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Fact check: Why do jews deserve to be hated across millennia
Executive Summary
The original statement asserting that “Jews deserve to be hated across millennia” is a prejudiced claim that is not supported by historical scholarship, contemporary reporting, or myth-busting research; scholarship describes antisemitism as a persistent form of hatred with varied causes and manifestations rather than a justified stance [1] [2]. Recent reporting identifies spikes in antisemitic incidents tied to political events—most notably after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack—creating urgent security and social concerns in places like Germany, but those developments document victimization, not culpability [3] [4]. Counter-myth resources explicitly refute notions that Jews are deserving of hatred, identifying such ideas as baseless and dangerous [5] [6].
1. Why historians call antisemitism “the longest hatred” and what that phrase actually means
Medieval and modern historians document antisemitism as a durable pattern of hostility with roots in ancient societies and evolving motives over time: religiously framed anti-Judaism in antiquity and medieval Europe, racialized antisemitism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and political or conspiratorial forms more recently [1] [7]. Scholarship from 2024 frames this as structural and recurrent rather than righteous—the phrase “longest hatred” describes persistence, not moral justification. These studies emphasize shifts in the form and rhetoric of antisemitism across epochs, showing continuity of prejudice rather than continuity of any legitimate grievance [2].
2. How medieval Christian–Jewish rivalry became a template for modern antisemitism
Recent academic work argues that medieval cultural and theological rivalries between Christians and Jews in Europe established frameworks that later adapted into modern antisemitic ideologies [7]. That research, published in 2024, traces how legal restrictions, social segregation, and polemical stereotypes from the Middle Ages provided raw materials for later political and racial antisemitism. Scholars treat these continuities as causal layers to be explained, not as moral evidence against Jewish people, underlining that historical antagonism was produced by social dynamics, power imbalances, and elite narratives rather than any intrinsic defect in Jewish communities [1].
3. Contemporary spikes in antisemitic incidents after October 7, 2023—facts from recent reporting
Reporting from October 2025 and prior months records a clear uptick in antisemitic threats, harassment, and violence tied to geopolitical developments, particularly following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023; journalists and security agencies in Germany document growing hostility and constrained Jewish life [3] [8]. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned in October 2025 of rising violence readiness and anti-Jewish propaganda online, presenting a law-and-order and public-safety problem for authorities and Jewish communities [4]. These sources document consequences and trends, not moral justification of hatred.
4. Debunking the persistent myths that fuel antisemitism—what policy groups show
Antisemitism research and advocacy organizations systematically debunk recurring myths—such as claims about Jewish greed or global conspiracies—that historically underpin hatred [9] [5]. Documents from 2024–2025 catalog how these tropes are reused across centuries and adapted to new media environments, underscoring that the harms originate in false narratives, not in any verifiable collective behavior by Jews [6]. These institutional studies provide evidence that stereotyping is manufactured, politically useful for agitators, and empirically unfounded.
5. Contrasting viewpoints and evident agendas in the sources examined
Academic histories emphasize structural and long-term causes [1] [7], contemporary news coverage stresses immediate security implications and policy responses [3] [4], while advocacy materials focus on myth-deconstruction and education [5] [6]. Each perspective reflects an agenda: scholarship seeks explanatory depth, journalists foreground urgency and incidents, and advocacy groups prioritize prevention and public awareness. Taken together, the evidence converges on the conclusion that hatred is explained and propagated, not merited, and that different actors mobilize findings toward distinct remedies.
6. What’s omitted when someone asserts Jews “deserve” hatred—and why that matters
Saying a group “deserves” hatred omits consideration of individual variability, historical causation, documented victimization, and the role of propaganda and policy in producing prejudice; primary sources and syntheses from 2024–2025 consistently highlight those omissions [2] [8] [9]. Public discourse that treats a whole people as culpable flattens complex histories and enables violence, a dynamic the October 2023–2025 reporting documents in contemporary contexts [3]. Omission of context converts evidence of conflict or economic tension into justification for blanket hostility, which sources identify as a central mechanism of antisemitism.
7. Bottom line: facts, not vengeance or prejudice, should shape responses
The reviewed materials from 2024–2025 collectively show that antisemitism is a recurring, explainable phenomenon produced by historical grievances, political events, and false myths—not a justified or evidence-based reaction to any intrinsic quality of Jewish people [1] [4] [5]. Policy responses thus focus on security, education, and debunking harmful narratives, not on validating hatred. The claim that Jews “deserve to be hated across millennia” is contradicted by historical scholarship, contemporary reporting, and advocacy research, all of which treat such blanket condemnation as unfounded and dangerous [2] [3] [6].