It was the vicious and unfounded accusations that occurred several centuries ago, during the Dark Ages of Europe, when Jews were accused of such ludicrous crimes as using the blood of Christian children to bake their Passover matzahs.
These preposterous allegations, known as blood libels, were responsible for a great deal of the Jewish persecution that took place at that time, resulting in pogroms and riots, culminating in the Holocaust of the 20th century.
The first blood libel was attributed to William of Norwich in 1144, when the Jews were charged with ritual murder after the body of a young boy was discovered stabbed to death in the woods. Other cases were also recorded in France, Spain, and Germany, all blaming the Jews for the murder of Christian children.
History is, regrettably, repeating itself. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly believes that “the recent spate of violent attacks against Jews around the world is a direct result of blood libels against the Jewish state and people.”
Rising antisemitism and violent attacks
It’s hard to refute the prime minister’s connection between the two, because statistics prove that ever since the massacre of October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel and committed atrocities, antisemitic incidents have risen to unprecedented levels.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there has been an 84% increase in incidents on campuses, with a 21% increase in physical assaults.
In 2024, 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assaults, harassment, and vandalism were reported – an increase of 893% over the past 10 years and the highest level recorded since the ADL began tracking such data in 1979.
Worldwide, Argentina has seen a 600% increase compared to 2023; Australia, a 738% increase; Austria, a 500% increase; Brazil, a 961% increase; Denmark, a 1,244% increase; France, a 1,000% increase; Germany, a 95% increase; the Netherlands, a 245% increase; and Poland, a 91% increase. Other countries reporting incidents include Switzerland, New Zealand, Moldova, South Africa, Ukraine, Italy, Chile, and Canada. A full list is on the ADL online site. Of course, these only reflect reported cases.
But what has been responsible for this massive uptick of physical attacks, malicious verbal diatribe, and toxic sentiment toward the Jewish nation and her people, whether there or abroad? Many of the virulent claims, magnified by biased pro-Palestinian outlets, have advanced the woke social construct of “settler/colonialism” propaganda, promoting the notion that Jews stole and appropriated Arab territory, forcing them out of their homeland.
That ignorant assertion is nothing more than a rewriting of both history and the Bible, each recording that the Jews, who preceded Islam and the Arab people, were the rightful inheritors of the land bestowed upon them by God.
Another fabrication is the false notion that Zionism is racist. Zionism is simply support for the establishment and maintenance of a Jewish homeland.
Today, the modern State of Israel is home not only to Jews but also to Christians, Muslims, and many other religious minorities who work, live, and study with the same rights and opportunities as Jews.
That is evidenced by Arab political parties in the Knesset, Arab judges, professors, doctors, and every other high-status position that can be attained.
ANOTHER LIBEL is that Jews are white oppressors who are responsible for the victimization and suppression of the Palestinian people. Often heard on American campuses by ill-informed students and woke young people, there is a misconception, denying that Jews come in all colors – everything from glossy European white, to Yemenite bronzy tan, to brown-skinned North Africans, and all the way to black-skinned Ethiopians.
All are Jews and all have diverse backgrounds, cultures, and orientations.
But perhaps most offensive and malicious are the lies being perpetrated about the IDF, which has been accused of indiscriminately shooting Gazan civilians, displacing them, blocking humanitarian aid, resulting in their starvation, and being guilty of a full-scale genocide.
These vicious lies have been responsible for the International Criminal Court in the Hague unjustifiably charging Israel with war crimes, to the point that 124 nations would arrest any vacationing soldiers visiting their countries. When these kinds of venomous and malevolent claims are promulgated, it’s no wonder that passions are inflamed, causing a furor of hatred and loathing among those who already had a bias or suspicion against Jews.
Unfortunately, there is no lack of uninformed, ignorant, and prejudiced people in our world who, rather than do their own research, are happy to accept whatever is said about Israel and the Jewish people. They are the eager customers, willing to buy fake news, vicious lies, and unsubstantiated innuendos, purposely put forth to blame the Jews for all the world’s ills.
And when those lies are believed, they result in the gunning down of two young Israel Embassy staffers on a beautiful spring day by a crazed lunatic. He was so brainwashed that he believed his cold-hearted act was justified on behalf of the Gazan people, whom he has never met but whom he felt deserved his loyalty.
Equally disgraceful are the calls for his immediate release from jail even before he has been tried and sentenced for his crimes.
Likewise was the burning of Jews in Boulder, Colorado, perpetrated by an Egyptian national who entered the US illegally. He will likely be hailed as yet another hero by the people who are willing to view his act as a welcomed assault upon the sizable Jewish community there that supports the Israeli people, and their calls for the immediate release of the hostages who have been systematically starved and are still languishing in Hamas tunnels for more than 600 days.
We are witnessing, first-hand, as Diaspora Jews face the same blood libels of the dark days of history, when they were depicted as dirty, despicable characters, and their lives were constantly threatened. Although it’s 2025, it seems that much has not been learned from that ugly time, when hating Jews was a regular pastime.
The writer is a former Jerusalem elementary and middle school principal. She is also the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, available on Amazon, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs.