From the back-breaking whips of ancient Egyptian overlords to modern-day vandalism, violence and murder, the Jewish people have long been targets of scapegoating and hatred. Today’s blood libels, hateful rhetoric and distorted portrayals of Jews trace back centuries. This long history reflects a recurring pattern where Jewish communities have faced hostility in different eras and regions.
For more than 3,000 years, Jews have gathered around tables for the annual Passover seder, where they read: “In each and every generation, they rise up against us to destroy us. And the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hands.” This passage highlights the deep historical consciousness of persecution and resilience of the Jewish people—from the Crusades to pogroms and from the Holocaust to the Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Today, Jewish hostages in the Gaza Strip remain in captivity as many of their ancestors were before them.
The Hebrew word for “Egypt,” Mitzrayim, means “narrow place,” symbolizing the confinement of Jewish life during slavery. The Passover story, told in a book called the Haggadah, recounts the Israelite traditional story of miraculous deliverance from Egyptian oppression, marked by the Ten Plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, as described in the book of Exodus. It is a seminal event in Jewish history, marking the birth of the Jewish nation and its enduring hope for freedom.
This age-old hatred has taken many forms over the centuries. From Pharaoh to Iran’s ayatollah, and from campus violence to venomous social-media influencers, the target remains the same: the Jewish people, in Israel or anywhere around the world.
Hatred of Jews rooted in conspiracy, dating to Exodus
In ancient Egypt, according to the book of Exodus, Pharaoh forced the Hebrews into grueling labor to build its cities, illustrating how oppression can be fueled by fear and conspiracies, with Pharaoh portraying the Hebrews as a threat to the Egyptian nation. Despite the Hebrews having long lived peacefully in Egypt, Pharaoh incited Egyptians to believe that this minority would unite with Egypt’s enemies to overthrow their government.
The biblical account describes Pharaoh’s extreme cruelty, including ordering the deaths of newborn Jewish boys and subjecting the Jewish people to unbearable physical and psychological torture. This ancient story of persecution based on perceived difference and disloyalty resonates with later forms of antisemitism: hatred of the Jewish people.
The lie of Jewish control: ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’
First published in Russia in 1903, a notorious hoax, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” spread false conspiracy theories about global Jewish power and domination. Translated into multiple languages, the document claimed to represent minutes from secret meetings of Jewish leaders plotting to control world politics, media, and other institutions. The Elders of Zion do not exist, nor did these secret meetings take place. Despite being proven false, “The Protocols” fueled fear and hatred, and led to pogroms against Jews, especially in Ukraine, where tens of thousands of Jews were murdered.
“The Protocols” were used by Adolf Hitler to justify violence and spread hatred of Jews throughout Europe, and such propaganda influenced antisemitic campaigns under Russian leader Joseph Stalin. American business leader Henry Ford believed the lies and published a 91-part series based on “The Protocols” in his newspaper starting in 1920. Though the document has been debunked countless times, it continues to sell today and remains a potent tool for antisemites, perpetuating dangerous narratives about Jews seeking to dominate the world.
Nazi dehumanization and the Holocaust
The Nazis were propaganda experts who used devious advertising and that day’s technology—radio and movies—to disperse their anti-Jewish narratives and warp Jewish stereotypes, manipulating public opinion, influencing behavior and spreading hate.
It created an environment of intolerance that ultimately facilitated the Holocaust, leading to the murder of 6 million Jews during the Second World War, which lasted from 1939 to 1945.
Violence in the Arab world and the rebirth of Israel
Hatred of Jews persisted even after the Holocaust. In 1945, on the anniversary of the British Balfour Declaration that advocated for a national home for the Jewish people in Israel, an anti-Jewish student protest in Cairo sparked riots that spread across Egypt. Thousands of Egyptians drove through the streets chanting “Death to the Jews.” The violence escalated into pogroms: Jewish stores were looted, homes and synagogues set on fire, and Torah scrolls and sacred books burned.
In November 1947, the United Nations voted to approve the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states in the region of historical Palestine. Following Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, five Arab nations invaded the newly declared sovereign nation.
During the war, thousands of Egyptian Jews were arrested and placed in camps, with many wounded or killed. Synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses and homes were bombed. Faced with oppression and inspired by Zionism, the vast majority of Egypt’s Jewish community—some 75,000 in 1948—fled or were expelled from Egypt over the following decades. This started with 35,000 Jews after Israel’s creation, representing a second Exodus.
