I've been reading Paul Johnson's book "A History of the Jews". It's a fascinating read and one I would recommend to many, because it gives a broad overview of Jewish history starting in the ancient world and moving across the many countries where they have settled since. He examines the religious, political and social aspects of being a Jew.

Johnson does not set out to vilify or scapegoat the Jewish people, but neither is he uncritically accepting of all aspects of their history. On the whole, though, he is very sympathetic to the troubles the Jews have faced over many centuries.

What we hear from opponents of Israel these days is that the Jewish people should give up their ancestral homeland. But in earlier times, the message was the opposite:

Get out of our country and go back to your ancestral homeland!

So we see that anti-semitism always smoothly adapts itself to the situation at hand. It’s really pernicious!

Here's an extract from the book. It's about the Russians' attitude to the Zionist project in the early years of the twentieth century:

//The object of the [Russian] government was to reduce the Jewish population as quickly and as drastically as possible. A glimpse of the mentality of the Tsarist regime can be found in the diaries of Theodor Herzl, who interviewed several ministers in St Petersburg in 1903 to solicit help for his Zionist programme.

The Finance Minister, Count Serge Witte, by Tsarist standards a liberal, told him:

"One has to admit that the Jews provide enough reasons for hostility. There is a characteristic arrogance about them. Most Jews however are poor, and because they are poor they are filthy and make a repulsive impression. They also engage in all sorts of ugly pursuits, like pimping and usury. So you see it is hard for friends of the Jews to come to their defence. And yet I am a friend of the Jews."

(Herzl commented: ‘If so, we certainly do not need enemies.’)

Witte complained of the large number of Jews in the revolutionary movement.

Herzl: ‘To what circumstances do you attribute this?’

Witte: ‘I believe it is the fault of our government. The Jews are too oppressed. I used to say to the late Tsar, Alexander III, “Majesty, if it were possible to drown the six or seven million Jews in the Black Sea, I would be absolutely in favour of that. But if it is not possible, one must let them live.” What, then, do you want from the Russian government?’

Herzl: ‘Certain encouragements.’

Witte: ‘But the Jews are given encouragements—to emigrate. Kicks in the behind, for example.’//

These "kicks in the behind" were the multitude of anti-Jewish laws passed in Russia in the nineteenth century. They consisted of literally hundreds of pages and were designed to humiliate the Jews and to exclude them from business and public life as much as possible. And those were in addition to the many vicious pogroms the Jews were subjected to, often encouraged by the Russian state.

It’s chilling to hear a government minister casually talk about the murder of six or seven million Jews (drown them all in the Black Sea), knowing what we do about the later Holocaust, which was in full swing just forty years after this conversation occurred.

No wonder Jewish people wanted to leave Russia and Eastern Europe to go found the state of Israel. Knowing in detail the hostility they faced in all other nations, it’s much easier to understand their tenacious desire not to give up their land in Israel. That’s why I support Israel’s defence of itself against Islamic supremacists and other opponents, of whatever kind they may be. Historical context is needed to do this.