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Any group of people who can be identified separately from the rest of the community at large will become targets at some point. It can happen "spontaneously" because things aren't going well and it's always easier to blame someone else. Or it can happen because an individual or group uses a bit of good old-fashioned rabble rousing to advance themselves.
If you are colored, you are the easiest target to spot. Gay people are a popular choice too. Then come the Jews.
Their history as victims is long simply because they were forced into exile so many years ago. They first became targets because it was a way for those who owed them money to get out of paying. But they must be doing something "special" to have been targets is so many countries for so long.
The worst crime Jews ever committed (and they are repeat offenders) is to be successful. Stereotyping is dangerous and every community has exceptions, but probably more than any other people, Jews place a high value on education and they have a very strong, practical sense of family and community. Thus while working to be successful as individuals, they also help each other. And although they go along when forced to be peasants or laborers, they usually set their sights much higher.
I'm not Jewish, but I have a great deal of respect for the way they don't simply come into the world and accept their lot, blaming someone else when life doesn't deliver a whole lot by itself. It makes no sense to me that we all have families and communities, yet by and large stand or fall entirely by our individual efforts.
Unfortunately, at the same time as contributing to their success, that aspect of Jewish culture can reasonably be described as nepotism. So you have a group which is not only successful, but which tends to shut non-Jews out of that success. If Jews have added to their own problems, it is by a poor understanding of human nature: unsuccessful people always resent success, but never more so than if they have an excuse for believing they would have succeeded if given the chance. It's a poor excuse, because there is no magic about how Jews keep rising out of adversity. It's that blame someone else first thing again... someone is always ready to ask "Why do Jews always sh*t their nest". I guess it's easier to pull someone else down than lift yourself up.
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