I took the time to see The Passion of Christ the first week it came out in theaters. Just before I went to see it, The New York Times reviewed it as being too violent.
Critics were taking the movie to task and the Jewish Anti-Defamation League was doing the same.
The Anti-Defamation League said it caused anti-Semitism because some movie-goers would blame the Jews strictly for the execution of Christ.
There have been no acts of violence against Jews by Protestants since the movie came out.
Critics and Abraham Foxman were proven wrong.
But the ultimate question for us today is do we really know the Jewish people?
After all, we know little about their customs, history and language. The research is there but many choose to ignore it.
Whether they choose to ignore them because of their persistence in the Middle East against Palestinian terrorism or their role as the “chosen people” of God is a mystery.
Much like the belief that Africa was the “dark continent” in the sixties, the Jews have an almost mystical culture – literally.
Their lineage is traced through the Old Testament. They claim land rights in the Middle East from the Old Testament books and God.
Popularly, the Jewish culture is one within itself. They usually hang about with other Jews and have many organization just for themselves. This can appear to be arrogant to onlookers.
A Jewish friend of mine, who owns a caf, said that his people had to stick together because they were not always welcomed everywhere. It’s safe to say that the race problem is not solved especially on the side of the Jews.
The only local Jewish columnist that reports on the Middle East is snapped at in letters to the editor by people promoting anti-Semitism.
But, it seems anti-Semitism has been banned from the politically correct culture.
Israelites come under fire from the extreme left and right who say they have no claim to the land. Yet, what would happen if someone said that blacks or any other people did not have any claim to a homeland?
As the Jewish people are celebrating Passover, they have to face violence. Already in Montreal on Monday, a Jewish elementary school was set on fire.
Recently, the al-Aqsa Brigade gunned down an Israeli student at Hebron University. But, when the brigade found out that this student was an Arab-Israeli and not a Jew they apologized to the family.
Anti-Semitism rises in Europe daily as Islamic radicals emigrate, over 300 cases of anti-Semitism were reported in Canada last year, too. That does not even begin to scratch the surface of violence against the Jews.
Jews around the world have suffered for centuries. Biblically, this was cured by repentance to God such as Nehemiah did when he learned they had not been living by God’s law. In a world guided by reason and not faith, this looks to be hardly plausible. Jews and Israelis must rely on the nation-states to protect them. The nation of Israel must rely on Anglo-American protection and agreements.
Facing persecution from every possible angle, the Jews and Israelis survive. Survive indeed – they have influence all over the world. Whether it be in politics, entertainment, academics or music, they find their niche.
Just having the willingness to trudge along after the world’s greatest act of horror, the Holocaust, makes these mystical people amazing. The gruesome pictures and stories of Jews of many nations slaughtered under the hand of Hitler’s rule makes me wonder how these people remain so focused every day.
The truth is that I do not know, but what remains is that the Jews are a chosen people. Mystified or not, these unique people will not succumb to terrorism or an evil authoritarian. They keep their eyes on promises higher than man’s. For this day, they keep pushing ahead and surviving and waiting for the promises of God even though we do not understand their ways.

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