The title pretty much says it all. I saw someone on r/judaism claiming that anti-Semitism is a largely Christian phenomenon, but it was (naturally) not a claim that came with citations. I know that plenty of Muslims and secular Westerners indulge in anti-Semitic rhetoric and action, but when it comes to the history of anti-Semitism as a phenomenon and ideology, I mostly know about European Christian anti-Semitism (forcing Jews into usury as a career, maligning usury, projecting the abstract machinations of financial instruments onto the concrete entities who are Jews, using Jews as a scapegoat for sectarian strife). But that strain of anti-Semitism didn't just spontaneously appear in medieval Europe, right? It had to come from somewhere. And I'm wondering if there were parallel phenomena happening in other regions where I know less history. (Does rising regional anti-Semitism correspond to areas that suddenly have an influx of Jewish migrants? Does it correspond to certain political or religious phenomena?)
I'll pay it forward and link a semi-related paper (more like modern history) on anti-Semitism for those who don't know much about it. https://libcom.org/library/anti-semitism-national-socialism-moishe-postone
Delayed response here, but figured I'd give this a try.
Antisemitism goes back pretty much since the origin of the Jewish people as a religion and a people. Their customs were different and they stayed separate from those around them. This led to them being seen as other and looked down on. Here's a pretty good summary of this from https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/education-outreach/Brief-History-on-Anti-Semitism-A.pdf:
During those centuries before Christ, the Hebrews (the early Jewish people) experienced intermittent persecution because they refused to adopt the religion of the locale or ruler and worship the idols of the kingdoms of the Middle East, as was the custom at the time. This refusal to worship idols was seen as stubborn and was resented.
So the rise of Christianity made this issue even more extreme - Jews were said to have killed Jesus and they refused to accept the new religion. This continued to develop until the antisemitism of today. So while I wouldn't say that the Christianity is the only cause of antisemitism, it is probably the most significant example of a way in which Jews refused to conform to their surrounding society.