2a) (add below)-

To all the people who hate Jews and say Jews all over the world are evil I ask t
he following question: what have the Jews done to you? Even if you hate Israel
and believe that gov't has oppressed the Palestinians (not true) are all Israel
is responsible for the actions and policies of their gov't? Of course not, just
like all Palestinians aren't responsible for the horrible actions of Hamas. Bu
t even if you were to make the insane claim that all Israelis are responsible fo
r what Israel does because they're Israeli citizens and therefore support what t
heir gov't does, what about the rest of the Jews around the world who don't live
in Israel? Why do you hate them? Surely they can't be guilty or have blood on
their hands for the fighting between Israel and Palestine, right? So the only
explanation is you were brainwashed as a young child into believing all jews are
evil because they are an evil race who have oppressed muslims throughout histor
y (of course not true). There's plenty of evidence to back this up, because unf
ortunately muslim children in madrasas around the world are being taught to hate
Israel and all Jews, even though no Jewish people have done anything to hurt th
em in any way. There's no logic or merit to this hate, it's completely irration
al and has no basis in anything but envy and giving into tribal instincts, which
are the characteristics of all forms of hate.
As I see it, there are 5 diff causes of this hate: 1)groupthink and cro
wd rage/mentality- it's just easier to hate a group of people who are different
than you (the Jews) when people are in the streets protesting and it's the popul
ar thing to do. It also involves evolution going way back to the days of our an
cient ancestors when everyone belonged to a different tribe. There was no indiv
iduality, everything was done within the context of the tribe, and all members o
f the other tribes were viewed as outsiders and potentially dangerous, and for g
ood reason since the tribes often fought over territory and resources and killed
each other. So we evolved to not trust or like people who look, think, and act
differently than us, and if that distrust is encouraged it breeds hate. Many m
uslims today have that tribal mentality still, and their leaders encourage it, w
hich leads to 1a)-
Muslim imams, scholars, and rulers use this hatred of a common enemy to stoke t
he flames of violence and
to increase their influence while maintaining their power. It's a very cynical
deception on their part because although they do hate the Jews, their primary mo
tivation and intention behind their preaching and teaching of hatred is raise th
eir own status in the muslim world, which they care about more than destroying t
he Jews. In most of their countries there's rampant poverty and corruption with
in the gov't, where the gov't officials and wealthy elites who bribe them get ri
cher and the poor get poorer. So the leaders within the gov't and within those
local communities have an incentive to maintain the status quo out of fear of a
populist uprising such as the ones that occurred in Iran and Egypt.
They can prevent this by either using brute force and strict enforcement of sha
ria law, which they already do to varying degrees, but they can also control the
narrative and distract people by putting all the focus on those evil Jews who a
re "murdering" innocent Palestinians. They know that without a common enemy tha
t everyone can rally against, there's a lot more pressure on them to actually im
prove the lives of all those suffering people and to give them honest answers to
their questions, which they often don't have because they spend most of their t
ime instigating violence or enjoying the good life with other rich and influenti
al people.
These leaders also have their own insecurities and inferiority complexes. Some
of them have great ambitions but were prevented from achieving them because of t
he country they grew up in, and some of them are envious of countries like Israe
l which enable people from all walks of life to achieve their dreams, something
that isn't possible in most muslim countries, certainly not for people who grow
up poor and without connections. So they overcompensate for these psychological
issues by directing their anger and frustration at the Jews to distract themsel
ves from their own doubts and deep-seated issues, and to get the validation from
the masses for their leadership in this hatred, the same validation they wanted
growing up for the abilities they never developed or the goals they never reach
ed.
2)insecurity over one's own beliefs, especially among muslim women, who are un
comfortable defending their roles as second class citizens in muslim countries,
but also i think it's true for muslim men in those countries who are often poor
and see their jewish counterparts becoming doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc whi
le they're stuck in the dark ages. Hating the Jews gives them all a common enem
y and cause to rally behind and to take the focus off of their own lack of oppor
tunities, and to distract them from their own struggles and doubts.
3)similar to #1- isolation- this is especially true for muslims in first-world
countries like france, the UK, the US, and Australia. The muslims in these cou
ntries for the most part refuse to integrate into the customs and habits of thos
e countries, which inevitably leads to conflict between them and the rest of the
country. They stay within their comfort zone, which is only spending time arou
nd other muslims. This of course excludes Jews, so they don't know any Jews, an
d this makes it much easier to hate them cause it's always easier to hate a grou
p of people you don't know when you never interact with them or even see them in
person, especially if it's a group that's very different than the group you bel
ong to, which leads me to #4.
