The Bible repeatedly condemns lying, especially lies meant to harm others. 2 Timothy 3:1-4 talks about humanity becoming “unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous.” Verse one of that chapter says it will get worse as the last days approach.
That’s bad news for the Jewish people because for centuries they have already suffered as the victims of “malicious gossip.” That’s the kind of lying meant to harm or destroy. People blamed Jews for wars and for economic downturns. The losers of wars made Jews their scapegoats — blaming them for selling secrets and other traitorous activities. Anti-capitalists often blame Jews for the rise of capitalism. But just as often, capitalists blame Jews for the rise of socialism.
I could go on and on listing the things they’ve been blamed for, including the Bubonic Plague, earthquakes, floods, and all kinds of natural disasters. Hating Jews goes back further than the word Jew. In ancient times, the Hebrews were hated because they refused to adopt pagan religions or adapt their own beliefs to those of their captors or conquerors. It’s hard to “adapt” belief in the one true God to a belief in a pantheon of gods.
The propensity to blame Jews for all manner of evil led to the Holocaust, but it did not stop there. It is alive and well. For instance, a new UN report blames domestic violence among Palestinians on Israel. They ignore centuries of Muslim teaching that belittles and devalues women, sometimes to the level of livestock. But if a Palestinian man gives his wife what for, they blame Jews.
When people are confronted on video while tearing down posters of Hamas hostages, they usually respond with some form of profanity rather than actual discussion. But when they talk about it, they often say, as one did in New York, that the posters are “making the conflict worse.” These posters feature photos of human beings, all or almost all Jews. So once again, it’s the fault of Jews, even when those Jews are clearly the victims of horrific violence.
One person said that the posters promote genocide. That word is bandied about often. It creates an extreme emotional response to those who say it and believe it. The infamous letter signed by 31 Harvard student associations spoke of, “the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.”
Let’s look at that. Israel became a nation in 1948. At that time, the Palestinian population was well under a million. It is now well over 5.4 million. In the US, 1948 marks the beginning of the baby boom. That lasted until the mid-1960s. In recent years, America has had a flood of legal and illegal immigration. But with all that growth from without and within, the US population is only about 2 ½ times what it was in 1948. The Palestinian population has grown at twice that rate. Their population is five times larger now than then. It has shown steady growth the entire time. How can anyone say Palestinians have experienced “genocide” or “annihilation”?
In this case, they are blaming Jews for something that never happened. But once an accusatory word against Jews enters the thinking of their haters, it is almost impossible to get it out.
Naturally, they blame the Jewish state of Israel for the current situation in Gaza. That can be answered well with the words of the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. To those calling for a ceasefire, he said, “There was a ceasefire before October 7, and Hamas broke it.”
The present situation in Gaza is heartbreaking and hard to watch. But to blame it on Israel is to blame the victim for fighting back.
