The news spread worldwide: Hamas was gunning down, stabbing, burning, torturing, raping, beheading and kidnapping Israelis. The world responded. Crowds massed in the major cities of the West to make their voices heard. Thousands upon thousands chanted slogans and waved flags in solidarity with those they saw as oppressed.

This was solidarity not for the Israeli families whose lives were scarred or snuffed out—but for Hamas, the perpetrators.

Huge numbers of people cheered and celebrated the Hamas pogrom. In the immediate aftermath, they were not even protesting the Israeli retaliation because there had been no retaliation.

Gleeful young men showed off pictures on their phones of blood-soaked Jewish bodies. People handed out candy in the streets. About 30,000 people marched through central London chanting, “O Jews, the army of Mohammed is returning.”

In Montreal, Canada, hundreds of protesters marched through the city toward the Israeli consulate. Sarah Shamy, spokesperson for the Palestinian Youth Movement, refused to condemn Hamas’s October 7 rampage, calling it resistance.

In New York City on October 13, thousands of protesters filled Times Square chanting, “Free Palestine.” Others, including two New York State legislators, flocked outside the Brooklyn residence of Jewish Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Many of the demonstrators were of Middle Eastern origin and Islamists, but many were not. Some were far-left agitators. One protest in New York City was sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America.

Demonstrations have followed Israeli-Palestinian confrontations before, but these protesters were not reacting to an Israeli raid in Jenin or the bulldozing of a suicide bomber’s house or a tussle on the Temple Mount. They were responding to an internationally recognized terrorist organization sending more than a thousand men to behead babies, murder grandmothers, broadcast videos of rape victims still bleeding, and shout “Allahu Akbar!”

Why this special hatred for the Jews? Central London did not have 30,000 marchers in support of Sudan (which is in a civil war) or Armenia (which just lost Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan). These protesters are targeting Israelis because they are Jewish.

For years, groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter have claimed they are “fighting fascism” in Western society. Yet one of fascism’s main goals was to kill innocent and defenseless Jewish men, women, children and babies—and these radical leftists vigorously applaud them. The day of the massacre, Black Lives Matter Chicago posted on social media the image of a paraglider with a Palestinian flag and the tagline “I stand with Palestine.” At Harvard University, 34 student organizations signed a petition stating that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

The United States, the European Union and other Western governments send millions of dollars to Palestinian groups annually, knowing that the money is being siphoned off for murder and terrorism. The United Nations General Assembly attacks Israel more than any other country. Last year it passed 15 resolutions against Israel, more than it passed against the other 193 nations of the world combined. It passed just six against Russia, which had just launched the biggest European war since World War ii. Against China, which is committing literal genocide against Muslims, it passed zero.

People argue that they would not hate Israel if it stopped occupying Muslim-majority areas and instituted a “two-state solution.” But what you are seeing in Israel is the “two-state solution.” Israel hasn’t “occupied” Gaza since 2005, when it ceded that land. Now Hamas controls the territory’s government, economy, foreign policy, border security, police and militants. In response to terrorism, Israel has blockaded the flow of goods and resources into Gaza, but has also let in billions of dollars in humanitarian aid and infrastructure. It gave Gazans access to water and electricity. It even allowed Qatar, a notorious sponsor of jihadist terrorist groups, to work as a middleman and come into Gaza. It gave thousands of Gazans permits to work in Israel. Gaza wants to be recognized as a state, but it won’t recognize Israel. It wants a one-state solution. “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” means the extermination or expulsion of the Jews and establishment of an Islamist theocracy.

People who support Palestinians and their terrorism know this.

Why this irrational hatred of Jews? Why is it flourishing now? Why has it surged and abated and resurged over and over in history?

“The Jews descend from Judah, just one of the 12 tribes of Israel,” the Trumpet’s Richard Palmer explains. “The Bible makes clear God has a role for all these tribes—and Satan hates all these tribes. But there is still something unique in God’s plan for Judah.

“In Genesis, God made a great twofold promise to Abraham after the patriarch demonstrated his obedience. This included the promise of grace: ‘[I]n thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed’ (Genesis 22:18). Here, as part of His plan to offer salvation to all mankind, was God’s guarantee of a Messiah who would come as a descendant of Abraham. …

“This gets to the heart of Satan’s hatred for physical Jews. Within that race is a vision of God working with all people and inviting all into His Family. Satan passionately hates that plan!” (theTrumpet.com/21037).

The reason anti-Semitism exists is not because of the tens of thousands of activists on the streets of London and Sydney. It isn’t because of leftist hate groups or Islamist terror cells indoctrinating their supporters. It isn’t even because of shadow men controlling policies and narratives behind the scenes. This evil exists because Satan exists. And until mankind realizes this fact, anti-Semitism won’t go away. Thankfully, as Revelation 20:1-3 prophesy, God will shut down Satan’s anti-Semitic broadcasting—and soon.