4)muslims and jews have very diff cultures and religious practices and beliefs,
which has been the historical basis for their constant fighting, in addition to
fighting over land. These differences can be overcome however, because any dif
ferences between two groups can be overcome if the intentions of the groups are
pure and there's a sincere desire to have peace, understanding, and racial/relig
ious harmony. But that's not the case here since muslims have never wanted peac
e with Israel or the Jews, in fact they've wanted them wiped off the face of the
planet, or at the very least ostracized and forced to leave the middle east for
ever. There are many cultural and religious differences between them, such as t
he following: israelis view women as equal to men, muslims still believe they're
inferior; israel respects minorities of all kinds, including gays and members
of other religions, muslims believe these groups should be oppressed or killed;
israel believes in science and technology as means to advance their society and
make progress, muslims are still stuck in the dark age and believe tech and scie
nce are weapons used by the western world to corrupt and and confuse practicing
muslims; israelis believe all religions can live together in harmony and that a
country should be run by a secular gov't which is democratically elected, muslim
s believe Islam is the only true religion and therefore all other religions must
be oppressed and eventually destroyed, and that all muslim countries must be th
eocracies run by religious rulers who enforce sharia law.
These differences only serve as an excuse for muslims to express and apply their
hatred for Jews.
5)the Quran states that only Islam should exist as a religion on Earth and an
yone who doesn't practice it is an infidel who must be converted, enslaved, or k
illed. Many muslim scholars use these passages in the quran as a justification
for terrorist bombings and other atrocities against innocent civilians in countr
ies around the world. I should note here that the majority o
f muslims who die in areas of conflict are killed by fellow muslims (google it,
I already did). So instead of blaming Israel and the Jews for the deaths of inn
ocent muslims, the so called "moderate" muslims around the world should blame Ha
mas and other radical islamic terrorist groups, who use women and children as sh
ields for their bombs and their leaders and who are on record as saying their go
al is to cause more of these civilian deaths in order to make Israel look like t
he bad guy. Also, to use the deaths as a propaganda tool to get the rest of the
world on their side by manipulating the coverage of the conflict to only show t
he deaths without showing the cause of the deaths, which is Hamas building tunne
ls under schools, homes, and hospitals and using palestinian homes to store thei
r weapons.
Is it any wonder these groups are so willing to die for their twisted be
liefs and will do whatever it takes to kill Jews, when imams and scholars who ar
e respected within the worldwide muslim community say the quran justifies the ki
lling of civilians and the extermination of all Jews? This is the fundamental p
roblem with Islam, and it isn't just the radical muslims who have use their own
interpretation of the words of the quran to justify their heinous actions. The
quran itself has many passages advocating for intolerance, violence, and jihad,
and while there are also passages that advocate for peace that seem to contradic
t those passages, where does that leave the average muslim? Most aren't scholar
s and therefore rely on their imams and scholars to interpret the quran for them
, and unfortunately up to this point the majority of these scholars and imams ar
ound the world advocate for the more violent verses and ignore the more peaceful
, tolerant verses.
So this is what muslim children grow up learning in general, and when you add i
n all the other factors that lead them to hate Jews, this is just throwing more
gas on that fire of hatred. As we now from neuroscience and psychology, what on
e learns during early childhood often lasts a lifetime because that's when the b
rain is developing, and it's very hard to unlearn what one is taught or experien
ces during those years, at least not without a massive effort, introspection, an
d outside help. So if you're trained to hate the Jews before you even know what
a Jew is or what they believe, or why you're supposed to hate them, that hate w
ill become ingrained in your brain, and if you grow up surrounded by other peopl
e who have that same hate, and are encouraged by all the adults you see to conti
nue that hate, then it's no wonder most muslims around the world hate Jews. It'
s only the ones who go outside their comfort zones and are forced to confront th
eir hatred head-on and defend it intellectually who realize it's indefensible an
d completely irrational. But this is a tiny minority of muslims, for proof of t
hat all you have to do is read the headlines from the past week, which showed ma
ssive anti-semitic protests in major cities around the world that involved all k
inds of slurs and vile statements from the protesters such as saying Hitler was
right to kill the Jews and that all Jews will end up in hell.
