Dr. Ken Hanson uncovers the resurgence of anti-Semitism

There is a “new” anti-Semitism in the world, Dr. Ken Hanson stated at a meeting sponsored by the Zionistas on Jan. 17. One could say that anti-Semitism has been in the world since Isaac and Ishmael. It grew in strength throughout Christian Europe with the rise of the Third Reich. It was crushed temporarily after the truth of what was happening in the death camps came to light at the end of World War II.

For a short time, it seemed that anti-Semitism was buried. But now, “it’s back,” Hanson said, as he took the audience of about 100 through the journey of anti-Semitism’s resurrection.

“It’s not the same as Nazi anti-Semitism. It’s not the same, but not different,” he stated, explaining how anti-Semitism drifted to the Middle East and now has come back to Europe expressed as anti-Zionism. It is the “oppressors vs. the oppressed.” Only this time it is the Jewish people who are the oppressors. The Arabs claim the Jews are “colonial oppressors” of the Palestinians. Jews are Marxists. “Israel is the problem”; “Israel must be sacrificed to make Muslim rage subside”; and “Israel is the most dangerous country in the world, tied with Iran” is what is taught to children in Middle Eastern countries and now being carried forth into Europe.

Through a power point presentation Hanson showed the desecration, once again, of Jewish cemeteries, shops, homes in Europe. The Star of David is equated to the Nazi swastika.

What we all believed in the past is once again in the present. In March 1999 a pogrom took place in Novosibirsk, Siberia.

Even so, as anti-Semitism grows in strength, so do those who stand against it. Hanson ended his talk with hope and an encouragement to not be silent.

One organization that hopes to bring change within the Muslim community is the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD). Its founder and president, Zuhdi Jasser, M.D, confronts the ideology of political Islam and openly counters the belief that the Muslim faith is inextricably rooted to the concept of the Islamic State.

When a member of the audience asked about all the hate-filled references in the Quran about killing the Jews, Hanson responded that we must remember that even in the Torah things are written that we no longer adhere to, for example, stoning rebellious children or the concept of an eye for an eye. His point being that not all Muslims are jihadists, and that there are many people who want change.

Pastor Blake Lorenz, who attended the meeting, was so moved by Hanson’s lecture, he wrote an essay that he hopes many Christians will read. In part he wrote: “We must stand up for the truth by educating ourselves with the facts of history in order to show the ugliness of these lies that spread hatred and harm. We need to organize like the Zionistas, who sponsored this lecture on the new anti-Semitism... There needs to be a dialogue and a strong witness that we will not allow any form of anti-Semitism or prejudice against any group of people, but speak the truth in love with authority and power not in physical force, but in humility and faith in the living G-d who created us in His image.”