Understanding Antisemitism, Israel’s Story, and the Christian Response.

Antisemitism is one of the oldest and most persistent forms of hatred in human history. It crosses continents, ideologies, and centuries. From Pharaoh’s Egypt to Hitler’s Germany, from medieval pogroms to modern conspiracy theories, the Jewish people have endured suspicion, discrimination, expulsion, and genocide.

Antisemitism has spread like cancer in the United States in recent years, as Muslim emigrants have brought their ancient hatred with them. Vicious Islamic Nationalist protestors and their enablers want to annihilate Jews from “the river to the sea.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League’s survey, over 25% of adults across 18 countries held antisemitic views. This hatred is as irrational as it is enduring. But why? What is it about the Jewish people that has attracted such animosity? And how should Christians, who worship a Jewish Savior and revere a Bible rooted in Jewish history, respond?

Roots of Jewish Hatred

Jews were often hated historically because they were different—religiously, culturally, and socially—in ways that set them apart from the dominant societies around them. The roots of this ancient prejudice include:

Religious Exclusivity. Jews worshiped one God and refused to adopt the gods, festivals, or customs of surrounding pagan cultures, which made them seem arrogant or uncooperative (see Esther 3:8).

Economic Roles. In medieval Europe, Jews were often restricted from land ownership and entered moneylending, a necessary but resented profession. This fueled harmful stereotypes of greed.

Scapegoating. During plagues, wars, or economic crises, Jewish communities were easy scapegoats due to their minority status and separateness (e.g., blamed for the Black Death in 1348).

Persistent Identity. While other minority groups assimilated over time, Jews maintained strong ethnic and religious identity, which some perceived as threatening or subversive.

At heart, much of the hatred comes down to fear of the “other,” twisted over time into suspicion and myth. This was particularly true of the people of the Levant who adopted or were forced into Islam.

Mohammed wanted to be included in the Judeo-Christian tradition. He was rejected for many reasons, not the least of which is that “Allah” did not fit the Judeo-Christian concept of God.

The Jewish People and the Biblical Claim to Israel

The story of the Jews begins not with conflict but with a covenant. God chose Abraham, a man of faith, and promised that through him would come a great nation that would bless the entire earth (Genesis 12:1–3).

This nation—the people of Israel—has played a central role in unfolding God’s redemptive plan.

A Promised Land with a Complicated History

God gave the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants as an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:8). This divine promise is not just a spiritual idea but was understood by the Jews as a physical homeland.

Despite repeated displacement—such as during the Babylonian exile (2 Kings 25) and later under Roman rule (70 AD)—Jewish identity remained tied to the land.

Historically, Jews never completely disappeared from the land. Small Jewish communities existed continuously in cities like Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Safed, even during centuries of occupation.

In the late 1800s, the Zionist movement began calling Jews back to Israel. By 1948, the modern state of Israel was born—a return many saw as the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:11, which spoke of God regathering his people a second time.

Today, “Zionism” is considered a dirty word by people who hate Jews. In reality, it is God-centered “patriotism,” calling the diaspora back to the land God promised to the Jews.

A People Set Apart and Frequently Resented

God’s election of Israel was never about superiority but service: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).

Yet this very calling has provoked resentment throughout history. From Haman in the book of Esther to Hitler in the 20th century and Islamic vengeance in the 21st century, antisemitic hatred often springs from fear, envy, or a desire to destroy what is seen as “different” or “chosen.”

Historian Paul Johnson notes, “The Jews are the people who stood at the very center of the attempt to humanize the world.” He argues that antisemitism is often a backlash against this moral distinctiveness and influence.

The World’s Opposition: A Spiritual Dimension

Jesus told his disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). Satan has always opposed God’s covenant people, whether ancient Israel or the Church today.

Revelation 12 portrays a dragon (Satan) attempting to destroy a woman who gives birth to a male child (Jesus) and then pursuing her other offspring—perhaps a picture of both Israel and the Church. In this sense, antisemitism isn’t merely political—it is spiritual.

The Jewish claim to Israel is rooted in thousands of years of history and covenant; hostility against them is not just political but spiritual.

The Rise of Islamic Nationalism and the Palestinian Conflict

The modern conflict between Israel and Palestine cannot be understood apart from the rise of Islamic Nationalism in the 20th century. Though complex, much of the hostility toward Israel today, especially in the Muslim world, and the hate they have spread is framed through this lens.

Roots of the Islamic Perspective on the Land

Islam emerged in about 600 AD, and its founder, Muhammad, originally saw his faith as an extension of the Abrahamic tradition. But after being rejected by Jewish tribes in Medina, he distanced Islam from Jewish practices. The Quran contains both admiration for and condemnation of Jews.

This snub, and Muslim reaction to it, disconnects it any notion that Islam is an “Abrahamic” faith. Islam spread through the violence of Arab tribalism, not through direction from the God of Abraham.

