Hate crimes against Jewish communities: historical discrimination and victimization

Hate Crime Analysis Select group population target a hate crime ( selection start paper) Write a word analysis: • Provide a description specific factors serve basis victimization;, race, religion, sexual orientation • Identify applicable specific case examples.

When considering hate in general, it appears that human beings are vulnerable to being influenced to discriminate others. Even though many have little to no reasons to discriminate against other groups, these people feel that it would only be normal for them to act in agreement with stereotypes and typically refrain from trying to act in disagreement with the majority. Hate is obviously something that people learn from others and it is important for society to devise strategies meant to educate individuals with regard to the attitudes that they need to employ toward stereotypes.

Specific factors that serve as basis for discrimination

Jewish individuals have been subjected to hate crimes for more than two thousand years and in spite of the fact that the contemporary society has reached a particularly civilized level problems continue to affect this group. Jews have practically come to be accustomed with being discriminated very often and the whole world seems to express little to no surprise with regard to hate crimes directed at this community. In order to be able to gain a more complex understanding of the situation, one would have to imagine living in a world where his or her religious views are not tolerated and where he or she would rather refrain from expressing themselves openly from fear that people present might feel inclined to discriminate.

Jewish people have been labeled and discriminated for much of history and ideas such as diasporas, pogroms, genocide, and ghettos provide more information regarding society's general attitude toward them. One of the post intriguing reasons for which Jews were discriminated is the fact that they are normally inclined to refrain from being assimilated by a major culture. This influenced people whom they interacted with to believe that Jewish individuals needed to be regarded as hostile and that it was important for them to go through great efforts in order to emphasize the nature of this ethnic group. It is actually curious to think about the fact that Jews are discriminated precisely because of their intention to be seen as different from mainstream groups.

Although many people regard this idea as being modern, the truth is that Jewish individuals have been considered to be the perfect scapegoats for thousands of years. The masses are generally inclined to associate this concept with Hitler and with the Holocaust in general. However, it goes back several millennia as diverse communities came to put across xenophobic thinking in an attempt to highlight the presumed damage that Jewish populations inflicted on them. The plague and Germany's defeat in the First World War are just two of the absurd reasons that motivated certain groups to discriminate Jews throughout history.

Applicable specific case examples

The case of Zachary Tennen, a Jewish student at the Michigan State University who was beaten and had his mouth stapled as a result of being Jewish, is especially disturbing and actually demonstrates that the present-day society continues to promote Anti-Semitism. Two men apparently gave the "Heil Hitler" salute and then knocked him over consequent to finding out that he was Jewish. These individuals obviously had nothing to do with Zachary and simply wanted to put across their hatred toward Jewish individuals. It is impossible to even imagine what Zachary went through as he was abused by the two men.

A Jewish child aged 12 was going to school in Toulouse when he was apprehended and beaten by several individuals who kept referring to him being a "dirty little jew." This act was apparently provoked by a series of Anti-Semite actions that took place across France during recent months. One of the most disturbing events involved Mohammed Merah, a terrorist who killed seven people and injured five during the month of March, 2012. The terrorist also murdered four people, including three children, at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish day school. This is believed to have played an important role in influencing individuals who beat the 12-year-old Jewish child in Toulouse. These criminals were most probably influenced to attack Jewish individuals regardless of their status and age. While it would seem absurd for a normal person to want to abuse a child, hate crimes occur as perpetrators believe that it is important for them to go against members belonging to a particular group.

Restorative justice models

The Holocaust was certainly one of the most significant events to have affected the Jewish community. Even with this, examples of restorative justice can be observed consequent to this particular episode. While the main perpetrators were provided with correct sentences, people across Germany and individuals who blindly supported the Nazi ideology in general were provided with the chance to accept their mistakes and to become an active part of the movement meant to promote the concept that Jewish individuals were equals and thus needed to be treated accordingly.

The Jewish community obviously wanted to punish society as a whole as a result of making it possible for Nazism to engulf Europe and to kill millions of Jewish individuals. However, they acknowledged that it would be wrong for them to act in accordance with the hubris present in criminal law. Instead of doing this, they focused on emphasizing the exact mistakes committed prior and during Hitler's ruling. It is especially surprising that the Holocaust was not enough to make people from around the world realize that the Jewish population suffered greatly and that it was essential for the international community to concentrate on creating an environment that would put across acceptance and compassion toward Jews in general. "Many working for justice in both the religious and legal worlds increasingly believe a better, fairer system should be based on the model of restoration rather than retribution" (Rose, Green Kaiser, & Klein 176).

A contemporary research instrument to measure the victimization of Jewish individuals

When considering matters from a religious point-of-view, Jewish people are the group most likely to be discriminated. The number of Jewish hate crime victims reached an alarming 1040 in 2010. While some might think that this is not necessarily worrying, the fact that the anti-Catholic crimes were in second place and reached 65 victims should be enough to demonstrate that conditions are much worse than expected.

Conclusion

All things considered, hate crimes continue to occur today in spite of the fact that people have a complex understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Stereotypes are primarily responsible for this and it is important for people to focus on trying to know an individual before actually coming to a conclusion regarding whether or not it would be justified for them to hate the respective person.

Works cited:

Allen, Peter, "Jewish schoolboy, 12, beaten up in latest anti-Semitic attack to hit France... As school where Islamic terrorist Merah killed four receives hate mail," Retrieved January 30, 2013, from the MailOnline Website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121571/Jewish-schoolboy-12-attacked-hate-crime-school-terrorist-Mohammed-Merah-killed-receives-hate-mail.html

Kingkade, Tyler, "Zachary Tennen, Michigan State Jewish Student, Victim Of Alleged Hate Crime At Weekend Party," Retrieved January 30, 2013, from the HuffingtonPost Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/zachary-tennen-michigan-state-attacked-stapled_n_1836829.html#slide=more235997

Rose, Or N., Green Kaiser, Jo Ellen, and Klein, Margie, "Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice," (Jewish Lights Publishing, 15.11.2009)

Streissguth, Thomas, "Hate Crimes," (Infobase Publishing, 2009)