Friday, March 10, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
In the mid 18th century, British lawmakers were debating whether to allow Jews to become full citizens of the country. Jews had been returning to Britain starting in the mid-1600s after being expelled in 1290, but they were not allowed to be citizens.
As Parliament debated the short-lived Jewish Naturalisation Act of 1753 (repealed in 1754), a Christian Jew-hater with the nom de plume "Christianus" wrote to the Newcastle Weekly Courant about all the reasons that Jews should not become citizens of England.
His arguments mirror the antisemitic arguments of Muslims, today.
Muslims claim that Jews break their agreements. Christians in England claimed that Jewish law allows Jews to break all oaths.
Muslims claim that the Talmud is a bigoted work that ensures Jewish supremacism. Christians in England claimed the same.
Muslims claim that Jews are descendants of apes and pigs. The Christians called the Jew "wolves" who would destroy the Christian flock from within.
Muslims claim that Jews kill prophets. Of course Christians in the 18th century believed that Jews killed Jesus.(The letter writer is aghast that "the Murderers of Christ are to be incorporated into the Body of Christians!")
Here is only an excerpt of the letter:
