The roots of anti-Semitism in Europe

The medieval trope that Jews are inherently bloodthirsty has echoed down the ages. Forms of the blood libel have been disseminated ever since the myth emerged in England in the 12th century with claims that Christian children were being ritually murdered by Jews in re-enactments of the crucifixion of Jesus. In the aftermath of 7 October, Labour’s Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali accused Israel of lowering its defences so that it could justify the shedding of innocent Palestinian blood. Gigi Hadid, the American model, shared a video which alleged that Israel is harvesting the organs of Palestinians. The International Criminal Court’s pursuit of arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defence minister Yoav Gallant amid claims of genocide has been denounced by Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan and others as another manifestation of the ancient slander. 

The original blood libel materialised after the First Crusade (1096-99), a turning point for Jews in Europe as a wave of religious frenzy swept communities away. Jews ritually murdered their own children in the Rhineland to prevent forced conversions. A Jewish account tells the story of Rachel of Mainz, who turned a knife on her four children before the crusaders could batter down her door. While earlier interreligious interaction was characterised by trade, the First Crusade transformed the Jews into a pressing danger.

From the 12th century on, European Christians made a range of outlandish allegations against their Jewish neighbours. As well as ritual murder and blood libel claims, Jews were accused of committing violence upon stolen consecrated hosts. It was said that Jews poisoned wells to spread the plague during the Black Death. Underpinning such charges was the belief that all Jews were ‘Christ-killers’ and collectively responsible for deicide.