Hatred of America is not new. Any nation, company or individual that experiences success has, throughout history, felt the jealous hatred of others. But this time, that hatred will express itself in the most dramatic and alarming of ways-war!
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Subscribe NowIn the first two parts of this series, we largely looked at why many in the world hate the United States of America, Britain and the other English-speaking nations of the world. But in this third and final installment, we will take a closer look at who hates these peoples.
When considering the intense hatred of the U.S., most look to the Muslim world as the primary source. Some look to an old enemy like Russia, which is now reverting to its Soviet-era-like posture. Still others look to a possible new enemy like China, which sees itself as a potential world superpower.
Very few, however, give much thought to Europe. Yet, it is this continent that now has a simmering hatred that should be most disturbing. It is this continent that can replace America as China’s primary source of trade, finances and technology and, in return, make use of China’s great production capacity (e.g., to build an army). It is this continent that can replace America as the holder of the currency in which oil can be traded. It is this continent that can (again, at least initially) ally itself with Russia to make use of their nuclear arsenal and dominate the world. It is this continent that has access to the socio-religious influence and power provided by the Roman Catholic Church. It is this continent that is already now an empire looking for an emperor-and it will soon receive one.
Some may even acknowledge the above as “possible,” but shrug it off by insisting that, despite recent events, Europe as a whole has always been, and will always remain, an ally of the United States. Most feel that the European and American societies and economies are too similar and integrated for one to ever allow hatred to grow to the point of war. Yet, as we will see, God’s Word states otherwise!
Most believe that there is only a temporary “rift” between Europe and America-that, somehow, this rift will be repaired in due time. To the contrary, the rift will only continue to widen and deepen. The hatred that is now simmering will eventually explode, bringing violence and destruction the world has never seen.
In this final segment, we will clearly identify the existence and extent of European hatred for America. We will make plain that it is much more than just a temporary “rift.” And we will see why and how it will progress.
The U.S.-led war in Iraq brought great and quick change to the relationship between Europe and the United States. While the political front for the European anti-war movement had been Franco-German, in early 2003 William Safire reported in The International Herald Tribune that it had actually all been by German design. France was apparently all but ready to deploy troops and its aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, when, quite suddenly, they seemed to do an about-face. It appears that Mr. Schröder made an offer to Mr. Chirac that he simply could not refuse: to re-ignite the Franco-German motor and control all of Europe. In return, France had to turn its back on promises made to the U.S. in regard to the coming war on Iraq. France had told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell the previous fall that no second U.N. resolution would be necessary. Quite suddenly at that time, France surprisingly threatened to veto any second resolution. The U.S. had insisted all along that no second resolution would be necessary. It appeared that Germany’s intention was to cut the Atlantic part out of the NATO alliance, essentially leaving the U.S. and Britain isolated, and France and Germany to control the rest of Europe.
In late 2002, John Vinocur of The International Herald Tribune stated that from the American perspective, it was not so much the political comments made during a heated German election campaign, but rather “...how Schroeder’s decision has come to magnify wide concern about Germany’s direction, the strength of neutralist currents in German society.” It was the first time in 50 years that Germany and the U.S. were on opposite sides of a war-and-peace issue. Although Germany’s contribution would have been almost insignificant, the diplomatic appearance and effect were great, and the precedent had been set. Germany, as the leading EU state, was taking a different path from the U.S., and at that time, a few in Europe were following Germany. How many will follow Germany’s lead against the U.S. next time?
In late 2002, the Vatican got involved by stating that a “preventive” war against Iraq had no legal justification, and that they would consider the U.S. to be the “aggressor” (The Washington Post). Most Europeans agreed. If “preventive” wars are deemed illegal, how long will the world continue to allow the U.S. to start them? Plainly, the answer is, only as long as they cannot do anything about it. However, this may already be more of a reality than most think. If the U.S. were considered again (e.g., in regard to Iran or North Korea) to be the “aggressor,” how many Europeans would support action against the U.S. in an attempt to stop them? What kind of action would most Europeans support?
