From Shylock to Social Media: Antisemitism Never Disappeared

The West keeps calling itself enlightened while recycling one of history’s oldest hatreds: blaming the Jews. From Shakespeare’s Shylock to today’s viral outrage machines, the pattern has not changed nearly as much as people pretend; when society is angry, afraid, divided, or desperate for clicks, Jews and Israel are too often turned into the convenient scapegoat. This episode of The Rant Network is a warning that antisemitism is no longer hiding in dark corners or whispered conspiracy theories; it is being rewarded online, echoed in politics, excused by media narratives, and dressed up as activism. If history teaches anything, it is that societies do not become stronger by tolerating hate; they decay when racism becomes entertainment and scapegoating becomes strategy. The question is not whether Jews bleed, suffer, laugh, hope, and fight like everyone else; the question is whether the West has the courage to finally stop pretending that ancient hate becomes acceptable just because it is trending.

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Transcript

A Society That Needs A Scapegoat

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You know it's incredible for a population society that claims it is advanced, well-educated, progressive thinking, a beacon of hope and democracy. The West has proven it's not even close to that. In fact, it's just repeating age-old stupid shit. It has learned really nothing from history. It has learned nothing. All it is looking for is a scapegoat. That's right, a scapegoat. You see, once again, we're we're bringing what we've seen over centuries. No news because there are no Jews. If you look at what's been going on right now in the world today, the blame, the finger pointing, and what have you at Jews has been absolutely unbelievable. And for the first time in, I don't know, 80, 90 years, it's read its ugly head again in such a sickening way. But what again has not been learnt in the US, in Canada, in London, in France, in England, I should say, in Belgium, and other Western countries, is that what you've tried and what has been tried for centuries doesn't work. Jews are not at fault for all of your problems. Get over it. And I know that today it's come back in an incredible rate. The anti-Semitism, the hate, the finger pointing, that everything that's wrong is a Jew. And you

Conspiracies, Blame, And Viral Outrage

SPEAKER_00 1:35

could look at all the different channels, all the different people, whether they're influencers, politicians, artists, sports, it doesn't matter. If you support Jew, or even they allege that you support Jews in Israel, then you're at fault for all of society's problems. Oil prices going up. It's a Jew's fault, right? It's Phoebe, he caused it. The COVID, right? COVID back, which was tied back to the Chinese lap, you still have people believing that Jews created this conspiracy. I'll even go further back, 9-11. No, no, that wasn't Muslim terrorists. That was a Jewish conspiracy. It never happened. That was a thing of the Mossad. And go on and on and on. And until October the 7th, you would see these comments very in hushed tones, in you know, dark rooms and whatever you want, certain societies, whatever. But it's really taken off. In the last couple of years, it has taken off like a wildfire. And it's amazing. Because what are you getting today? Clicks. That's right. Attention, clicks. Many believe this bullshit, but many have been using it to further their own cause. Do they really believe that everything is a Jew's fault? Possibly. But the reality is that if you just take a step back and use half a brain, it's too easy, it's too simplistic. And it's just age-old hate that repeats itself again and again

Shakespeare Builds A Marketable Villain

SPEAKER_00 3:15

and again. So since many won't listen to history, I'm going to throw in a history story. And get this, please. When Shakespeare wrote A Merchant of Venice, he was looking for that ability to sell tickets. Because back then there was no TV rights back when Shakespeare was doing plays in England, and there were no social media. And the only thing you could do was sell tickets. And you wrote plays based on what people wanted, right? If you're going to see Star Wars this past weekend, it's because you liked the Mandalorian and Grogu. That was your thing. It attracts you, good or bad, it'll attract you. And Shakespeare was no different back in his day. And when he wrote A Merchant of Venice at the time, he needed a character that people could hate. And lo and behold, he had one. Shylock the Jew. Shylock the moneylender. Shylock the enemy of the people. Now, here's the catchput people. When Shakespeare wrote his play, there were no Jews in England. They were thrown out. So, in essence, Shakespeare never met a Jew. Jews weren't in England. And everything that he could write about was based on stereotypes, was based on the hate. Now, if you read what Sherlock had said in his famous monologue, in today's society, you're kind of going, I don't get the big deal. But remember, keep back when we'll go back a little bit and understand that Shakespeare's time, the church had incredible power. And a good Christian didn't do what? Good Christian didn't lend money. Good Christian didn't look for revenge. And good Christians believed in the church. Jews didn't. Jews were the money lenders. There were no banks. And when the government needed money, they went to the Jew. When people needed money, they went to the Jew. And despite the fact that they hated that and it was an anti-Christian value, they still did it. But here's the famous quotes that Shakespeare had written. Here's the monologue. He hath disgraced me and hindered me a half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, hated my enemies, and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Now if I just stop right there, sound familiar? That's right. Blame for good, blame for bad, blame for everything. Why? Because I am a Jew. But let me go on. Hath a Jew not eyes? Hath not a Jew had hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions, fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian

