War Day #278 The Lancet Blood Libel

Wednesday, July 10

If you think blood libels are artifacts of the past, I think we might have to think again.

Blood libels are antisemitic allegations that falsely accuse Jews of murdering and using the blood of Christian children for ritual purposes. (Blood sacrifices, as well as murder in general, are explicitly prohibited in the Jewish Torah.) Blood libels were particularly popular during the Middle Ages, when they often led to pogroms, violent riots launched against Jews (frequently encouraged by government authorities). The Nazis also used blood libels to great effect. And in 1910, the Shiraz blood libel happened in Iran, when a mob attacked and decimated the Jewish quarter after rumors of a dead child spread (later of course proven false) and began the spread of blood libels in the Arab world.

Now, the formerly-esteemed British medical journal, The Lancet, is guilty of launching a blood libel. Shame on you.

The Lancet’s medical reputation has been tarnished since the Lancet MMR autism fraud in February 1998.

Nor has the Lancet been innocent of antisemitism in the past: Considering it is a medical journal, not a political screed, it has too frequently waded into politics unbecoming of a respected journal. Exactly ten years ago, the Lancet published a letter accusing Israel of a massacre and war crimes in Gaza. (Sound familiar? The publisher later apologized.)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/lancet-editor-deeply-regrets-publishing-gaza-letter/amp/

https://www.thejc.com/news/lancet-editor-says-sorry-over-israel-letter-row-as9guww1?reloadTime=1661126400035

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This latest round began predictably in October, when the Lancet publisher, despite his retraction a decade ago, saw fit to print a letter demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but absent any mention of Hamas terrorists, and having removed an appeal to Hamas for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” Even expecting Hamas to release kidnapped women and children was too much to ask.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/26/lancets-antisemitic-libel/amp/

But the latest and final blow was this week — and fully deserves the moniker of blood libel. And a lawsuit, for incitement to violence.

“186,000 Gazans dead” proclaims the Lancet headline. Even the Gazan Health Ministry, aka Hamas, puts the number of casualties at 37,000, which more reliable sources have said is actually only 20,000. (The paper also cites 35% of buildings destroyed in Gaza, an inflated number which has already been proven to be a gross exaggeration.)

The authors do some hocus pocus and conclude that there are four indirect deaths per direct death, bringing total deaths to 186,000. They don’t explain the source of this multiplier, nor even what an indirect death might be. Though they bandy about the necessity of documenting actual death numbers and are fond of the word ‘genocide’, the basis for the numbers is entirely fabricated.

In one fell swoop, the Lancet has out-Hamas’d Hamas: They have quadrupled the erroneous already-quadrupled number. What results is nonsense - but nonsense that can incite to kill millions of Jews. (See how easy that hyperbole was?)

Talk about bad hypotheses and hack scientists; it’s hard to beat this one.

Here’s the text of what’s being called a ‘research’ paper in the (letters section of) Lancet:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3

One wonders how legitimate scientists and medical professionals could attach their names to such tripe.

Author Martin McKee is at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Before that, he was, predictably, in Belfast. Rasha Khatib is at Birzeit, and seems to have now removed all her social posts, which were reported as being antisemitic in the extreme. Salim Yusuf’s specialty, is criticizing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and disputing the scientific consensus on dietary sodium and saturated fat intake, whilst admitting he is not an expert in nutrition, says Wikipedia.

UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese, always happy to take a swipe at Israel, was quick to hop onto the antisemitic bandwagon. In a tweet, Albanese said, “If one includes both direct & indirect deaths from Israel's assault, the death toll in Gaza goes up to 186,000 people, according to the medical journal, The Lancet. That's 1 in every 12 Gaza inhabitants killed in the last 9 months of genocide.”

The libel has also been gobbled up by an already-antisemitic Wikipedia (remember my article on this last week?) which is running the wild speculation as truth: This letter, unsupported by facts, has given credence to any crackpot or antisemite who wants to poke it to the Jews.

“186,000 Palestinians or more may die as a result of the conflict according to a July 2024 conservative estimate by Rasha Khatib, Martin McKee, and Salim Yusuf published in The Lancet's correspondence section,” says Wikipedia today.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war

Here is the Jerusalem Post coverage.

https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-809632

According to the JPost, Martin McKee has now claimed it was “purely illustrative” and that “our piece has been greatly misquoted and misinterpreted.” But the ‘scientists’ haven’t retracted their statements, nor has the Lancet.

This is what happens when you mix science and antisemitic politics.

Note that this entire thing is speculative: They are discussing DEATHS THAT HAVE NOT HAPPENED.

But because the Lancet has attached its name to this, it is now legitimated as a fact.

This is a blood libel, pure and simple. It will increase antisemitism dramatically. And it is probably not an exaggeration to suspect it will lead to Jewish deaths.

Thanks for being so responsible, Lancet. I hope you are way more careful with your research papers.

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