In an April 2003 interview with The Financial Times, British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a direct warning to Jacques Chirac, stating that the French President’s vision of Europe as a rival to the U.S. is dangerous and destabilizing. While his personal relationship with Mr. Chirac had improved since the pre-Iraq war dispute, Mr. Blair maintained that the strategic divide between Europe and the U.S. remained.
France’s vision of the world in the near future consists of multi-polar powers, most specifically, a strong Europe that can counter the U.S. Mr. Blair is obviously troubled by this, stating, “...I think there is an issue that we have to resolve here between America and Europe and within Europe about Europe’s attitude towards the transatlantic alliance. I don’t want Europe setting itself up in opposition to America...I think it will be dangerous and destabilizing.” He believes that a multi-polar world with different centers of power “.will very quickly develop into rival centres of power.” Please note Mr. Blair’s keywords “within” and “attitude.” He is exposing here what some have known for some time-a very real and widespread European disdain for America.
A New York Times analysis by Thomas L. Friedman indicated that the bottom line regarding the relationship between France and the U.S. is that the two countries are basically at war with each other. Taking into consideration the way France “behaved” prior to and during the Iraq war, along with its current statements and actions, Mr. Friedman concluded that France’s goal is for America to fail in Iraq (and the Middle East), so that ultimately, France can assume its “rightful” position as an American equal, if not superior, in shaping international affairs.
Quite plainly, the trans-Atlantic relationship is divided by much more than a simple “rift.” The public, media, and political animosity that was generated in Europe leading up to, during and following the Iraq war is almost irreparable. To this day, Europeans hate America’s foreign policy, power and current President. This hatred fuels a vicious cycle: With public support, politicians continue with anti-U.S. statements, positions, and policy. With political and media support, the public continues to voice its hatred of America. Popular opinion drives politics and, to some degree, politics drives popular opinion. The U.S. will continue to be portrayed as an “out-of-control” bully, and European cries for something to be done will only become louder and louder, until Europe is finally in a position to do something about it.
Naturally, historical feelings play a part in current posturing and strategies. European politicians and citizens alike have long been suspicious and resentful of the “special” British-American relationship. In terms of making their European Union project work, most Europeans have expressed a certain amount of frustration toward Britain, whom they see as having one foot in the EU and one in Washington. More often than not, whether regarding common farm subsidies or defense and security, London has seemingly been at odds with Paris, while Paris and Berlin continually agree.
In addition, Europe may even be developing a sort of collective self-confidence crisis when it comes to the European Union and its growing pains on the international stage, compared to the relative seasoned diplomacy of the U.S. Frustration at their recent inability to speak with one voice, to maintain security on their own continent (e.g., the Balkans during the 1990s), and to exert more international influence, must also feed their disdain for America. Each event seems to increase the disparity and the opportunity for more frustration and hatred, while at the same time increasing Europe’s desperate desire for strength, power and success. A confident, no-nonsense U.S. President like George W. Bush must only fuel the fire.
Despite sharing similar concerns regarding the world, Europeans and Americans are drifting further apart in what they believe to be acceptable solutions. In a June 2003 survey conducted by the German Marshall Fund, both peoples listed the same top four “world concerns”: international terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, the Arab-Israeli conflict and weapons of mass destruction in North Korea and Iran (International Herald Tribune).
Yet, when asked about how to respond to such problems, less than half of the Europeans believed war could achieve justice, compared with 84% of the Americans. Specifically, 73% of Americans would support a war against Iran, while only 44% of Europeans would do the same. When compared with a similar poll from a year earlier, there was a significant increase in the number of Europeans questioning U.S. world leadership. The majority of European citizens expressed “strong disapproval” of U.S. foreign policy, with Germans and Italians increasing their disapproval by more than 20 points from the prior survey. The desire in Europe for strong U.S. leadership went from 64% last year to 45% this year. When Germans were asked whether the U.S. or European Union were vital to their national interests, 81% chose the EU, compared with 55% last year.
A poll conducted during mid-October 2003 in Europe had caused some diplomatic controversy by finding that over half of Europeans believed Israel to be the biggest threat to world peace, and that the United States contributed the most to international instability, along with Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Israeli officials dismissed the poll as propaganda (The EU Observer). How much longer before the European government must “act” to quell the concerns of its people? Such action would be expected from a “good democracy.”
