As far as written history exists the Jews have been persecuted Egyptians, Romans, Europeans, Asians have all had a go at them. What is it about their beliefs and behaviour that has provoked this and is still provoking it? Most jews I know or have encountered are pretty innocuous, and blend into the culture in which they inhabit without issue.
Is it just when the more extreme sects get involved or uppity that the problems start? I watched the Baddiel thing and he made some good points, but never hit on why there is and has been such prejudice against a group based on their religion. Persecution was going on before the Jesus days, so exactly what is it that seems to have pissed so many people off? Until this is understood a solution cannot be implemented.
Of course Palestine never existed as any kind of political entity until the british got involved post WW1 - groups of Samarians, Cananites, Assyrians, Philistines and whatever else go back as far as the Bronze age, but there was never a coherent political entity. The Romans pissed the Jewish 'nation' off by destroying much of Jerusalem in their thirst for empire, Christianity grew up initially alongside Judaism (which was there first) but then fell out as the Christians blamed the Jews for killing Christ, then somebody invented Islam some 600 years later and they fell out with everybody, including themselves. The whole area was used as a proxy battleground (and indeed still is) for the Catholic kings and the Islamic Caliphs for many centuries before the big boys got involved and used it as their proxy cold war battleground. Now its seems to have splintered again into smaller groupings many with extreme ideologies (I include the Ultra Orthodox nut jobs alongside the Sunni Wahabists, the Shia militias, the Right wing christian Phalangists and whatever other groupings pop up from time to time in this list).
I don't know how this is going to play out, as don't many better and brighter minds than I. While understanding is important, one does get the feeling that it's past the point of no return and will be fucked forever.
