A thought experiment about anti-Semitism and Israel's collective punishment of the Palestinian people (in Gaza and West Bank)

The fight against anti-Semitism is not helped if the "blood libel" is in effect true.

Here is a thought experiment.

Let’s say that it was true, or had been true in the past, that Jews used the blood of gentile babies to bake their matzoh (a bizarre claim since then matzoh would presumably be red, which it is not.) This was the original so-called “blood libel.”

Now one could argue that the fact Jews did that was no real excuse for anti-Semitism, although it would be hard to argue that the fact that the claim was true did not give considerable ammunition to anti-Semites and their propaganda.

Of course the blood libel was not true. But now come back to the present day and the demonstrable fact that Israeli leaders, claiming to speak for all Jews around the world, have killed at least 15,000 Palestinian children as “collateral damage” in their war against Hamas (and at least 30,000 adults, although the numbers in both categories may be much, much higher.)

While they have not used the blood of Palestinian children to make matzoh, Israelis have nevertheless spilled a huge amount of it. And these actions have very widespread support among the Israeli public, according to all recent opinion surveys.

Some argue that this is no excuse for anti-Semitism. But as in our previous example about the matzoh, it clearly gives anti-Semites ammunition for their viewpoint. So if one is honestly worried about the safety of Jews around the world, one would oppose any action by Jews anywhere that feeds into anti-Semitic propaganda. One couldn’t seriously argue that the behavior of some Jews, committing war crimes and even genocide, was irrelevant to the fight against anti-Semitism, which of course is a just cause.

Contrarily, one might even be able to argue that Israel’s actions are a major factor in the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. and Europe, where there have been many documented incidents of violence against Jews. Not the only factor, of course, but an important one, and perhaps even the main factor for the rise in anti-Semitism, which has always been there.

Looking at things this way, it would also be reasonable to argue that the best way for Jews around the world to protect themselves right now would be to oppose and certainly dissociate themselves from Israel’s actions. All of this is aside from the clear and obvious moral obligation of Jews around the world to condemn war crimes that are committed in their name, and which violate basic Judaic values of justice and reverence for human life.

While one can argue over whether or not what Israel is doing to the Palestinians is genocide under international law—the International Court of Justice has not yet ruled on that claim—there can be no serious argument that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza on pretty much a daily basis. That’s because virtually every human rights expert around the world, and every human rights organization—including those in Israel itself—have concluded just that, based on mountains of evidence.

It’s really not just a matter of (usually, but not always, uninformed) opinion.

And in the occupied territories of Gaza (yes, the siege amounts to a de facto occupation), the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, the ICJ recently (and finally, after all this time) ruled that Israel is violating international law by occupying and settling these lands.

(One could also easily argue that the long-standing insistence by Israelis that they have the right to ignore international law also plays into the hands of anti-Semitism.)

Right now, the majority of Israelis have gone murderously mad in their collective punishment of all Palestinians for the war crimes Hamas et al committed on October 7–-actions which are now being used by anti-Palestinian racists to justify killing them en masse.

Speaking as a Jew myself, I would feel much safer if Israel could be stopped, and I know that thousands of Jews feel the same way. Many are acting on those convictions.

Have some Jews allowed their enemies to turn them into the worst stereotypic version of themselves—as baby killers?

It seems inescapably so.

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