When Prejudice and Hatred Turn Into Persecutions

People have always been envious, prejudiced and holding grudges. Human nature has not changed. Yet, what sheds light on the timing of such sentiments resulting in persecutions, rationalized by new jargons and “isms”?   

Since World War II, Western societies came to believe that that they had built back institutional and legal barriers to prevent hate and prejudices from turning into savagery that brought havoc to Western Europe between the two World Wars.  Recent events show that these barriers have weakened, as reflected in daily anti-Semitic and anti-Israel outbursts in both the U.S. and Western Europe, already before the October 7, 2023 massacre.  What weakened the barriers?  

There are altogether 15 million Jews in the world, half residing in Israel.  There are 8 billion people on the planet, 2 billion Muslims among them, living in 53 countries, mainly poor and failed states, and fighting among themselves along sectarian lines (Sunnis, Shias, Sufis), though most are united against both Jews and Israel’s mere existence.  The Houthis’ slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews,” no different from Islamists’ and anti-Semites.’

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