As the world modernized, it was believed that the old hatred was a thing of the past, but with the rise of Nazism in Germany, the worst was about to come. Over 6,000,000 Jews died during the Holocaust when the Old Hatred became mechanized.

Theodor Herzl in his book “The Jewish State” argued that if the Jew’s had a state then this would end the hatred of the Jews. In 1948 the dream of Herzl became reality, when Israel became a state, but the hatred for the Jews lived on as a hatred of Israel. 

Now, it is possible for people to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, without it being anti-semitism. But some of what we see in the world today goes far above and beyond this in two main ways. Firstly the world judges Israel in a way they would judge no other nation. They have expectations of Israel beyond what they would expect of themselves and also other nations in the world. Some claim to simply be criticizing the actions of the Israeli government, but only do so because it is the Jewish State. Secondly we see Jews with no connection to the government of Israel threatened, harassed and in some cases attacked. Shouts of “Go back to Poland” were shouted at a Jewish student and f*** the Jews.

So many of the chants and slogans in the protests go much further than supporting non-involved Gazans, but support the terror groups that massacred the 767 Jewish civilians including 36 children, took many captive as hostages, and raped countless Jewish women. 

Banners stating support for “Resistance - By Any Means Necessary” to “free Palestine'' have been seen around the world. In a context of decades of regular Palestinian suicide bombings, kidnapping, stoning, knifings all targeting civilians, plus of course October 7th, when Jewish civilians were massacred, taken hostage and raped, support for “resistance” by “any means necessary” can only be taken to supporting the means currently used by the Palestinian groups. 

In Columbia University, the Hamilton Hall building was seized by protestors, who hung a banner with the word “Intifada” on it. The First Intifada occurred between 1987 and 1993 when a spate of terror attacks murdered nearly 200 Israeli civilians. The second Intifada came a few years later between 2000 and 2005 costing another 700 Israeli civilian lives. Again this shows how the support for Gaza in these protests is not limited to supporting the lives of non-combatants in a warzone, it is active support for the methods of terrorism used today in the quest of Hamas to destroy the Jewish presence in their homeland.

In the context of extreme groups such as Hamas, who’s charter states that their #1 aim is the destruction of Israel and its inhabitants, those who protest support for Gaza without any effort to distance themselves from the violent terror campaign there, are showing support for it.

Some try to claim these views are only held by a vocal minority, but the evidence is different. Elizabeth Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, when speaking during a congressional hearing on anti-semitism refused to clearly answer whether calling for the genocide of Jews violate the code of the university. She repeatedly stated that it would depend on the “context” of the call for genocide of the Jews. Those who protest protest with the slogans “from the river to the sea”, “by any means necessary” among them in large print, and choose to stay part of these protests.

We see that the world has not changed. The Old Hatred, talked of by Ezekiel, is still alive in this world, even in the most “anti-racist” places in the world.

We are told that at the time of Christ’s return all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem to battle, we are told that the Gogian host will come against the people of Israel, who were brought back from the sword, and we see anti-semitism that will bring these things to pass still alive in the world today.

And so until the time when Christ’s return we mourn for Zion, we mourn for the people of Israel, who are hated throughout this world, and pray for the time when Israel will be the head and not the tail, and when Christ rules in peace and righteousness in Jerusalem. 

Join us again next week for another edition of Bible in the News.