Anti-Semitism has been an influence in the way the Jews have been treated since the beginning of the modern era, with many societies discriminating against the race as a whole incredible harshly. The prejudice towards the Jews in the 11th century onwards has been used as a political and social tool for government bodies from many countries. This idea is exemplified through the Blood Libel which occurred during this time frame, with events such as the first accusation, treatment of the Jews there after, and the long lasting effects of the Libel.
The first accusation occurred during the early 11th century and began in England with the murder of William of Norwich (Poliakov, The History of Anti-Semetism Volume 1, 1955). Although there was …show more content…
Nesta Webster, a controversial author from the 20th century who was an avid anti-sematic, wrote that, “What mysteries of iniquity would be revealed if the Jew, like the mole, did not make a point of working in the dark! Jews have never been more Jews than when we tried to make them men and citizens.” (Radner, 1995) This quote implies that the Talmud contains hidden secrets which Jews do not want non-Jews to know, which is completely false. This is the case as the Talmud is available at many libraries across the globe, and has little to no restrictions about viewing it as an outsider. The second part of the quote simply means that Jews will not conform to the civilization that they may enter into, but is this a bad thing? Jews should be encouraged to continue their culture and not be stopped by those who do not accept them, as has been the way in history. Lastly many sceptics believe that the Talmud speaks of allowing Jews to kill non-Jews, with quotes such as “Even the best of the non-Jews should be killed.” (Abhodah Zarah, 26b Tosepoth) being used to defend this stance. Simply put, quotes like this are often fabricated; created to give substance to any argument against the Jews where there would otherwise be none. Clearly, there will always be sceptics surrounding Jews, as they have been the scapegoat for most issues since the early 11th
The first accusation occurred during the early 11th century and began in England with the murder of William of Norwich (Poliakov, The History of Anti-Semetism Volume 1, 1955). Although there was …show more content…
Nesta Webster, a controversial author from the 20th century who was an avid anti-sematic, wrote that, “What mysteries of iniquity would be revealed if the Jew, like the mole, did not make a point of working in the dark! Jews have never been more Jews than when we tried to make them men and citizens.” (Radner, 1995) This quote implies that the Talmud contains hidden secrets which Jews do not want non-Jews to know, which is completely false. This is the case as the Talmud is available at many libraries across the globe, and has little to no restrictions about viewing it as an outsider. The second part of the quote simply means that Jews will not conform to the civilization that they may enter into, but is this a bad thing? Jews should be encouraged to continue their culture and not be stopped by those who do not accept them, as has been the way in history. Lastly many sceptics believe that the Talmud speaks of allowing Jews to kill non-Jews, with quotes such as “Even the best of the non-Jews should be killed.” (Abhodah Zarah, 26b Tosepoth) being used to defend this stance. Simply put, quotes like this are often fabricated; created to give substance to any argument against the Jews where there would otherwise be none. Clearly, there will always be sceptics surrounding Jews, as they have been the scapegoat for most issues since the early 11th