The re-emergence of the Jewish blood libel

More commonly associated with the Passover holiday, the charge that Jews sought the blood of Christian children, in order to bake their matzohs (unleavened bread), got its origins from England around the middle of the 10th century, later spreading to France and Germany. It was this libelous antisemitic canard, which became the justification for Jewish persecution throughout Europe.

One would think that the absurdity of the claim would be enough to, once and for all, chuck the unsubstantiated primitive superstition, solely based on prejudice and fear, but here we are, in 2025, only to see a re-emergence of these blood libels against Jews, but with a slightly different twist.

The way it’s done, in these modern times, is that usually a well-known individual, with a platform, offers up a slur, directed at the Jewish people, casting doubt as to whether or not there is something to it. Given enough time to ruminate, the hope is that the malicious charge will take root, causing people to consider its veracity.

Case in point – Illinois Councilman Davion Williams who recently stated the following: “There’s a small group of people who have a lot of control over a lot – over music, our food, media – a whole lot of things. I love Pringles. They’re Kosher. I just found that out.  I stopped eating them.” Although later apologizing for his crass comments, what remained was the accusation of Jews controlling the world.

Probably the best-known example, in recent months, has been that of Candace Owens, once renowned for the conservative views she expressed when frequently appearing on Tucker Carlson’s evening news show.  

Also once associated with Ben Shapiro’s media outlet, The Daily Wire, it came as quite a shock when she switched gears from advocating for African Americans, to stop being exploited by those who only saw them as useful around election time, to suddenly making outrageous antisemitic claims on air, following the October 7th massacre. 

It was then that she began adopting the usual Jewish stereotypes, including “liking” a post which asked Rabbi Shmuley Boteach if he was “drunk on Christian blood again?”

As she continued to defame and malign Jews, also referring to “Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as a genocide,” the relationship between Shapiro and Owens became untenable to the point of their parting ways in March of 2024.  

For her millions of followers, though, she succeeded in planting the seeds of doubt that Jews are evil by nature, who deserve her thumbs up to someone’s revolting repetition of the medieval blood libel smear.

Regrettably, there is no shortage of celebrities who have posted highly inflammatory antisemitic remarks, including Kanye West’s infamous “going death con 3 on Jewish people,” statement, catapulting him to the status of a lunatic with his own personal death wish, as he became toxic, losing all credibility. 

Some may remember the Brooklyn Nets basketball player, Kyrie Irving, who, after having viewed a particularly controversial documentary, singling out Jews, as being “involved in the slave trade.” Of course, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters also joined the chorus by accusing Israel of apartheid practices.

Probably the worst transgressor of them all is Nation of Islam head, Louis Farrakhan who, in 2017, said of the Jews, “You that think you have power to frighten and dominate the peoples of the world. I am here to announce the end of your time.”  

Today’s Jewish blood libels, come in the form of referring to Jews as those who control financial institutions worldwide, possess the most wealth and drive political policy. This type of claim made its way to a “mural, named Freedom of Humanity, which had been painted on a London property, where Jewish caricatures were depicted as bankers and businessmen, counting their money on a Monopoly board, balanced on the back of naked workers.”

Also citing Jews as “those who control the very heart of the business capital of every state…controlling the policy of nations,” is an updated edition of a 1902 book entitled, “Imperialism: A Study,” by JA Hobson, enthusiastically endorsed by former British opposition Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn back in 2011, praising his work as “brilliant.”  

It is these charges of greedy Jews, who possess an insatiable appetite for money and power, which are responsible for sowing the seeds of ambiguity. It’s true that in recent years, there have been a number of prominent Jews who have been convicted of Ponzi schemes, Hollywood rapes and orgies on a private island, and while those are factual occurrences, they also represent a miniscule percentage of Jewish criminal activity, as compared to those committed by non-Jews, whose majority numbers leave the Jews in the dust. Yet, it is useful for antisemites to amplify those few bad apples, in an attempt to smear an entire ethnicity as well as their homeland.

Another new form of Jewish blood libel is the accusation that Israel’s right to self-defense is, instead, a convenient opportunity to commit ethnic cleansing of Gazans, an absurd claim debunked by the increase of their population over the last year, as stated in the World Factbook.

This clever, but disingenuous attempt to libel the Jewish people, centuries after they were hunted down for a variety of lies or exaggerations, is gaining traction and will continue to do so, because it is the only way that an entire nation can be implicated as the bane of the world’s existence. 

Biased agencies, such as the UN, the ICJ (International Court of Justice), Amnesty International and other human rights groups, as well as celebrities, world leaders and political figures, will employ such stereotypical libel smears, in an attempt to disqualify Israel, causing nations to think twice about continuing their support of the Jewish homeland.

In fact, UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese recently posted the following on X, “I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel’s full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide.” Conveniently leaving out “Hamas’s repeated abuse of the hospital and other civilian infrastructure, as evidenced by IDF releases.”

While these libels often work, they also identify the ignorance and fear, more commonly associated with the dark days of history, before humanity had the benefit of judging a people in accordance to their contributions to society. When it comes to the Jews, the real crime is libeling the people from whom so many blessings have flowed to all of mankind!