Jonathan Cook
There’s a dangerous paradox that helps to dissuade people, especially public figures, from speaking up even as Israel’s genocide in Gaza grows more horrifying by the day. Let us call it the “blood libel” paradox.
It works like this. In Medieval times, Jews were accused of murdering non-Jews, particularly children, to use their blood in the performance of religious rituals. Every time a Jew is accused of murdering a non-Jew, so the thinking goes, this endangers Jews by fueling the very kind of antisemitism that ultimately led to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
Responsible people, or at least those with a reputation to protect, therefore avoid making any statements that might contribute to the impression that Jews — or in this case, the soldiers of the Jewish state of Israel — are killing non-Jews.
If such criticisms are made, they must be carefully couched by Western politicians, the media and public figures in language that makes the killing of non-Jews — in this case, Muslim and Christian Palestinians — appear reasonable.
Israel is simply “defending itself” in killing and maiming 100,000s of civilians in Gaza after Hamas’ one-day attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The enclave’s masses of dead innocents are just the unfortunate price paid to secure the “return of Israeli hostages” held by Hamas.
Israel’s active, months-long starvation of Gaza’s children is a “humanitarian crisis,” not a crime against humanity.
Anyone who dissents from this narrative is denounced as an antisemite, whether they be millions of ordinary people; every respected human rights organisation in the world, including the Israeli group B’Tselem; the World Health Organisation; the International Criminal Court; genocide scholars like Omer Bartov, himself an Israeli; and so on.
It is the perfect, self-reinforcing loop, one entirely divorced from the reality being live-streamed to us daily.
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