A February 2004 survey by the Pew Research Center clearly indicates that many peoples, even those of countries allied with the U.S., continue to hold negative views of America. “The divide between the U.S. and Europe is only getting wider,” says editor Carroll Doherty. “It’s beyond a question of America’s image, it’s now to the point where people want action based on their opposition to the U.S.” French and German opinion remains negative and generally unchanged since a year ago. “Across Europe, we found people supporting the emergence of a European Union that can stand up and be an equal power to the U.S.,” says Mr. Doherty.
The popular sentiment in Europe (even in Britain, where the media and politicians have successfully steered at least a percentage of their population to turn their eyes from west to east) is now so anti-American, that the extreme has almost become acceptable. Consider the following comments by Charlie Brooker, recently printed (and then retracted) in The Guardian (a British) newspaper: “Quite frankly, the man’s [President Bush] either wired or mad. If it’s the former, he should be flung out of office: tarred [and] feathered...And if it’s the latter, his behaviour goes beyond strange, and heads toward terrifying.”
He concluded his article with the following: “On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod’s law dictates he’ll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr—where are you now that we need you?”
In another instance, Carol Gould (an American who lives in England), writing for FrontPage Magazine, shared a telling experience she had while travelling in London, in which both she and another American woman were attacked on a bus by a “well-dressed woman” in what she described as resembling “a verbal assault by a brownshirt against a hapless Jewish pedestrian in 1933.” The British woman screamed at the Americans, “I rejoice every time I hear of another American soldier dying! You people all deserve to die in another 9/11. You are destroying the world.” The bus driver and other passengers just laughed.
Note that, in general, the attacks are not, or at least not any longer, targeted toward a specific situation or issue, or toward the person responsible. They are now just plain, broad and explicit hatred of America and everything American.
A few weeks earlier, Carol Gould had attended a party at which she was “lambasted, intimidated and mocked” by a group of people she had known for approximately twenty years. She was reminded of a comment a friend had made shortly after 9/11: “Now I know what the Jews felt like in pre-war Germany.”
In addition, plain and seemingly unmovable U.S. support for Israel simply irks most Europeans. Mainstream media in Europe is notorious for presenting news with a very pro-Palestinian slant, fueling anti-Semitism, which at some point, is often equated with anti-Americanism. Carol Gould again had a telling experience in London. An associate she had known for ten years suddenly felt compelled to tell her, “You know, Carol, I want to get something off my chest that I’ve been dying to say to you for years. Number one, just don’t say Israel to me. Number two, you people should look at yourselves in the mirror and wonder why every so often there is a Holocaust or massacre or pogrom. You bring it on yourselves. Just look at the way you are and then figure out why the rest of the world wants to flatten you. Number three, America throwing money at Israel has to stop, and hopefully all hell will break loose. Israel is not a country. I just hear the word and I turn peuce.” It has reached a point where Ms. Gould declares literally, “What I find so frightening is that I cannot conduct business or even take a taxi ride in London, Bournemouth or Edinburgh without a scathing tirade about the scurrilous Yanks.” She also expressed frustration at how difficult (”impossible”) it is to convey to fellow Americans back home, or to American Jews, the blatant loathing of both groups that dominates daily life outside the U.S. today.
A report released by the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia in late 2002 indicated that racial prejudice against Jews was being fueled by social and economic factors, to the point that it was on the verge of becoming acceptable (The Washington Post). Jewish leaders informed attendees at a May 2003 international conference on intolerance that anti-Semitism is rising at a rate unseen since World War II (The Haaretz Daily).
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said during his address, “Not since the end of World War Two has the world seen such a proliferation of anti-Semitism. I believe that you have a new generation of professional haters who are serving as leaders, demagogues, and they’re inspiring young people to do their bidding while they often hide.” Mr. Hier pointed out that two-thirds of all violent acts in France last year were directed at Jews. The “reasoning” behind the hatred and violence toward this one people is not so different from times past.
