blood libel

The Jews of Russia are accused of having murdered a Christian child for ritual use. The blood libel against the Jews, which cropped up from time to time in various countries for centuries, has long been established as a myth invented by anti-Semites.

The Israeli Cabinet, meeting in emergency session, issued a statement tonight calling allegations of Israeli responsibility a “blood libel.”

In Washington, the conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan refined the analogy between Jews and their killers, and wrote that those who call for sensitivity to the Jews in this matter are guilty of “a blood libel” against Catholicism.

Listen to Florida Democrat Peter Deutsch last night on Crossfire: “Let me just talk a little bit about... the worst statements I have ever heard probably in my life about anything. I mean, almost a blood libel by the Republicans towards Al Gore, saying that he was trying to stop men and women in uniform that are serving this country from voting.” .... You don't just toss around charges that the possible next president of the United States is conspiring to take the vote away from American soldiers overseas. Given the volatility of the moment and the divisions already existing in American society it really is almost like a blood libel. Almost.