A newly rediscovered 1840 document gives fresh insight into a famous blood libel case. “Persecutions Against the Jews of Damascus” provides a firsthand account of how a false accusation led to the mistreatment and imprisonment of Jews, highlighting the lasting dangers of misinformation.
The blood libel––the false claim that Jews kidnap and murder non-Jewish children for rituals––has existed for centuries, evolving to fit different times and political contexts. It relies on harmful stereotypes portraying Jews as secretive, cruel, and uniquely dangerous, and often surfaces in times of fear or crisis. Originating in medieval Europe, the myth fueled expulsions, pogroms, and mass violence throughout the 16th-20th centuries. Nazi propaganda used blood libel imagery to justify persecution in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and in the Arab world, similar accusations appeared in media through the 21st century.
The blood libel’s power comes from its emotional intensity––its focus on innocent child victims, its exaggerated claims of Jewish malevolence, and its ability to turn complex conflicts into simple narratives of good versus evil.
The Adenochrome Myth
Modern conspiracy theories, such as the adrenochrome myth, recycle these same themes, claiming that Jewish elites or globalists secretly harvest children’s blood for power. While the details have changed, the structure remains the same: Jews are accused of harming children in a hidden, ritualistic way, painting them as inhuman and justifying hatred against them.
The adrenochrome conspiracy gained traction in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained a consistent talking point, with mentions spiking multiple times per year.
Online Mentions of “Adrenochrome”
Today, the blood libel has also taken new forms in rhetoric against Israel and Zionists, less so about killing children for rituals and more about killing them through oppression or war. A defining characteristic of this new form is the claim of intentionality––not just that children have died, but that Jews or Israelis deliberately seek to kill them.
Just as medieval blood libels accused Jews of ritual murder with calculated cruelty, some of today’s accusations frame Israeli actions as premeditated child-killing rather than the consequences of an armed conflict. Words like “murdered,” “slaughtered,” and “massacred” reinforce this narrative, while false claims exaggerate the scale, frequency, and responsibility, portraying all Jews or Israelis as collectively guilty.
Rise in Mentions
The Command Center found over six million mentions in the past two years of the claim that “Israel murders children,” with about 10% including the words “deliberately,” “intentionally,” or “purposely.” This mirrors past blood libels, which relied on emotionally charged accusations to depict Jews as inherently cruel and dangerous.
However, it is important to distinguish between these conspiratorial claims and factual statements. For example, saying, “Eight children died in Gaza last month as a result of airstrikes” is not antisemitic or conspiratorial because it presents verifiable information without an ominous tone, exaggeration, or generalization. It also does not imply deliberate targeting or an organized effort to kill children—an essential element of blood libel rhetoric.
