Zionism?
- The Surprising Roots of the Modern Christian Zionist Movement
[1]The belief that all white people are oppressing dark people—meaning, the oppressive, white Jews are oppressing the people of color, the Palestinians.
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