The Old Hatred: Anti Semitism rises further in the West

Bible in the News

Throughout history God’s people of Israel have been hated by the nations around it. From the time Israel was in Egypt, Pharaoh attempted to destroy the nation by killing all the male children in the Nile of Egypt. The Edomites were condemned by Obediah: “For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.”, the hatred of the Philistines for Israelites was called “the old hatred” by Ezekiel. When Israel was scattered from their land in AD135 they were persecuted wherever they went, and were never allowed to settle or mingle with the local populus. They were blamed for the Black Death and used as scapegoats. They were constantly in fear of pogroms and expulsion, with 100,000 killed in 1100 different pogroms in just the first few years after the First World War.