Introduction
Hate crimes directed toward the Jewish community have been existent in society for centuries. Although hatred toward various groups and communities has been prevalent across societies, deep-rooted hatred towards Jews otherwise known as anti-Semitism has been widespread and more persistent in society than any other form of hate crime in the world. The Christians accused them of persecuting Christ and His followers and forced them to convert to Christianity and those who declined were openly massacred during Christian crusades. Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism as well as the Catholic Church promoted the persecution of Jews and accused them of many negative events that were taking place at the time (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 151).
Historically hate crimes against the Jewish community were executed in many forms. The community was often prohibited from owning land in many regions of the world and consequently resided in the ghettos. As a result, most of them sought to generate income from trade and merchanting, and this highly facilitated the development of the stereotype that the Jews were greedy and wealthy.
The Jews were constantly subject to governments’ exploitation in these regions and whenever the governments needed money, they often seized the property and wealth of Jews which was more marketable relative to land and justified these seizures by defaming the Jews (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 151).
Since the Jew community represented a small fraction of the population in every country that they lived in, they often formed a minority group with different orientations in terms of religion, traditions, and customs as well as their language (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 151). These cultural differences significantly promoted hate crimes against the group especially in Europe where ethnic identity remains an issue of great importance.
Further, the Jews were denied citizenship in their own countries and were subjected to widespread discrimination and exclusion by other communities. A clear evidence of the restrictions imposed upon the Jews is the requirement by the Nazis in the 20th century to wear yellow stars in their clothing; in addition, they were forced to convert to Christianity while in countries like Spain the Jews were literally expelled from the country. Further, approximately 100,000 Jews were murdered between 1648 and 1658 in Eastern Europe (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 151).
One of the major indicators used to measure anti-Semitism is the measurement of peoples’ attitudes and social behaviors towards the Jewish community. Surveys can be conducted to assess population’s belief in anti-Semitic notions and stereotypes as well as the preferred social distance and attitude towards the Jewish community (Marrus, 2005, p. 38).
Factors Promoting Victimization of the Jewish Community
The anti-Semitism trend has significantly declined in modern society relative to the post-war period. The modern American Jews still retain the high and average social-economic status with a considerable number occupying prestigious positions in government and high-status professions such as medicine and law (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p.153). Research has further revealed a substantial decline in anti-Jewish feelings and stereotypes with the catholic and the Lutheran church has officially abandoned anti-Jewish doctrines and apologized for the wrongs committed by their predecessors.
Despite these efforts, anti-Semitism is still prevalent in modern America and 2002, Anti-Semitism increased with increased incidences of hate crime incidences and the trend began to increase especially due to the September 11th bomb blast attack in America which was partly attributed to Jewish-led American foreign politics as well as the crisis prevalent in the Middle East (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 153).
The financial success associated with the Jews serves to strengthen the allegations that the community has significant influence on government activities and also promotes resentment and hatred from minority groups who are still struggling in low socioeconomic status. This can e used to explain the common anti-Semitism incidences among African Americans and Hispanics relative to the whites. In addition, Christian viewpoint is the basic fundamental principle governing anti-Semitism in America and while the traditions and customs of Jewish community remain off the limits, the population’s perception of the community remains biased and this serves to increase incidences of hate crimes against Jews (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 153).
Further, The Jews are the most powerful minority group in terms of wealth and power and this may pose a threat to the dominating white population since they have the ability to infiltrate their power structure (Gerstenfeld, 2004, p. 155).
Restoration Justice
To counter anti-Semitism, the criminal justice system can utilize victim-offender mediation as a means to resolve the dispute, family group conferencing, educational programs for offenders among other means of restoration justices (Perry, 2003, p. 441). The prevailing criminal justice system and the traditional means of promoting justice in the community limit the ability of a hate crime victim to achieve the justice necessary to promote justice and reconciliation between the two parties (Perry, 2003, p. 440). This is because these methods alone cannot change the offender’s feelings towards the Jewish community hence the necessity to provide the offender with an opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and repair the damage that they have caused on their victims (Perry, 2003, p. 141).
The restorative justice model has restructured the approach toward crime and community cohesion and provided a vision in which the victim plays a central role in addressing the specific crime and the type of reparation received for harm incurred (Perry, 2003, p. 441). Under the traditional criminal justice system, victims’ grievances are overly ignored, restoration therefore provides them with an opportunity to air their voices and provide them with an opportunity to face the person responsible for the crime and the offender can express directly the impact of the offense.
In addition, restorative justice programs promote a greater sense of community protection since it allows for inclusion of various stakeholders in the society to bridge the gap between the people and the organization consequently promoting community bonds and further enhancing peacemaking in the community. Further, the restorative justice model provides an opportunity for the offender to understand the magnitude of his actions and the impact it has on the victims and this has the ability to influence his future attitude toward the Jewish community (Perry, 2003, p. 141).
Hate crimes directed toward the Jewish community can be adequately explained by the Karl Marx’s conflict theory which maintains that the underlying cause’s conflict and crime in the society are social and economic forces operating within a particular society and the prevailing gap between the rich and the poor (Newburn, 2010, p. 407). All the institutions in the society are said to be operating in favor of the powerful and elite people in the society prompting the less privileged in American society to take own action against the Jewish community.
Reference List
Gerstenfeld, B. P. (2004). Hate crimes: causes, controls and controversies. California: SAGE publications Ltd.
Marrus, R. M. (2005). Contemporary anti-Semitism: Canada and the world. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Newburn, T. (2010). The SAGE handbook of criminological theory, California: SAGE publications Ltd.
Perry, B. (2003). Hate and bias crime: a reader. London: Routledge.