Persecution of Jews Now and Then

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

People want to free an imaginary country of Palestine which is only land named that by the Romans after 135 CE. Palestine is like Mesopotamia, an area, not a country.  So they want to free it from Jews who are there legally, lock stock and barrel with papers, mind you, and created their country of Israel on May 14, 1948-reviving it again after being there before 70 CE for thousands of years. 

 Our rabbis tell us their world was created 6,000 years ago which would be in our calendar 3975 BCE + 2025 CE and is reflected on our Jewish calendar to show this.  In about 200 more years we have our birthday of creation.  Israel's 1st king was Saul born c1040 BCE and King David was born in 1010 BCE, dying in 970 BCE, and on with our kings till 721 BCE.  Then Rome picked rulers.  

    Gazans attacking by burning people and homes, slaughtering first

I'll start with Now.  Our persecution showed up on October 7, 2023 when Hamas and civilians of Gaza attacked kibbutzim along their border.  Something had gone awry in the warning system and a celebration was taking place with young adults dancing with happiness in the field.  The state of Israel had turned over Gaza to Palestinians in a show of peace in 1994.  In 1993, as part of the Oslo Accords, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed upon an outline for the latter to begin independently governing the Palestinian territories. In 1994, Israel withdrew from Gaza City and Jericho, giving civilian and city functions to the PNA.In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there.                           

Arafat had been the Palestinian's leader.  Sharon formally announced the plan in his April 14, 2004, letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, stating that "there exists no Palestinian partner with whom to advance peacefully toward a settlement."  In about 5 minutes after pulling out, Palestinians were attacking Israel and have not stopped.

Throughout history from Hellenistic days through the Roman days to 70 CE, Israel had been attacked and destroyed with Jews persecuted, and taken as slaves. Then Christianity stepped in and took over, forcing Jews out of their countries.  Jews were treated with hostility and as 2nd class.  

At that point, Muslim countries were more in sympathy and gave them refuge, but kept most at a level of 2nd class as well.Throughout history, Jews have had to travel with their own ways of making a living (through education) (skills) that others didn't have, such as math used in trading and business.Pogroms were used against Jews, and then...the Nazi Holocaust.  The 1st world war ended and Jewish leadership saw that it was time to return to their homeland  because the Ottoman Empire had been the loser in this world war, and the country they ruled was up for grabs.  We're a people conditioned to be unwanted.  Even in Portland, Oregon in the 1950's there was anti-Semitism showing its ugly head in social areas and hiring areas for work.  Jews were barred from social clubs such as athletic clubs.  It hit the high school crowds even earlier. Parents passed the persecution acts onto their children.   

Why is it I only see, such words as no persecution of Muslims but not of Jews?  Is it not happening today?  Anti-Semitism was taken as a subject to end by Biden but didn't get anywhere, and now Trump has taken it as one of his jobs to work on, and he's doing something about it. Anti-Semitism is so bad today that's it's almost as bad as it was in Germany in the 1930's, seen much more in the New York area than in Portland to my knowledge. 

There are about 14 million Jews in the world of which about 6 million live in Israel. In the USA they are 2% of the population.  World-wide, we are 0.02% of the population.  More than 24.1% of the world's population is Muslim, with an estimated total of approximately 1.9 billion. Muslims are the majority in 49 countries, they speak hundreds of languages and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. In 2025, the estimated Muslim population in the United States is around 4.45 million, representing approximately 1.34% of the total US population, just a little less than the Jewish population.   The Holocaust from 1937 to 1945 wiped out 6 million of us Jews.  If Palestine were to gain full recognition as a state, it would likely become the 50th or 51st country with a Muslim-majority population, depending on how territories like West Bank and Gaza Strip are counted.  

Israel is our only Jewish majority country, created for just that, a people without any country.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_world#:~:text=The%20following%20nineteen

%20Muslim%2Dmajority,United%20Arab%20Emirates

T

hat one-third of American Jews have been the target of antisemitism in the past year should raise red flags for every American and our leaders.”