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Having just watched Channel 4’s documentary “The War on Britain’s Jews” (warning: if you’re going to read the comments in the ‘Culture Forum’ on this Ch4 link, you might need a stiff drink), I was interested to come across this piece on La Russophobe:

Since the early modern period and until the middle of last century, attitude toward Jews has served as a litmus test. It seems that whenever a nation began persecuting its Jewish population, it inevitably lost its global standing and was either defeated in war or simply collapsed. Examples include: imperial Spain, tsarist Russia, Hitler’s Germany and, most recently, the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, extending a welcome to the Jews coincided with the rise of the Netherlands, Britain and many German city-states.

In medieval Europe, Jews were early promoters of international commerce and nascent globalization. Being a widely scattered diaspora, they could establish business ties among their co-religionists everywhere. Tolerating Jews meant opening up to the outside world, while persecuting them signified the closing of the national mind, which led to eventual decline and defeat.

The litmus test endures, but in addition to Jews, it now covers attitudes toward immigrants from less-developed countries and the gay community.

Read the whole piece

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