Islamic revenge against Jews emerged in 690 AD when they built the Mosque of Omar (“The Dome of the Rock”) on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, thus desecrating Judaism’s most holy site, which was established under Kind David about 957 BC.

For Muslims, this site is associated with Muhammad’s alleged night journey to heaven. While Jews revere Jerusalem as the eternal capital, Muslims vindictively claimed it about 1,650 years after the Jews—leading to centuries of conflict.

Islamic Nationalism and the 20th Century Shift

By the early 1900s, Arab Islamic Nationalism began to rise in opposition to Western colonialism. As Jewish return to the Levant increased, Arab leaders opposed it, seeing it as a foreign encroachment. After Israel’s establishment in 1948, many Palestinians were displaced, and this trauma has fueled resentment for generations.

Groups like the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Hamas, fueled by Islamic resentment of the Jews, arose not only to promote Palestinian rights but to oppose Israel’s right to exist.

Hamas’s Islamic hate-fueled founding charter (see Sources below) explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel. It includes antisemitic language falsely blaming Jews for world wars and revolutions.

A Political Conflict Fed by Religious Hatred

Though the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has political dimensions—borders, refugees, security—it is framed correctly in religious terms.

Radical Islamic clerics and ideologues use religious language to demonize Jews, leading to global surges in antisemitism. They consider the United States the “Great Satan” because we have supported the 1,650-year-old Jewish nation of Israel.

What began as a territorial dispute with the rise of Islam has now become a theological and ideological conflict that often promotes dangerous antisemitism.

In the West, university campuses increasingly adopt anti-Zionist rhetoric, often blurring the line between criticism of Israeli policy and hatred of Jews. Antisemitism on college and university campuses has rapidly escalated into a national crisis, with at least 1,200 incidents being recorded from October 7, 2023, to September 24, 2024, according to ADL research.

The Christian Response to Antisemitism

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be peacemakers and truth-tellers. We must speak up, stand with the Jewish people, and remember that our Savior was born in Bethlehem to a Jewish mother.

But we must also confront the uncomfortable reality that some of the Church’s history has contributed to antisemitism. Politicians were Jew-haters, and when there was no separation of state and church, some Christians adopted non-spiritual views about Jewish people.

Jesus Was a Jew— Our Faith Is Rooted in Judaism

Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, circumcised on the eighth day, and worshiped at the Temple. He quoted the Hebrew Scriptures regularly and declared, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). Paul, writing to Gentiles, reminded them not to become arrogant, saying, “It is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you” (Romans 11:18).

Tragically, Church history includes shameful examples of antisemitism—from forced conversions to Martin Luther’s later writings that vilified Jews. These actions contradict the heart of the gospel. Scripture calls us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), not demonize them.

The Word of God Includes the Old Testament

To embrace Christianity is to embrace a faith built upon Jewish foundations. The Old Testament is not obsolete; it is the story of God’s work through Israel, leading to Christ.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament messianic hope. Jesus quoted the Old Testament and lived it. It offers valuable instruction for living today.

The Quron claims Abraham and mentions Christ, but antisemitism is a reputation of spiritual truth that Christians and Jews find in the Bible.

Standing for Truth and Peace Today

In a time when antisemitism is rising globally, Christians can be a voice of truth and hope. That means rejecting antisemitic jokes, challenging hateful speech, and standing in solidarity with Jews in our communities.

It also means praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), supporting organizations that build bridges between Jews and Christians, and promoting honest conversations about the Middle East conflict that distinguish between legitimate criticism and hatred.

What began as a territorial dispute has now become a theological and ideological conflict that often promotes dangerous antisemitism.

The Church must be known not for silence or complicity but for courage, love, and truth in the face of antisemitism.

A Christian Call to Love and Action

The Jewish people have endured centuries of persecution, yet they remain a testimony to God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. From the biblical patriarchs to the modern state of Israel, their story is part of our story as believers.

The world’s hatred toward them is not merely political or historical but spiritual. And the Christian response must also be spiritual, grounded in truth, humility, and love.

We cannot change the past, but we can shape the future. Christians must stand against antisemitism in all its forms and defend the dignity of the Jewish people. Here’s what Christians can do:

Learn the History. Read books or take courses on Jewish history and the Holocaust to better understand the context of antisemitism.

Watch Your Words. Avoid and correct harmful stereotypes, jokes, or conspiracy theories about Jews.

Engage in Dialogue. Build relationships with Jewish friends, visit a synagogue, or attend interfaith events to foster understanding.

Support Peace Efforts. Give to ministries or nonprofits that promote peace and reconciliation in Israel and Palestine. No Christian should be bullied by Islamic rhetoric.

Pray for Israel and the Jewish People. Make it a regular part of your spiritual life to pray for peace, safety, and God’s will for his covenant people.