Persistent hatred: From ancient roots to modern times
Following the re-establishment of a Jewish nation—the first since the Kingdom of Israel—the rejection of its existence became a rallying cry for many. Groups like the Palestinian Liberation Organization were founded in 1964, before Israel gained control over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, to use terrorism backed by propaganda to destroy Israel. The rise of Hamas murdering 20 Jews at a 2002 Passover seder in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, the ongoing launching of thousands of rockets into Israel and the Oct. 7 atrocities proved its violent rejection of the Jewish state.
The hatred of Jews found a powerful state sponsor: the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian regime promotes anti-Israel propaganda, supports student protests on American university campuses and sponsors proxy groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen—all openly calling for Israel’s elimination. This state-sponsored terrorism fuels regional instability and contributes to the ongoing threats against Israel.
The relentless hatred of Jews has also morphed into ideological opposition to Zionism—the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland of Israel. This is often seen in slogans like “From the river to the sea,” which means for the dismantling of Israel. Denying Israel’s right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people is a core tenet of contemporary anti-Jewish ideology. This is recognized by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which was adopted by the U.S. government and many others.
Tragically, this hateful ideology can also be found influencing narratives on university campuses and even in K-12 schools, contributing to a hostile environment for Jews and those who support Israel. Also, Palestinian children—mostly in schools run by the United Nations—are taught from a young age to hate Christians, Jews and Israel—and call for its destruction.
Theodor Herzl, one of modern Zionism’s founders, wrote in The Jewish State: “Oppression and persecution cannot exterminate us. No nation has endured what we have. The strong among us defiantly return to our own. We shall at last live as free people on our own soil and peacefully die in our own homes.”
Points to consider:
- The Exodus is the story of liberation from what holds us back.
Every year, Jews around the world read in the Passover Haggadah about the significance of re-living the story of redemption and internalizing the Exodus from Egypt as if it personally happened to them. To leave Egypt required overcoming fear and launching into the unknown. This is the story of Jewish history: rising above being hated, being the scapegoat, target and victim. The Jewish people must not cower in fear, hide their identities or compromise their values. Recounting the Exodus story is how Jews maintain their strength and internal freedom.
- The Exodus has served as a light of hope for other oppressed peoples for millennia.
“When Israel was in Egypt’s land, Let My people go!
Oppressed so hard they could not stand, Let My people go!
Oh, let us all from bondage flee, Let My people go!
And wear these slavery chains forlorn, Let My people go!”
— Excerpts from “Go Down, Moses,” an African American spiritual song
While the unique Exodus story is important to the Jewish people, its themes of freedom, dignity and hope in the face of oppression speak to people striving for liberation. The African-American community provides a powerful example, embracing the Exodus narrative during slavery and the civil-rights movement. Spirituals referencing Moses and Pharaoh in the American South were more than just songs; they were declarations of faith in eventual freedom. This mirrors the Israelite journey and highlights the enduring power of this story to inspire different cultures around the world.
- “Let my people go!” Remembering Jewish captives in Gaza.
Now, 18 months after Hamas militants murdered 1,200 and abducted 251 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 assault in southern Israel, 59 hostages (24 believed to be alive) remain in Gaza. They are not only in danger of starvation and death, but also of the world forgetting about them and no longer advocating for their release. Every day that passes inflicts further suffering on the hostages and their families.
The cry Moses made before Pharaoh before the dawn of Israelite redemption from slavery, “Let my people go!” has become a rallying cry by many to call for the release of the hostages. That call has a deeper meaning as Jews around the world observe Passover.
- Anti-Zionist attitudes hide real hatred.
Attacks against Israel to “liberate Palestine” provide a cover story to hide a deep-seated hatred for Jews and the State of Israel, and to justify acts of violence and even the murder of innocent Jews. If anti-Israel protesters truly desired to support Palestinians, then the chants in the streets should have demanded for the disarming of Hamas—the greatest oppressor of Gaza civilians —rather than chants to destroy Israel and America. Denying Israel’s right to exist is not about supporting Palestinians; it is aligning with the hate-fueled terrorist mentality that seeks to murder Jews and wipe Israel off the map.