The badge which Jews were obliged to wear in German occupied Belgium in the 1940s.
There was a family on the train – a husband, wife and daughter. There was something slightly different about their dress and behaviour. I suspected they were Jewish, even before I spotted the edge of the yarmulke under his baseball cap.
There’s no surprise that he was hiding his identity. It’s risky to be openly Jewish at the moment. Since the start of the Gaza war which was sparked by the Palestinian attacks on Israel on 7th October 2023, anti-semitic incidents (that is, verbal and physical abuse against Jews) have increased worldwide at an alarming rate – up 1000% in some countries.
Why Hostility to Israel?
Why is this? Why turn against the victim of a crime? Here are two possible answers to this question. The first answer is, it’s because of the way Israel has reacted to the attacks, which is seen as disproportionate. The attacks killed around 1,200 Jews; so far Israel has killed around 61,000 Palestinians. But there’s more to it. The second answer to the question is that the 7th October attacks are seen not as an isolated outrage, but as a part of an ongoing ‘resistance’ to Israel’s perceived injustice to the Palestinians. Anti-Israel feeling erupted immediately after the attacks, revealing a widespread and deep-rooted hatred of the nation.
The hostility between Israel and its Arab neighbours is well known, but the current conflict has highlighted the extent to which much of world opinion was already against Israel.
Why Hostility to the Jews?
But why turn against the Jews as a people? Are all Jews worldwide responsible for the actions of the Israeli government?
Again, here are just two possible answers. The first is that it’s not easy to draw a distinction between anti-semitism (opposition to Jews) and anti-Zionism (opposition to the “Zionist project”). Israel is the only Jewish nation in the world, and since its formation in 1948 it has been inextricable in most people’s minds from the Jewish identity.
The second answer is simply that the Jews have been disliked throughout history. The Bible describes in detail the discrimination they suffered at the hands of various peoples (for example in the book of Esther, and the background of the Gospels in the time of the Roman empire). Throughout the two millennia since Bible times, and throughout the world, they have been the subject of persecution.
Why are they so widely disliked? Is it simply because they’re different? They are apt to keep themselves apart from the rest of society. They have a tendency to be wealthy and successful, and deprecating about other people. That invites hostility. At one time they were accused of eating Christian babies, nowadays a popular accusation is that they’re sabotaging the world’s financial system.
God’s Chosen People
Actually there’s a more fundamental reason, which is given in the Bible. Deuteronomy 28 is a long and disturbing chapter. It’s God speaking to the newly formed nation of Israel, 4000 years ago. The chapter starts with a catalogue of blessings that would be theirs if they obeyed Him, then it proceeds with a (much longer) list of calamities that would befall them if they disobeyed. These calamities are all too recognizable, in disturbing detail, from the experiences of the Jews in past and very recent history.
The fact is, whether they liked it or not, the Jews were God’s chosen people. As such they had a privilege and a responsibility which no other nation had. ‘For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth’ (Deuteronomy 7:6). That status as God’s chosen people has never been withdrawn (see for example Romans 11).
Here it’s worth pointing out that I’m not saying that Jews, individually or nationally, are especially godly people. Despite the advantage of having a culture centred around God’s Law, and God’s prophets and even His Son teaching in their streets, Bible history shows that all too often the Jews were disobedient and corrupt. The Jewish nation was destroyed twice because of its wickedness. We should not imagine that modern Jews, or the modern Israeli nation, are any better or more deserving of God’s approval than their ancestors. I’m not justifying any actions of individual Jews or the Israeli nation.
God’s Witnesses
But the fact is, they are God’s people. Their remarkable history – their existence, survival and success – are specifically identified as evidence of God’s own existence: ‘“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen”’ (Isaiah 43:10).
And the recently established nation of Israel, whether we like it or not, is a fulfilment of Bible prophecy: ‘Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, “As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but “As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them,” Then they shall dwell in their own land’ (Jeremiah 23:7-8).
Bible history and the rest of history show that those who set themselves against the Jews – and there have been very many individuals and nations throughout history who’ve done this – tend to come to grief. People have compiled statistics demonstrating that nations’ fortunes can be shown to rise and fall in proportion to their tolerance towards their Jewish population.
The Jewish people and the Israeli nation that we know today may not be shining examples of godliness, but God has shown us that one day, when their Messiah returns, they will turn to Him (Zechariah 12:10). Then the reformed survivors will form the nucleus of God’s worldwide Kingdom (chapters 13-14).
God said of the Jewish people, ‘Thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye’ (Zechariah 2:8). Think about that. If you set yourself against the Jews, it’s as though you’re poking God in the eye!
So we come to the present situation. What is your attitude to the Jews? Whose side are you on?
Chris Parkin