Anti-Semitism seems to be rising at an alarming rate across the world, according to an article posted this week on the Israeli-based web site HAARETZ.com. According this source, anti-Semitic writings on the internet have jumped dramatically in the past 15 years… going from only one web site in 1985 to over 4,000 now promoting hatred of Jews and historical revisionism.

“Not since the end of World War Two has the world seen such a proliferation of anti-Semitism,” Rabbi Marvin Hier (founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center) was quoted as saying. “I believe you have a generation of professional haters who are serving as leaders, demagogues, and they’re inspiring young people to do their bidding while they often hide.”

HAARETZ.com claims in their piece that Rabbi Hier cited cartoons in Western newspapers and a range of comments made by leading Arab officials. “There is nothing new about the oldest hatred,” Hier said. “Some will hide behind what Israel is doing… but those are just excuses.” This reporter cannot help but note his own experiences in cities from Portland, OR to Greenville, SC where anti-Semites seem to be less cautious in their public discussions. Attacks on Jews and Jewish property have been well documented across North America and around the world.

In our source research for this article, Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Paris branch said anti-globalization protests had degenerated into attacks on Jews… in some cases taking the centuries-old stereotypes and updating them to the modern era. Samuels was quoted as saying that this would have a multiplier effect that would not have been possible in previous decades.

To remember: First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I'm not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did nothing because I'm not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I did nothing because I'm not a Catholic. Finally, they came for me, but by then there was no one left to help me.

A quote from 1946 by Pastor Father Martin Niemoller, Protestant Clergyman, Concentration Camp Survivor.