re: Why have so many disliked the Jews?

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Jewish persecution dates back to as early as the fifth century B.C.E. in Persia. In the Biblical account of the Purim story (the Book of Esther) “all Jews in the kingdom were targeted for annihilation because one Jewish official, Mordecai, refused to bow down to the top aide of the king, Haman. Only as a result of the intervention of the queen, a Jew, who pleaded for saving her people, were the Jews saved from mass murder” (Grobman, 1990). Unknown to non-Jewish populations, the Jewish religion does not allow any Jews to bow down to any other individual or idol other than God. This was the first account of conflict between the observance of Jewish religious practices and the local customs and expectations of the ruling class.

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