During the centuries, blood libel against Jews has taken many forms: from accusations of murdering Christian children (to use their blood in rituals) to being the force behind wars and mass murders. Every time the blood libel surfaces, inevitably pogroms or other forms of attacks to a Jewish population follows. As with blood libels, attacks can take different forms: from verbal to physical, from personal to distributed via mass-media.
The blood libel du jour took presented itself in the form of publications from several major Western media outlets, including CNN , AP, and The Globe and Mail , concurrently released reports suggesting that Israeli weaponry played a pivotal role in Azerbaijan’s successful recapture of the Karabakh. However, it is important to note that beneath the carefully worded statements, a common narrative persists: the implication that the actions of one religious group have caused suffering to another. As a result, tens of thousands of Christians have been allegedly forcibly displaced from their homes once again. The word Christians is emphasised, despite the fact that religion has no connection to the conflict.
This resurgence is undermining responsible journalism and posing a threat to Jewish communities worldwide. Recent incidents include an act of vandalism in Yerevan, where unidentified individuals splattered red paint on the exterior of a synagogue and filmed their intention to burn it with Molotov’s cocktails. Additionally, the perpetrators spread direct threats to target Israeli Jews in both Europe and America.
The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), an ostensibly defunct terrorist organisation with a long history of violence, has claimed responsibility for this act. ASALA’s origins can be traced back to the murder of two Turkish diplomats on American soil. In 1973, an Armenian-American named Gurgen Yanikian fatally shot the Turkish Consul General and Vice Consul in Santa Barbara, an event widely believed to have inspired the founding of ASALA. Yanikian’s name was mentioned in the “memorandum of responsibility”.
It’s essential to recognize that such acts of violence were not isolated incidents. Throughout the 1970s to the 1990s, Armenian terrorists targeted Turkish diplomats and their family members in various locations, including Los Angeles, Sydney, and several European cities. These actions were purportedly carried out in “retaliation” for the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Overall ASALA is responsible for 84 attacks, leaving 46 dead and 299 injured, at least a half of them – non Turkish, a “collateral damage”,
After tha attack on the synagogue ASALA distributed a message on pro-Armenian social media, where it blames Israel for the events in Karabakh. “The Jews are the enemies of the Armenian nation, complicit in Turkish crimes and the regime of Aliyev, stained with the blood of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh,” reads the text. The message further clarifies that: “The Jewish state provides weapons to Aliyev’s criminal regime, and Jews from America and Europe actively support him. Turkey, Aliyev’s regime, and the Jews are the sworn enemies of the Armenian state and people.”
The text additionally mentions a letter signed by numerous European rabbis, wherein they expressed criticism towards Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for drawing parallels between Azerbaijani actions and those of the Nazis during the Holocaust. “If Jewish rabbis in the United States and Europe continue to support Aliyev’s regime, we will continue to burn their synagogues in other countries. Every rabbi will be a target for us. No Israeli Jew will feel safe in these countries”. This is not a rhetorical “we wouldn’t stop fighting”, this is a direct threat to ethnic and religious group that have been persecuted for millennia. It should be taken seriously, especially considering the historically high level of antisemitism in Armenia (Pew Research Center of Washington (https://isgap.org/flashpoint/anti-semitism-and-the-jewish-theme-in-contemporary-east-european-and-eurasian-military-policy/).
These threats may materialize in the near future as the Conference of European Rabbis’ convention is scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 12-15. There have been threats directed at the attending rabbis, especially those who endorsed the petition denouncing the Armenian Prime Minister.
Looking at the full picture, the support that Armenian extremists receive from major Western media raises questions: are those deliberate attempts to instigate pogroms and attacks on Jews, who once again conveniently cast as “the Other”?
The alignment of Jews with a traditionally Muslim nation exacerbates this effect, as it combines the two favourite targets of European Christian civilization, fostering extreme xenophobia.
It is sad that in the 21st century there is still a pressing need to stress the importance of journalistic ethics and media responsibility in shaping public opinion. But it appears, that that need won’t go away anytime soon.
Written by Raffi Sapir
