Samaritans and Arabs of the time were Semites, by definition. The Jews may not be or have ever been in the larger context. No Jews are today. The term comes from 1700s German academia, and is used to describe people of that area of the world, at a much earlier time. The only possible existing Semites today are the remainder of the Samaritans, who were and are not Jewish. The Ottomans and Byzantine Empire were politically anti-Semitic, but toward the Samaritan civilization and other Arabs. The Jews were arguably anti-Semitic because they destroyed the Samaritan Temple and were constantly subverting their people and civilization. The Christians were by and large pro-Semitic and supportive of the Samaritans and their values. The Jews were not. ---- The first mistake when dealing with gypsies or charlatans, is to take a position either for or against what they are saying. When in fact, the real trick was to get people to take positions over what would be a baseless point to begin with. From that, all of the usual and sustainable devices for control are derived.