"The Jewish people in its very being constitutes a living protest
against a world of hatred, violence and war." (Emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord
Sacks)
The history of Jewish persecution is as old as the written word, though
the epithet anti-Semitism was conceived only in the late 19th century,
as it reached the beginning of its most horrifying chapter. Throughout
Christian history the hatred and prejudice toward the Jewish people have
often been blamed on the betrayal and crucifixion of Christ, but ethnic
Jewish oppression began long before. It is beyond dispute that
antisemitism in our societies is on the increase. Following the Israeli
bombing of Gaza, antisemitic feeling has grown significantly--though a
prominent group of French Orthodox Jews in Paris recently demonstrated
with placards saying "Israeli action in Gaza is not the action of the
Jewish people." Still, Jewish graves are desecrated and synagogues
daubed with swastikas.
John Mann has assembled a reader on the theme of antisemitism ranging
from the writings of Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, and Jean-Paul
Sartre to George Washington, Jesse Jackson, and Emile Zola. The book is
published under the auspices of the All-Party Parliamentary Group
Against Anti-Semitism and will come to be seen as a contribution of
major importance on a subject of incipient lethal danger.
