The Media’s Blood Libel of Israel

“All of this could have been uncovered with measured reporting and a skepticism that avoids trusting the word of the baby-murdering terror group, Hamas.”

The primary contribution that England made to anti-Semitic demonology was blood libel. This was the depraved claim that predatory Jews captured Christian children to kill them and then use their blood to prepare unleavened Passover bread. Today, in our rationalist world built on the mythology of material uplift as moral progress, blood libel has been reformulated: Israel, the Jew among nations, is routinely smeared and defamed for deliberately killing Palestinian children and even farming their organs. The current war in Israel and Gaza has seen the prestige media foghorn such calumny around the world. And, as before, it is built on untruths, misdirection, and disinformation.

On Tuesday evening, reports came in from Gaza City that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had carried out an airstrike on the Al Ahli hospital, virtually leveling it and killing hundreds of Gazans. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was a major player in establishing this narrative; its BBC Breaking News page tweeted at 6:51 pm in the United Kingdom: “Hundreds feared dead or injured in Israeli air strike on hospital in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.” BBC World News similarly tweeted at 7:49 pm: “Hundreds of people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.” This was sent by push notification to millions of people who use its application on their smartphones—and also given prime placement on its website’s front page.

Other reputable news outlets reported similarly, from the broadcast media like CNN to print outlets such as The New York Times to wire services including Reuters and the Associated Press. A reporter for BBC World News television, Jon Donnison, decided that he would go ahead and speculate, live on air with no basis whatsoever, that “The Israeli military…have said they are investigating, but it is hard to see what else this could be, really, given the size of the explosion, other than an Israeli airstrike, or several airstrikes.” So that was okay then—all cleared up.