Modern Accusations Against Israel: Echoes of Medieval Anti-Semitic Libels

In recent months, the war between Israel and Hamas has triggered a wave of accusations against the Jewish state. Genocide, famine, child killings, colonization, apartheid… These claims, widely spread by NGOs, media outlets, and pro-Palestinian activists, follow a centuries-old pattern. In reality, many of these allegations are near replicas of medieval anti-Semitic tropes, now projected onto a modern nation. The "Child Killer" Myth: From Ritual Murder to Human Shields

One of the most frequent accusations against Israel is that it deliberately kills Palestinian children. After every bombing in Gaza, tragic images of dead or wounded children are circulated as supposed proof of intentional brutality.

But this narrative mirrors a persistent anti-Semitic myth dating back to the 12th century: the ritual murder libel. In 1144, in Norwich, England, Jews were accused of crucifying a Christian child, William of Norwich, in a ritual act. This falsehood spread throughout Europe. In Damascus in 1840, seven prominent Jews were tortured and executed after a Capuchin friar disappeared—allegedly killed for his blood.

Today, facts are clear: Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group, systematically uses civilians—especially children—as human shields. Its military infrastructure is embedded in schools, hospitals, and residential buildings, precisely to provoke civilian casualties and manipulate global opinion. Meanwhile, the Israeli army employs unprecedented methods to warn civilians before attacks: leaflets, phone calls, “roof knocking” strikes. Yet these efforts are overshadowed by an age-old narrative: the “Jewish child killer,” now revived through manipulated images and viral social media posts.

Dhimmitude: The Matrix of a New Totalitarianism Imposed on the Free World 🧵🧵🧵

For several decades, the West has been facing a phenomenon it struggles to name, understand, and above all, confront. While global powers are divided over secondary issues, an ideological, religious, and civilizational offensive continues with consistency and patience: that of political Islam, whose goal is neither integration nor coexistence, but domination. Through the conceptual lens shaped by historian Bat Ye’or, this process of gradual appropriation takes a specific name: dhimmitude. What is dhimmitude?

Dhimmitude, a term popularized by Bat Ye’or, refers to the inferior status imposed on non-Muslims—dhimmis—in territories conquered by Islam. Jews and Christians were tolerated only insofar as they accepted their submission to the Islamic order: paying a special tax (jizya), being forbidden from bearing arms, required to keep a low profile in public, banned from building or renovating their places of worship, and expected to accept humiliation as a social norm.

This system of legal and psychological subjugation was never meant as a temporary compromise. It constituted, according to Bat Ye’or, an institutionalized structure of domination, meant to constantly remind non-Muslims of Islam’s superiority and their own inferiority.

Today, dhimmitude is no longer applied in its traditional form within Western societies. But it reappears in a more insidious and dangerous ideological version: a form of cultural and political capitulation to the demands of a conquering Islam.

Connection Between Arab Leaders and Nazi Germany

The most prominent figure linking Arab leadership in Palestine to Nazi Germany was Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. His collaboration with the Nazis during World War II amplified anti-Jewish sentiment and drew on ideological parallels between his Islamist-nationalist agenda and Nazi antisemitism. Below are key aspects of this connection:

1.⁠ ⁠Haj Amin al-Husseini’s Nazi Collaboration
- *Background*: Appointed Grand Mufti in 1921, Husseini emerged as a leading Palestinian Arab nationalist, vehemently opposing Zionism and British rule. His role in inciting the 1920, 1921, and 1929 riots established him as a radical figure. During the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt, he led the Arab Higher Committee, advocating violent resistance. [](britannica.com/place/Palestin…)
- Exile and Nazi Alliance:
After being exiled by the British in 1937, Husseini fled to Iraq, where he supported the 1941 pro-Nazi coup. By 1941, he was in Nazi-occupied Europe, meeting Adolf Hitler in Berlin on November 28, 1941. Husseini sought German support to expel Jews from Palestine and prevent the establishment of a Jewish state. In return, he offered Arab support for the Axis powers. [](engelsbergideas.com/notebook/hamas…)
- Propaganda and Recruitment:
Husseini contributed to Nazi propaganda, broadcasting anti-Jewish messages across the Arab world from Berlin. He helped recruit Muslim volunteers for the Waffen-SS, notably the 13th SS Division in the Balkans, which committed atrocities against Jews and others. His rhetoric framed Jews as enemies of Islam, blending Islamist and Nazi antisemitic tropes. [](jcpa.org/article/palest…)
- Post-War Influence: After the war, Husseini escaped prosecution and settled in Egypt, where he was celebrated by Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. His collaboration with al-Banna laid groundwork for later Islamist movements, including Hamas, which emerged as a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot. Husseini’s rejection of the 1947 UN Partition Plan and his call for war against the nascent Jewish state reflected his enduring anti-Jewish stance. [](engelsbergideas.com/notebook/hamas…) 2.⁠ ⁠Ideological Parallels
- Husseini’s antisemitism predated his Nazi ties, rooted in Islamic polemics and nationalist fears of Jewish immigration. His 1937 proclamation demonized Jews as threats to Muslim holy sites, a narrative that echoed Nazi dehumanization of Jews. Historians like Wolfgang Schwanitz and Barry Rubin argue that Husseini’s ideology developed independently but found a natural ally in Nazism, as both sought to eliminate Jewish influence. [](jcpa.org/article/palest…)
- Unlike the Nazis, who viewed Arabs as racially inferior, Husseini framed his alliance as pragmatic, aiming to leverage German military power. However, his propaganda adopted Nazi-style rhetoric, accusing Jews of global conspiracies and justifying violence as a religious duty. (museumoftolerance.com/education/arch…