Shylock’s Speech And The Stereotype Machine

SPEAKER_00 6:10

is. If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should be his sufferance? Be by Christian example. Why revenge? The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction. Now, this is the incredible thing is that the reason that people hated and booed Shylock was for exactly that. Shylock the Jew was portrayed in the most stereotypical way: the crooked nose, the religious look, the arched, evil-looking person. That was in Shakespeare's day, and there are many, many pictures to show that. But the speech about revenge. Good Christians didn't seek revenge, only bad Jews. And here we are again today, blamed for everything and hated for gains and for losses. What have we learned in history? It's interesting because when Jews were expelled from England, society got worse. Things got worse in Shakespeare's time. It wasn't a promising time. And the realization is that Jews actually, no matter what you could say, when Jews came in, society improved. More employment, better opportunities. And that has been consistent in wherever Jews have gone. Even to this little territory called Palestine. A swath of land which had very few Jews still around, and even fewer Arabs and Muslims. It was a desert, a wasteland,

When Jews Leave, Societies Change

SPEAKER_00 7:55

few tribes floating around here and there, no Palestinian state, no Arab conquest, just a swath of land owned and conquered and ruled by the Ottoman Empire. That's right. There was no government. In fact, there was no government in Saudi Arabia, in Lebanon, and Jordan, what we know today, it was just this mass of land occupied by the Ottoman Empire and had previously been named by the Romans Palestine or Palestina. It wasn't even there was no map with it. If you looked at the maps from the 19th century all the way up to 1918, it just showed the Ottoman Empire. Jews wanted their own land, Jews wanted their own country, and finally got to got back to the land to rebuild it. And sure enough, what happened? More Jews came, more opportunity arose. There was employment, there was work, there was opportunity. More Arabs came in because that is what they wanted for their families. It wasn't really the same BS, you know, fighting we saw until the English showed up. When the English took over the area, that's exactly what happened. They created the divide between Jew and Muslim. They created this adversarial relationship, not a cooperative. In order for the English to stay the conquerors, the English to stay the conquerors, they needed to divide both peoples and pit them one against the other. And lo and behold, the Jew was to be blamed for no matter what. The Arabs, no. The Jew, yeah. Why? Because it was easier. Because that's what you'd always done. According to these people, the Jew attracted all the bad attention. It was never somebody else. And it's interesting to see that, that England never learned from Shakespeare's time, never learned from other times. The most loyal soldiers in World War I and eventually World War II were the Jews, not the Arabs. In fact, during World War II, while the English were fighting Hitler, it was the Arabs who ran to Hitler to side with Hitler. Nobody remember that? Who did the Brits fight with? Jews side by side. Who is the enemy? Not only the Nazis, not only the Axis powers, but the Arabs inside that area. Fascinating. But we'll blame Jews, anyways, because Jews are the easiest ones to deal with. So let's go back to today.

Social Media, Flotillas, And Easy Narratives

SPEAKER_00 10:32

What are we dealing with today? Well, it's all about clicks again. We see it on social media. We see the podcasters again and again and again, whether it's, I won't even name them because they don't deserve to be named. But from the left and from the right, the Jew is responsible. It's a click. Trump was swayed by Bibi to go to war with Iran. That's a click. Look at that flotilla that went into Israel. Hundreds of people. And that's a click. You loved it. You chased it. You blame the Jew. Yes, Minister Ben Gvil could have stayed away. And yes, this whole thing could be handled, could have handled differently. It was a dumb move by the minister. I get it. But you want to tell me that Pakistan and Turkey are the you're you're you're gonna quote them as being the morally correct individuals? Hell no. At the United Nations, did you stop? No. But it's interesting because when, by the way, when the flotilla went back to Spain and the people who got off there got beaten up, can't blame the Jew. There's no news. But the flotilla, the hundreds of people who tried to disrupt the democracy, that didn't matter. We gotta blame the Jew because genocide in Palestine, which has been displayed, has been disclaimed so many times already. There's no genocide, there's nothing of the sort. That's the simple way to do. You're the wrong, you're the problem, people. You're the problem because you realize it brings out clicks. When you have politicians who absolutely campaign on interning Jews in internment camps, and there's no reaction from the media. Well, I guess that's not news. That's good news, though. That's great news for those people. Let's get rid of the Jew. Tell you about that, people. Right now, in places like France and Belgium and Holland and all that, Jews have left. Crime has gone up, unemployment has gone up. Jews have been blamed for that, of course. Because, you know, what else could you do? But why

