Part of the reason that so many leftists in the West now are both antisemitic and Marxist is that the two ideologies rely on irrational grievance and hatred of Western Civilization’s roots.
Marxists thrive on grievances. Marxism has never brought anything but genocide, famine, tyranny, and tragedy to whichever area it dominates, and the only reason it continues to be popular (besides historical ignorance) is that it appeals to malcontents, the greedy, the bitter, the lazy, the bestial, and the hate-filled. But antisemitism also appeals to those same groups of people, and for much the same reasons as Marxism does.
Antisemitism is one of the most irrational prejudices. There are very few instances in all of history where one could point to Jews imposing religious persecution, for instance. There are some instances in the Old Testament where the Jews fought and conquered pagan peoples under the direct command of God Himself (Joshua 5, 1 Samuel 15, 1 Samuel 17), but aside from that we essentially have one brief period of some Jewish authorities persecuting other Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah in the first century A.D. Sad to say, there are many more instances since then of Christians persecuting Jews than vice versa. Fast forward to the present, and Israel is the only Middle Eastern nation with a growing instead of a shrinking Christian population. This is not, of course, to undermine the truth of the Christian religion, which in fact is entirely based upon Judaism.
This brings me to my next point: Anyone who claims to be Christian (as some Commies do) and hates the Jewish people is anti-biblical. Jesus said in John 4:22, "Salvation is from the Jews." Under God's inspiration, St. Paul wrote in Romans 11:1-2, 26, "Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew ... And so all Israel should be saved." Every Biblical writer, both Old and New Testament, was Jewish except perhaps for Luke, and Jesus Christ Himself and all of His apostles and His mother were Jewish. Jesus was a rabbi (John 1:38, Mark 9:5, John 1:49), and He said of the Jewish Law (Matthew 5:17), "Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Therefore, to be Christian, one must believe that the Jews are still inheritors of the covenant and beloved of God. The covenant opened to more people with Jesus, but it didn't translate from one people to another.
Related: Genocide: Nearly 30,000 Nigerian Christians Killed in 6 Years
And perhaps that is why wherever Jews go, in spite of persecution and hatred, they tend to be successful in financial industries, in entertainment, in education, in anything that will allow them an opening of their talents. They have always had a special blessing from God. Unfortunately, this consistent intellectual and financial success breeds grievance, and the character of "the Chosen People" sparks jealousy, which brings me back to the primary point of this article.
Marxists who hate Jews love to scream that Jews control the media, government, and the entertainment industry. In reality, Marxists are just observing that Jews have higher rates of success in government, media, and entertainment than many other ethnic or religious groups. Israel is economically and militarily successful because of the religious values it possesses, while Muslim nations are filled with poverty and violence because of the values that Islam teaches. And yet the prosperity of Israel is somehow taken as proof that Jews are unfairly favored and Muslims unfairly persecuted. It's not an opinion based on facts but on grievance.
Marxism and antisemitism are appealing to fools and criminals for the same reasons and are therefore destructive for many of the same reasons.
