“Who cares about the Jews?” “You Jews disgust me.” “Perhaps you could write a play about Palestinian kids getting blown to pieces by Jews.”

These were all comments on social media for an upcoming play in Britain titled “One Jewish Boy,” by Stephen Laughton. “In the last few years, it seems like people feel they have permission to be anti-Semitic,” Laughton said. “You see it in our politics, on our social media, with our kids getting beaten up on the streets.”

A December 10 report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that nearly 90 percent of European Jews believe anti-Semitism has increased in their home country in the past five years. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed claim they have been harassed at least once in the past year. And of the 28 percent who said they had been harassed, 79 percent said they did not report the incidents to the police because they felt like nothing would change.

More than 16,000 Jews in 12 EU member countries participated in the agency’s online survey, making it the largest survey of its type. The 12 countries are home to an estimated 96 percent of Europe’s Jewish population.

In the survey, 38 percent of Jews said they had considered leaving their home countries altogether because they felt it was unsafe to be a Jew in Europe.

Nearly 50 percent of those surveyed feared they would become a victim of verbal or physical harassment in the next year. While only 3 percent have actually been physically assaulted in the past five years, 40 percent said they fear being physically attacked in the next 12 months.

Over 33 percent of those participating suggested they won’t visit Jewish sites because they fear being attacked.

Some Europeans are blaming anti-Jewish sentiment on the Jews themselves. They say that resentment against Jews exists because of Jewish behavior.

A cnn-ComRes poll of 7,000 native Europeans from Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom and Sweden found that 10 percent said they had an unfavorable attitude toward Jews. In Poland, the figure was 15 percent, and in Hungary, it was 19 percent. Of those surveyed, 20 percent said they believed the Jews were too influential in political affairs around the world, and 33 percent of Austrians surveyed said that Jews have too much influence over financial matters.

“[I]t is perfectly acceptable to debate about and to demonstrate against the very core of the Jewish state’s existence—in a way and with emotions unlike that about any other country,” Sacha Stawski, an expert on anti-Semitism in Germany, told the Jerusalem Post.

The statistics show that non-native European Muslims and now more and more native Europeans are turning against the State of Israel and against Jews in their countries.

European leaders still deal with Israel and visit Holocaust museums, but Trumpet managing editor Brad Macdonald wrote, “Though their hatred is cloaked in anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian rhetoric and gestures, many European leaders are sanctioning, even promoting, the persecution of Jews.”

“Europe, in my view, is finished,” Mike Lewis, a top British lawyer, told reporters upon arrival at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport. He and his wife had left Britain altogether due to a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism. His wife, Mandy Bluementhal, said, “It’s become acceptable to be anti-Semitic.” This couple accelerated their decision to emigrate because anti-Semitism was becoming “so institutional and accepted in mainstream life.” Like these two, many others are expected to follow.

The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli government is establishing an organization to help French immigrants adjust to living in Israel. Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said, “There are 200,000 Jews in France who want to immigrate here, and all the state systems are simply not prepared for this.” Israel is not prepared for this massive influx of immigrants, but it is seeking to develop the needed infrastructure.

A November cnn report found that 34 percent of Europeans surveyed said they knew nothing or very little about the Holocaust. Although denying the existence of the Holocaust is illegal in parts of Europe, the report indicates that educators and other figures are at least ignoring the genocide of 6 million European Jews from 1933–1945. Little by little, anti-Semitism is becoming more and more accepted.

Acceptance Leads to War

When I was in Israel last year, I made it a point to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. If nothing else, I walked away from the experience with a much deeper understanding of how gradual acceptance of anti-Semitism in Europe during the 1930s spiraled downward into a systematic mass murderous elimination of the Jewish people in the 1940s. Anti-Semitism was, at first, viewed with disgust, but eventually it was accepted and even encouraged.

Business leaders and politicians have demanded boycotts against Israeli products. Native Dutch Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel, for example, has called for an intifada against Israel. In France, youth have been caught on video parading through a supermarket while shouting anti-Jew epithets. Those behind the violence are seeking to put the Jews out of business. These are the exact same actions that were taken against the Jews in Europe just prior to the Holocaust.

Take for example the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This fraudulent document “served as a pretext and rationale for anti-Semitism” in the early 1900s through the 1920s. The fabricated text was drafted to describe the Jewish people’s plan for global domination. This document, purported to be one of a series of 24, was widely distributed, even in America. Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford funded the printing of 500,000 copies for distribution throughout the United States in the 1920s. Anti-Semitism was a real problem in Europe, Britain and the United States.

These anti-Semitic actions culminated in the most deadly war the world has ever seen: World War ii.

Winston Churchill said, “The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.” He knew the importance of studying history and how vital it is for understanding the present and even the future. It was his understanding of history that enabled him to foresee Germany and Adolf Hitler’s rise before the rest of the world did, and when they caught on, it was already too late.

Bible prophecy shows that anti-Semitism is leading to a war that will engulf the whole Earth. Hosea 5 and Zechariah 14 indicate that anti-Semitism will lead to more violence.

European history in the 1920s and 1930s reveals anti-Semitism as a precursor to war. It began with anti-Semitism, and then there were violent attacks, systematic mass murder and finally war. That is exactly what is stirring in Europe today. Just like in the 1930s, gradual acceptance of anti-Semitism has led to an increase in violence and many European Jews fear what will come next, because all signs point to extreme persecution and a third world war.

This third world war is prophesied to come to an end with the return of Jesus Christ to this Earth. Christ, not being a respecter of persons, will finally put an end to anti-Semitism and all racial prejudice.

For more about anti-Semitism and why it is so prevalent today, please review Chapter 8 of Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s booklet The Key of David.