Why some people hate the Jews: a dialogue with my grandson

My grandson just asked me : why do some people hate the Jews ? My response was as such : historically, a lot has been written on this. While it's been said that the Jews were hated because of the hegemony over several powerful political and financial domains, others claimed that the Jews were hated because of their involvement in a number of tricky spheres such as gambling, brothels (whorehouses) and night clubs. A third accused them of not being loyal to anything that is non-Jewish. But after six decades of reading, intensive traveling to approximately 100 countries and a special journey in the Multinational Corporate executive world (as the CEO of a top global institution), I am certain that none of these “interpretations” is correct. 

My curious grandson interrupted me with the anticipated question : and what is your own interpretation to this historic hatred? My answer was : I have no doubt whatsoever that this hatred is because of a single reason, i.e. that the Jews (in general) are significantly more competent than any other group of people. It is simply a punishment that I personally encountered throughout my life for daring to be different! 

The malicious facet of human nature gets agitated by those who are more competent. So, my dear Mansour, there are those who have had hegemony over several powerful domains, and there are others who were the runners of gambling clubs, whorehouses and night clubs. But they were not hated at all, simply, because they weren’t perceived as more competent than the average groups of people. Certainly, the history of early Christianity might have played a role, but it was never the principal one. My evidence is Islam! The Jews didn’t cause the death of the Muslim’s God and they did not do to the early Muslims 1% of what the early Muslims did to the Jews of Madina! Yet, the abhorrent reaction of many Muslims towards the Jews is a phenomenon. I concluded by saying that this ugly historic and (to a less extent) contemporary hatred can’t be eliminated except in truly secular societies.