Shimon Samuels of the Center’s Paris branch said that he believes the protests and attacks by young people against globalization and capitalism have now extended toward specific peoples: “the vultures of society [who] are in most cases the United States and the Jewish people. They have taken the old stereotypes and simply modernized them...thereby proliferating and having a multiplier effect they were never able to do in previous decades.”
In introducing a new book by Kenneth R. Timmerman titled Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America, Jeffrey Nyquist (Financial Sense) draws some interesting parallels between anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. Mr. Timmerman claims that Jew hatred today is America hatred. “When this hateful [anti-Jewish] fantasy is turned against America, ’world Jewry’ is replaced by ’imperialism’ and ’globalization’ as the malign forces threatening a society that is profoundly insecure and feels under siege because it is incapable of adapting to the modern world.” Mr. Nyquist points to the seemingly un-ending international support for each other: “.Arab countries consistently vote against the United States in the United Nations General Assembly 80 to 90 percent of the time, while Israel votes with the United States 89 percent of the time,” more often than the United Kingdom. On the international stage, Israel is indeed America’s “most faithful ally,” and therefore hatred of one engenders hatred of the other.
A report prepared by the Israeli Foreign Ministry warned in October 2004 that its nation could become increasingly isolated in the coming years if Europe becomes more influential, to the point that Israel’s global standing could even resemble the “pariah status of apartheid South Africa” (The Haaretz Daily). “The EU could sharpen its expectation that Israel will comply with international norms...and honor the authority of the United Nations and its agencies-an issue that has the potential of leading to friction,” the analysts wrote. The document says that as the EU gains international influence, the U.S., Israel’s main ally, will lose it. The report also identifies a new form of anti-Semitism rising in Europe-one that denies Israel’s legitimacy as a sovereign Jewish state-a fundamental platform of post-World War II British and American foreign policy.
European hatred of America is all for a greater purpose. It is in fact necessary and guaranteed. Your Bible says so! The United States, England, and the other English-speaking nations of the Western world, plus most of the nations of northwestern Europe and the state of Israel, are the modern-day descendants of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel! (For more details, take time to read our book America and Britain in Prophecy.)
Leviticus 26 (as well as Deuteronomy 28) covers the blessings that God promised to Israel for obedience and the punishment for disobedience. The modern-day descendants of that nation will soon be punished for breaking God’s laws. God will use Germany, leading a United States of Europe, to mete out this severe punishment. Hatred for America and Britain is therefore essential. In Europe, it will force political-and eventually military-action.
Lamentations 1:2 describes America’s betrayal and isolation: “She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she has none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.”
Indeed, former allies are now enemies! At every request for help, most countries decline. Further, Ezekiel 23:22 describes these “lovers” (i.e., former allies) as eventually standing against America: “.Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your mind is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side.” In the end, despite America and Britain’s attempt to be attractive, these lovers will even seek their lives: “And when you are spoiled, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you rent your face with painting, in vain shall you make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life” (Jer. 4:30).
Ezekiel 23:5, 9 recalls and prophesies, in typical biblical dual fulfillment, how ancient Israel doted after Assyria, the ancient ancestors of modern-day Germany: “And Aholah played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors...Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.” This was fulfilled once, and will be fulfilled again in the very near future!
In a May 2003 analysis titled “Europe versus America,” J.R. Nyquist indicated that France and Germany, and, by extension, the rest of Europe, along with Russia, all have current (and historical) reasons to displace or, at the very least, compete with America as the world’s superpower. In addition, France and Germany, as Europe’s economic powerhouses, may indeed be looking to Russia for military and natural resource strength; and conversely, Russia, with promises to make Europe as strong “as gods,” will look to Europe for economic support.
Notice: “By pretending to abandon its quest for global dominance, Russia has positioned itself to join up with Europe against ’selfish U.S. interests.’ Using an assumed position of weakness, Russia now urges France and Germany to take leading roles. By combining Western Europe with the ’former’ Soviet imperium a new and unstoppable power could be created in opposition to the United States” (Financial Sense).
The United States is confused as to why these things are happening, as are her allies. In accordance with God’s Plan, these nations were blessed beyond any other nation. However, because of their disobedience, those blessings are being taken away. To make that punishment possible, America and Britain will be isolated and hated by the world.
Now you know why!
