In the 1930s, the destruction of Jewish communities was made possible because few were those in power who acted against it. Less than a hundred years later, modern pogroms and protracted irrational hatred are threatening Jews and Christians alike.

The Tragedy of Anti-Christian 

Pogroms in the Middle East

By Riccardo Dugulin

Looking straight into the camera, she states with confidence that she will defeat the Jews. With equal zeal, she defines Christians as a gang of infidels refusing to follow Allah’s teachings. She is a young girl, not even ten years old, trained in a UNRWA summer camp. Posted in July 2013, the video is instrumental for understanding a key concept underlying the hatred that feeds radical Islam. The enemy envisaged by traditional and fundamentalist Muslim societies is but a “gang” formed by Jews and Christians alike. Unwilling to yield to the radical teachings of local Muslim communities, they are viewed as guilty of living in the land of Israel.

In the 19th century, Jewish communities were massacred in various pogroms in Eastern Europe as a result of irrational arguments advanced by nationalist extremists. A similar hostile environment seems to be emerging today. At present, we do not speak about the Russian Imperial Army’s regiments or the hordes of mobs filled with hate. We speak about radical Muslims who tend to separate the Jews and the Christians, ideologically and physically from the rest of the local societies. This leads to a situation in which the destruction of human life is accepted and encouraged.


On July 4th 1976, Palestinian terrorists singled out Jews while conducting the infamous Entebbe hijacking. Throughout his presidency, Mohammed Morsi repeatedly stated that Israelis are descendants of monkeys and pigs while the followers of his party waged war against Egyptian’s Copts. On September 20th 2013, Islamist terrorists separated Muslims from non-Muslims and tortured the latter to death at the Westgate Nairobi mall. From Libya to Nigeria, from Kenya to Syria and from Pakistan to Dagestan, Jews and Christians are repeatedly targeted by fundamentalist groups because of their faith. They represent an enduring challenge to the totalitarian ideas of radical Islam.

Dozens of heartbreaking and quasi-surreal stories of slaughter, torture and destruction create a historic link between the present-day persecution of Christians and Jews in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and the repeated massacres of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe throughout the 19th century. While the Shoah is an incomparable event in the course of history, similar socio-political discourses and violent attacks establish a parallel between Jews suffering at the hands of fanatical anti-Semites in Europe and those persecuted by fundamentalist terrorists throughout the world. Boko Haram does not turn its weapons against Jews simply because Jewish communities are absent in Northern Nigeria. The same can be said about Jabahat al Nusra and al-Qaeda in Iraq. Those organizations consider the destruction of the “other,” may it be a Jew or a Christian, as their ultimate goal pursued in the most gruesome manner, similar to progroms that took place in Eastern and Central Europe.

The slaughter of Jewish communities in Europe should have pushed the local societies to support the Zionist enterprise with the purpose of providing the Jewish people with a State to defend their lives and their interests. In like manner, the current annihilation of Christians should encourage Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox to support the State of Israel. Modern pogroms are organized and staged with the same hate and the same willingness to destroy human life as those that preceded the tragedy of the Shoah. For this, every bombing of a church, every assassination in Judea and Samaria and every video calling for the destruction of Jews and Christians should be treated for what it is: an insight into the genocidal tactics of radical Islam.

The Hamas operatives that torture and kill Christians in the Gaza strip are the same as those who randomly fire rockets against Israeli population centers. The individuals who desecrate Christian holy places in Judea and Samaria are the same as those who targeted the Tomb of Joseph. While the Vatican and official bodies maintain an ambiguous message in regard to the State of Israel, Christian organizations and groups worldwide need to build on the current crisis and reach out to the Jewish State. They should voice their solidarity because those who torch a church are the same as those who would die to kill Jews.

For this, Christians as individuals need to support Israel in two precise ways. Those who attack the Jewish State rely on a well-crafted propaganda machine that makes every effort to distort the truth and hijack the information received by the general public in regard to Israel. Christian associations should use their weight to lobby for a clear and honest information in the coverage of events unfolding in the Middle East. The second aspect lies in the necessity for Christian organizations to take a clear stance against terrorism and sponsor outreach programs crafting a strong and coherent message in support of victims of terrorist attacks.

In the 1930s, the destruction of Jewish communities was made possible because few were those in power who acted against it. Less than a hundred years later, modern pogroms and protracted irrational hatred are threatening Jews and Christians alike.


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