So will there ever be an end to this hatred, or a renaissance within the
muslim world? It's hard to see how that's possible as long as the billons of i
ts members devoutly follow a book which advocates for the extermination of all p
eople who don't share their beliefs. As far as I can tell, there are only 2 way
s the muslim world can adapt to modernity and become a part of the civilized wor
ld:
1)the inevitable spread of technology will open up even the most repressive mu
slim countries to western culture, and no matter how the authorities there try t
o crack down on it, it will develop an underground following that will lead to a
revolution that will eventually overthrow that regime, like Egypt did with the
MB. This would then lead to a democratic gov't and a leader who would be sympat
hetic to the inflence of western culture and freedom in general, and allow the c
itizens of his country to act, dress, buy, and believe in whatever way they desi
re to.
2)a group of intellectuals within the "moderate" muslim community will get tog
ether and have some kind of worldwide conference that would involve issuing a st
atement about a new set of interpretations the quran that are more adaptable and
applicable to muslims living in the modern civilized world. It would be like t
he 2nd vatican council was for catholics, who muslims could really learn from wh
en it comes to updating practices and beliefs while still maintaining core dogma
and truths. The problem for muslims is that they haven't even had the equivale
nt of a first vatican council yet, much less a 2nd. For whatever reason they've
decided to go backwards into history instead of forwards into the future. Appa
rently they haven't realized you can retain the most ancient and important aspec
ts of your religion while reinventing its most outdated and inapplicable aspects
so as a whole it can be applied to life in the modern world.
Maybe the pope and leaders of other religions can be the catalysts for this chan
ge within the muslim world, but in the end the desire for change and for not bei
ng left in the dust of history has to come from muslims themselves. Who will in
itiate this process? So far it seems the moderate musims cower in fear at the t
hought of offending the more radical minority, and to some degree rightly so. B
ut courage is necessary to bring about radical change, and this is no different.
Maybe it will require some tragic event such as the destruction
or occupation of israel, or the disintegration of a muslim country such as iran
or iraq for muslims around the world to wake up and realize the error of their w
ays when it comes to anti-semitism. it doesn't look like it'll happen within m
y lifetime, but in order for this deep-seated and widespread anti-semitism to be
pulled out by the roots, and for the vicious cycle of violence in the middle ea
st to end, the thinkers within the muslim world have to take a long, hard look a
t the quran and either throw out the parts that advocate for violence and intole
rance against all non-muslims, or come up with a more nuanced interpretation of
those verses that dont' allow for the justification of radical jihad or intolera
nce of any other religion, not just with Jews.
Catholics have the Catechism, which explains everything
the average catholic needs to know about how to interpret the Bible and apply it
to their everyday life in the modern world. It also contains answers to questi
ons surrounding all of the most important and controversial issues and subjects
catholics must deal with. Is there any such book for muslims? If not, why not
? I think it's far past the time for such a book to be created, and it must be
written by muslim leaders who are tolerant, open-minded, peaceful, compassionate
, living in the modern, civilized world, and most importantly, logical and ratio
nal, and not biased against any group of people or beliefs.
If such a book existed, and there was more guidance for the average muslim about
how to interpret the quran and why it's wrong to hate the Jews, and if the qura
n was updated to reflect our diverse, tolerant, and free societies, then radical
muslims couldn't use the quran as an excuse when to justify their acts of terro
r. Furthermore, no imam could continue to preach hatred for Jews or other radic
al beliefs without being condemned and isolated by the rest of the muslim commun
ity, who would be following what I call The New Islam, or Updated Islam. This c
hange in islamic beliefs, and the change in law, practice, and teaching and prea
ching as a result of it, would allow an entire generation of muslim kids to grow
up believing in tolerance, freedom, charity, and peace, and would end the cycle
of violence, hatred, and bigotry. It would also bring freedom to muslim women
and greatly decrease the abuse they currently experience. It would change the
world.
But for now we're in a tunnel of darkness and few can see the light of peace and
tolerance at the end of that tunnel, and we're travelling at a snail's pace whi
le we're in it. In the meantime, all those of us outside this conflict can do i
s be witnesses to the truth and open the eyes of all the people who have been bl
inded by their hatred of the Jews or anyone who thinks and believes differently
than they do.