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==Islamic vs. Western antisemitism== | ==Islamic vs. Western antisemitism== | ||
Any notion of Islamic antisemitism must be distinguished from the distinct form of antisemitism which has, and in a few places continues to, oppress Jews in the West. The English term of antisemitism itself usually refers to the Western hatred of Jews by Christians which, at least historically, was deeply rooted in Christian religious beliefs about the status of Jews as responsible for the murder of God (or deicide) in the form of Jesus Christ. There was also the idea of the failure of the Jews to embrace the New Testament and the new covenant with God advanced by Christians. These two ideas, coupled with historical allusions to the religious failures of early Jews according the Old Testament and stereotypes about Jews (such as their financial cunning and exaggerated physique) which accreted in the centuries after Jesus' demise, worked together to constitute a uniquely acute and religious hatred of the Jewish people which in some ways, if not formally than practically, almost amounted to a Christian religious doctrine. | |||
Technically, Arabs, Ethiopians, and Assyrians can be described as Semitic people, however in the context of "Anti-Semitism" it is commonly understood to refer to people who identify as Jewish. | Technically, Arabs, Ethiopians, and Assyrians can be described as Semitic people, however in the context of "Anti-Semitism" it is commonly understood to refer to people who identify as Jewish. |