Jews: Why the animosity towards them?

[TinCow]

Sorry, I guess I was unclear. Only converts and people who were born to Jewish mothers (both male and female children) are considered to be Jews under Jewish law. If my mother hadn't converted, I would have had to undergo the formal conversion process myself, even if I was raised Jewish. Just saying "I'm Jewish" wouldn't cut it. It gets particularly strange when you consider that the "Jewish mother" portion even applies to non-Jews. Under Jewish law, if you have a Jewish matriarch somewhere on your mother's side, even if it's several generations removed, you are technically still a Jew. If you observe a different religion, they simply consider you to be a Jew who has gone astray. I'm not sure what the original reason for this law is, since it's been a long time since I attended Temple.