Growing instability in the US economy and financial markets could have serious consequences worldwide because of the central role of the US dollar and financial system, argues MICHAEL BURKE
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The theological origins of anti-semitism
JAMES CROSSLEY charts how anti Jewish sentiment developed from ancient days and the dawn of Christianity to the Middle Ages, the birth of Protestantism and the sinister era of of the Nazis
Persecution of Jews during the Black Death, unknown artist
Despite Andy Burnham’s declaration defending the continued partition of the island, all major international and internal trends are converging to make Irish reunification inevitable
The left needs a bold energy vision – because if it fails to provide one, others will shape the future in their own interests, argues ALAN SIMPSON
From Margate to Deal, mining memories are being kept alive. National co-ordinator for General Strike 100, HENRY FOWLER continued his nationwide tour of partner organisations in the Garden of England
Humans are part of the ‘animal kingdom’ – and of nature in general – but also distinct from it and labour (work) is part of what makes us unique, declared Engels. His insights 150 years ago into how our species came to be and how we differ from the rest of nature, are as important today as they were then, says the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Boxes of books, family photos and heirlooms, labour movement anniversaries, along with nostalgic memories of glorious childhood days on the Ayrshire coast still leave room for a wistful MATT KERR to hope for a better future
TODAY, anti-semitism is typically understood as the belief that Jews are an inferior race. This form of anti-Jewish discrimination developed in the 18th and 19th centuries in influential strands of European nationalism. Here, Jews were not seen to share the same culture, language, religion, and history of a given nation. Jews could then be used as a convenient target of blame for a nation’s economic, social and political problems. Cliches about Jews were explained in pseudo-scientific terms as inherited racial behaviour.
Modern anti-semitism was also built on centuries of anti-Jewish discrimination and persecution that predated the rise of capitalism and modern nationalism.
Tracing their ancestry back through the Iron Age kingdoms of Judah and Israel, Jews as a recognisable group in the ancient world developed under various empires (eg, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman). Before the emergence of Christianity, Jews faced discrimination, expulsion and persecution. But this was not unusual for minority groups, religions or smaller territories.
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