Europe, Safety, And The Pattern Of Flight

SPEAKER_00 12:55

did this happen? Jews weren't safe again. And what we've learned wherever we go, and it's not safe, we gotta go. We gotta leave. Because if the government is not willing to help and the people aren't willing to help, and we're not safe, we gotta go. We gotta go somewhere else again. We've learned our lesson. Society doesn't want us in many places, because we are the perfect scapegoat. Again and again. And when it comes up to what's going on today in places like Canada, when your foreign minister runs to Al Jazeera to be interviewed, why? To vilify Israel, because Israel is the only reason why there's a war in the Middle East. All the problems in the Middle East will disappear if Israel disappears. That is what Anita Anand wants, and her boss Mark Carney would love to see. Not one condemnation of Hezbollah or other Houthis or Hamas. It's only been Israel. Israel, the Jews, are responsible for all the malaise in the Middle East. It has got nothing to do with terrorists. It's got nothing to do with the fact that Hezbollah has, you know, how many times can they be breaking a ceasefire? How many times has Hezbollah said they won't come to the negotiating table? The Lebanese are desperate to get rid of Hezbollah. They don't want Israel in the south. There's no doubt they don't want them there. They want to go back to a time where 50 years ago this didn't occur. That Lebanon was a beautiful country before the 1970s. But Hezbollah and the PLO have turned it into an absolute wasteland. And it's the blaming of the Jew, never someone else. It's that we are the most convenient scapegoat. We're a tiny population, 7 million in New York, or kind of in the US, 7 million in Israel. And then everywhere else, we're less than half a million people. In Canada, we're not even about 400,000 odd. Half, not even half a million. And yet, if

Politics, Double Standards, And Public Silence

SPEAKER_00 15:05

you look at the incidents per capita, everywhere you talk about US, Canada, England, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the highest number per capita, highest number of incidents, even without per capita. Right? We are to be blamed for everything. Zorn Mamdani has no problem blaming Israel and blaming the Jews for all the problems. And you in the media are not very quick to show how he's right. I mean, come on, he's got to be right. It's Zoran Mamdani. Doesn't matter that he doesn't want Nick fans to celebrate in the streets. It's okay to allow Palestinians, these so-called pro-Hamas protesters to do whatever they want. No problem. But the moment you fight back, uh-uh-uh, it's the Jews' fault again. Come on, we we got look what they do. This campaign in the fall in the United States is filled and marred with all kinds of anti-Semites, praised by the left, praised by the right, the hard right. These are people who are just, I mean, it was incredible to see Elon Musk allegedly showing the Nazi salute after Trump won. But here's the guy who's got a tattoo, a Democrat with a tattoo of a swastika on his body, and that's it. It's okay because we could blame the Jew. Whether it's in Maine or Texas, it doesn't matter. Blaming the Jew has returned as the new sport. And like every sport, you need the clicks, you need the cheers, you need the people, you need your enemy, and the common enemy has been us again. Again, look at social channels, look at the commentaries, look at our commentaries, and you'll see how much hate and vilification there is. Yes, these are the armchair warriors who are not gonna necessarily go out there and do it. But there are names of people here in our feeds, and you could see what they say, and you could see where they're from, and you could see what they stand for. What's in common? They're racist haters, they hate us. We're blamed the moment we open our eyes to the time we close our eyes, and even when we're sleeping, we're blamed. Good, bad, blamed. But it doesn't

The Lesson: Tolerated Hate Spreads

SPEAKER_00 17:40

matter that we're human. And going back to Shylock's statement, have not a Jew ha organ hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, past passions, fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer. It doesn't matter that we're human humans. When you have people who decide that we are the lowest form of humanity and that we should be eradicated, and that you should be we should get rid of Israel, and all of these things we have learned nothing. Nothing, ladies and gentlemen, in our thousands of years on earth. What history we're what we're not learning in classroom is that hate doesn't take us anywhere. That hate of any kind leads to destruction, not construction. That when you deal with racism, the way you like the way you allow and you tolerate racism, society degrades itself, it falls apart. And that's what's happening right now in the West. Society is falling apart, and folks in China and Iran and in Russia are loving it, let alone the extremists, you know, the Muslims. It doesn't matter. We if we can't blame the Jew, there's nothing we're going to do. When are we ever gonna learn? That's it, ladies and gentlemen. Have yourself a great week. We'll catch you on Wednesday.