Hatred of the Jews developed in medieval Europe as a release valve for the disadvantaged and oppressed lower classes in society in the midst of the tensions imposed on them by autocratic rulers. This form of antagonism against the Jews re-appeared in the period 1920-1940 in Europe, where autocratic regimes took control in many national states where imperial rulers had been discarded in the chaos which followed World War 1. The Jews in medieval Europe were perceived as a vulnerable,defenceless minority, often confined in the ghettoes prescribed by the authorities. The Jews were given the mantle of the medieval scapegoat, who suffered, vicariously but not voluntarily, in times of war, famine or depression.
Jews were sometimes accused of being traitors within a host society , and lacking in genuine patriotism,eg.- the “betrayal “ of Spain into the hands of invading Moors, or the “invitation” given to the Mongols to invade S.E. Europe.
Those Jews engaged in commerce were often vilified as exploiters of the poor through profiteering and the practice of usury, a system forbidden in medieval Europe. To increase capital by means of usury aroused great resentment among Muslim communities, where this was forbidden by the Koran ,viz. “Those who devour usury shall not rise again except as he rises, whom Satan of the touch prostrates; that is because they say,” Trafficking is like usury; God has permitted trafficking , and forbidden usury.” (Koran , sura 2 (276.)
TO BE CONTINUED…
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