“Tales of infanticide” is not what is happening in Gaza (“Tales of infanticide have stoked hatred of Jews for centuries. They echo still today”). These are real deaths and real children and real loss. The blood libel myth is a horrific example of how antisemitic propaganda was used to persecute, and eventually exile, the Jewish population of England. It is a shameful facet of British history but it is, and it is important that we strip its power by firmly establishing this, a myth. The killing and bombing and starving of Gaza children is not a myth. It is fact, it is continuing and it is irrevocably disrespectful to their memory and their families to suggest that their bodies are only a prop in an antisemitic narrative.
What is antisemitic is to equate an entire religion with one violent regime and occupier, which is precisely what Jacobson does in this article. The Jewish population and faith is diverse and there are many who do not support the Gazan occupation and genocide.
Esther Chauncy
London E7
