What's Behind the Troubling Rise in Anti-Semitism?
A commentary by Bruce Gore
United Church of God pastor, Birmingham and Gadsden, Alabama, and
Rome, Georgia
On July 4 Americans celebrate the beginning of their country as a separate
and independent nation. It all began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus
sailed from southern Spain and rediscovered what came to be called the
Americas. Few realize that in the same year another armada of wooden
ships left Spain carrying thousands of Jews expelled from their homes
and businesses with little more than the clothes they wore on their backs.
Ferdinand and Isabella wanted to create a strong, united Spain. They
considered Jews and Muslims to be a threat to this goal. Spain earlier
had been a place where three religions—Christianity, Islam and
Judaism—coexisted side by side with a certain degree of tolerance.
That indulgence was to end for two of the three when Ferdinand and Isabella
brought the Spanish Inquisition to their kingdom.
In 1480, they instituted the infamous Inquisition, a court that imprisoned
and/or killed Christians suspected of not following Roman Catholic teachings.
Non-Christians were given the ultimatum to accept Christianity or leave
the country. Over the course of several years, hundreds of thousands
of Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal. Their mission began with
the Muslim Moors and finished with the Jews.
That cry of "baptism or death" heard a century earlier fell
upon them again. Many Jews compromised. Thousands of others pretended
to convert to the state-backed religion to avoid the torture of the inquisitors.
It only bought them a little time. Later their pretense was exposed and
they were tortured and put to death. In the end, religious compromise
failed to preserve their citizenship, as all Jews were required to hastily
depart Spain or face certain death.
The final solution was "The Edict of Expulsion." This order
gave all Jews until the end of July, 1492, to leave Spain. After receiving
a two-day extension, on August 2 the last of the "fleet of misery
and woe" left Spain one day ahead of Columbus’s three ships.
Today in Europe we are seeing a resurgence of anti-Semitism. In the
two years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon, anti-Semitism has been on the increase in Europe.
The United States is the world's dominant power both militarily and
economically. But Europe is not content to play the role of second fiddle
in the world of politics. Europeans see much of the cause of terrorist
activity linked with the lack of progress in settling the Palestinian
problem. Many consider the intransigence of the Jewish state to be due
to the support of United States, and this is contributing to a parallel
rise in anti-Americanism. So in much of the Western world the Americans
and Jews are increasingly seen as the two major obstacles to world peace.
A recent poll in Arabic countries reveals two startling developments.
Anti-Americanism has risen sharply in many Arab countries since the war
with Iraq, even in countries at one time considered friendly to or as
allies of the United States.
A high percentage of Muslims believe America’s real intent is
to destroy the Muslim religion. They do not believe that the United States
is able to deal fairly toward the Palestinians because of its friendship
with Israel.
The same survey found that a high percentage of the populations in those
same countries believe that "no way can be found for Israel and
the Palestinians to coexist."
Bible prophecy continues to move forward, setting the stage for a future
conflict beyond imagination between Europe, the Islamic world and those
of Israelite descent. People will once again be forced to give their
total allegiance to a religion and a religious figure or face death.
Prophecies in the book of Revelation speak of these times and events: "He
was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship
the image of the beast to be killed" (Revelation 13:15).
To learn more about these future sobering events, request
our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled. |
