A very good article, Henya. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think you make some excellent points. My Father was Jewish and all his life was convinced that all his problems sprang from anti semitism. I’m not completely convinced that this was a fact, I think his personality had something to do with his failures.

From my own experiences — I actually believe that a lot of hate and mistrust of others comes from a more basic issue: Self preservation.

What I mean by that is: let’s say you have a community of “same” individuals. A new family moves in, but they are completely different.

The community waits and watches. Will the new folks “fit in”? Are the new folks some sort of threat?

The new folks will most likely be viewed with tremendous suspicion until they either prove they can be trusted, or exhibit some behaviour which is “different” and therefore a perceived threat.

If something bad happens and there are no obvious suspects, the new people will come under scrutiny …

And so it begins … it starts small and grows. Power-mongers make it worse.

Lack of trust, lack of communication, lack of empathy.