One of the major differences between antisemitism and other bigotries is the conspiracy thinking behind them. Jewish mendacity is a given, and any counter-examples are not viewed as disproof but as further proof of Jewish cunning.
We saw this with "pinkwashing" where Israel's LGBTQ-friendly policies were recast as a scam to distract the world from war crimes. we saw it with Israel's response to disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes where the rescue workers were accused of organ harvesting. And we see it today where Israel's extensive attempts to bring food into Gaza is scoffed away as a means to hide the real genocidal intent.
What is the source for this bizarre thinking where every counter-example is turned into a further proof of the antisemitic theory?
Perhaps this began as Jews became more prominent in trade and banking in Europe.
I found a fascinating passage in a 1911 German book "Die Juden und das Wirtschaftsleben" (
The Jews and Modern Capitalism) by
Werner Sombart. While Sombart ended up embracing Nazism, this book does not seem have blatant antisemitism; instead it is a theory about how Jews helped build modern capitalism because of their exclusion from normal trade guilds.
Let us refer to contemporary opinion, to the men who were sufficiently in touch with everyday life to know the reason. Here again the
answer is pretty well unanimous. And what is it? The Jews were more
successful because of their dishonest dealing. “Jews . . . have one law
and custom whenever it pays them; it is called lying and cheating,” you
may read in the pages of Philander von Sittewald. Equally complimentary is the Comic Lexicon of Cheating, compiled by George Paul
Hönn, where under “Jews,” the only interpolation in the whole book is
made as follows: “Jews are cheats, collectively and individually. . . .”
The article “Jews,” in the General Treasury for Merchants, is of the
same calibre, while an anonymous writer on manners and morals declares that the Jews of Berlin “make their living by robbing and cheating, which, in their opinion, are no crimes.”
Similar views were current in France. “The Jews,” says Savary,
“have the reputation of being good at business, but they are supposed
not to be able to carry it on with strict honesty and trustworthiness.”
His sources are all from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sombart goes on to note that these criticisms were largely without foundation, but came from jealous Christian business competitors who disliked that Jews didn't follow their commercial customs and cared more about pleasing the customer. He notes that the idea of competition, of advertising, even of making one's shop-window attractive to passers-by was considered uncouth and un-Christian. Jews did not subscribe to these views and were therefore regarded as somehow "cheating."
This may be the origin of the idea that Jews, as a group, cheat - which includes lying, misrepresenting themselves, and , inevitably, colluding for greater profit. This led to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and other antisemitic memes, and the assumptions that Jews are liars by default, now. Today, the mainstream media and NGOs trust the words of a genocidal Islamist terror group more than those of a professional army made up primarily of Jews.
The parallel doesn't end there.
The Jews of medieval times were forced into banking and trade by the anti-Jewish laws of the day - they couldn't own land and they could charge interest to Christians. Their adaptions to externally imposed restraints led the Jews to be innovative, creative and ultimately successful.
We see the same in Gaza. The Arab and larger world
imposes rules on Israel that no other nation at war has ever had to deal with. Israel makes progress and the goalposts are moved again - just for Israel.
And when Israel succeeds, that is used as proof that it must be cheating.