Why is there prejudice against Jews?

Answer 1

Jews think that prejudice and discrimination is a horrible thing, since they have consistently been subject to prejudice and discriminatory treatment. This is the reason why they have gone out of their way in Israel to promote equal rights for all Israeli citizens regardless of race or religion.

Answer 2

Up until the last few years, anti semitism (hatred of Jews) appeared to have decreased. But in recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in anti semitic assaults and incidents, across Europe. In France, for example, thousands of Jews have reluctantly left the country, because of the frequency of physical attacks on Jews. In addition, Jewish cemetaries are repeatedly vandalised. More recently, Jews have been forced to remove the 'Mezuzah' from their front doors, because those houses that are identifiable as Jewish are being vandalised and the residents assaulted in the streets. In Germany there have also been problems; last week a Rabbi and a group of Jewish students were attacked. In the UK there have been big problems also. Last year, two NON Jewish politicians organised a parliamentary enquiry, because of the alarming rise in anti semitism. Synagogues across the UK have had to install more security and bomb proof windows, as have most Jewish schools. In the city of Manchester, things have been so bad that Jews actually need a Police escort when walking to Synagogue, because of the number of physical attacks on Jewish people. On the internet, there are a number of worryingly anti semitic websites that encourage violence against Jews. Overall, there has been the biggest rise in anti semitism since World War Two, in the past three years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer 3

A whole range of stereotyped notions and images about the Jews are deeply embedded in European and American culture. These may be regarded (non-historically) as the starting point (or symptom, for that matter) of the problem.

Answer 4

This question presupposes that Jews have a single opinion and that opinion is against discrimination.

Firstly, as a group, Jews take pride in forming their own opinions, at least on matters not explicitly codified in their religious texts.

As a consequence, you will find Jews with very differing opinions about various forms of discrimination.

To answer your question more directly, Jews have suffered discrimination for so much of their history that themes of persecution are a part of their culture (the festival of Hanukkah is an example). It is in their self interest for discrimination to be reduced. Beyond that, they (speaking generally) don't want others to suffer as they have.

The subject of discrimination in Israel and the occupied territories (Gaza, West Bank) is the subject of another topic.

Answer 5

It depends which Jewish people you mean. Generally, for this or any similar question, there are the Orthodox (Haredi, Chassidic, and usually "Modern Orthodox") and the non-Orthodox ("Conservative", "Traditional", "Reform", "Reconstructionist" and maybe others) views. Most often, the Orthodox view is the opposite of the others, and the others are extremely similar to each other. The non-Orthodox view is usually what you would see in the Democratic party platform. Also, because of the decades of "bad press" the Orthodox have received, their view is usually surprising to most. So, here goes:

You already know the non-Orthodox view; (See the Democratic party platform.) They believe that there is no significant difference between men and women, and thus no grounds for making a distinction. With the exception of some "Traditional" synagogues, for some things, they follow this idea very consistently.

The Orthodox believe that men and women are very different creatures, with (somewhat) different capabilities and (quite) different inclinations. If there is a general rule, it is that women are at a higher spiritual level than men, who are more earthly; if you were to think about these things logically (which almost no-one ever does), you would see that most of the following differences follow from that.

In no particular order, here are some things that are different (there are plenty more, but this isn't a book):

• Men are required to join in a group of at least 10 for their prayers to be heard in the best way; women's prayers are always heard in the best way, which is why even single women often do not bother to attend synagogue regularly.
• Men study mostly Jewish law, while women study mostly scripture.
• While both genders are required to dress modestly so as to not be to at blame for causing improper thoughts in the opposite gender, women are more strict about it, since men are generally more easily brought to improper thoughts by seeing something they "shouldn't."
• It is customary (though hardly universal) that when caring for children makes it impossible for both parents to work full-time, the wife will spend more time caring for the children. They consider this more important than work, which they view as, primarily, a way to get money, which they (unfortunately, in their view) cannot do without. Raising children is the primary goal, and central organizing principle in an Orthodox home, and they believe that this task is generally safer in the wife's hands.
• This last one is only peripherally related, but in the U.S., at least, we think of it as related: abortion is killing, but a fetus has fewer rights than a person (who has already been born). So, just as it is permitted or even required to kill a person under some circumstances (like if they are trying to kill you -- the Hebrew for the famous commandment reads "thou shalt not murder," which means killing without a valid reason), it is permitted or even required to have an abortion under some circumstances (especially a threat to the mother's health). However, it is forbidden to them to have one without a valid reason (like if you just don't want to give up that new car). I don't know enough to discuss other valid or invalid reasons, and it's a whole other discussion, anyway.

Certainly, an outsider can (and often will) create unfavorable motivations for some or all of these differences, but you asked for what the people themselves think, not what people trying to make them look bad think.

Answer 6

Jews believe the same thing as non-Jews believe regarding discrimination: That baseless hatred is wrong.

Answer 7

nothing really, Jew tend to stand up for the little guys because that has been us on numerous ocassions

Answer 8

Jews think about the same things as other people, like food, money, job, God, etc.