Blood libel

[diane_vera]

Lately I've been reading up on the recent revival of traditional libels against Jews, especially in the Muslim world, and also in the former Soviet Union. This topic is of interest to me for a number of reasons, one of which is the parallels between classic anti-Jewish myths, such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and paranoid tales about "the Illuminati," which are used to scapegoat Satanists, Pagans, and occultists, among others.


It seems there has recently been quite a revival of ye olde blood libel, about Jews killing non-Jewish babies. See, for example, Blood Libel by Judith Apter Klinghoffer (another copy here). Searching for "blood libel" on Google News I find:

• Medieval anti-Semitic blood libels surface in Gaza, Russia - Israel Today, Israel - Mar 25, 2008
• Police investigate blood libel - Totally Jewish, UK - Mar 26, 2008
• UCSJ Statement on Blood Libel Fliers in Novosibirsk - Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, DC - Mar 27, 2008

Both the blood libel and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion seem to be extremely popular in the Arab world these days, as documented here:

• The Development of Arab Anti-Semitism - interview with Dr. Meir Litvak of the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, 2 February 2003
• Antisemitism documentation project - Middle East Media Research Institute

Meanwhile, over in the U.K., a Muslim barrister who advises the Prime Minister has made claims reminiscent of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion:

• Jews and Freemasons controlled war on Iraq, says No 10 adviser by Toby Helm, Telegraph (U.K.), 12/09/2005
• Conspiracy theory, Telegraph (U.K.), 12/09/2005

P.S., 4/28/2008: I've posted quite a bit more about this matter on my Wordpress blog: Refutations of some classic libels against Jews, including more accounts of the spread of the blood libel and other classic anti-Jewish myths.