Mick Hartley

How the blood libel works: a thread.

Yesterday we saw how the blood libel works like lightening in the social media age, fed by corrupt organisations, amplified by politicians and reported on by credulous reporters.
The lie started with the UN’s emergency coordinator Tom… pic.twitter.com/19MiYH9ScF

— Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) May 21, 2025

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Thread:

It was reported all over the online media all over the world, politicians made videos about it, it was repeated in the House of Commons. It’s in this morning’s newspapers. Because he said it and he’s from the UN. But it was a lie akin to the ‘45 minutes’ dodgy dossier – and just as dangerous. 2/4

It appears this figure was plucked from a report which said there would be 14,000 cases of several malnutrition in young children within the next year if the way the food is distributed in Gaza is not improved. Very different. But the lie worked. 3/4

The blood libel is a medieval conspiracy the Jews killed gentile children. Just like this modern iteration, it originated in Britain. It resulted in the murder of Jews and their eventual expulsion from England.

(As an addendum I would add I am against the siege and welcome the fact that aid trucks are going back in even though they are feeding the Hamas machine.) 4/4

Added, from the JC:

A widely reported claim that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die within 48 hours has been corrected by the UN, which says the figure refers to potential deaths over the next year.

The statement, aired on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and repeated across national media and in Parliament, was later clarified by the BBC as a misrepresentation of a humanitarian report projecting malnutrition cases in children aged six month to five years over a 12-month period.

The UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher claimed on Monday morning that thousands of babies could die in Gaza in the subsequent two days if Israel did not immediately let aid in, apparently based on a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Partnership.

Speaking to Today, Fletcher said: "There are 14,000 babies that will die in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them."

He said there were "strong teams on the ground" operating in medical centres and schools – but did not provide further details.

Five trucks entered the strip on Monday, which Fletcher described as "a drop in the ocean." He said the aid had yet to reach civilians.

However, a look at the IPC report reveals that the figure refers to the number of children at risk of “severe malnutrition” by March next year, rather than by the end of the week. The number is a projection and would not take into account any increase in the supply of aid between now and then.

Later the same day, buried in a story about how aid in Gaza has yet to reach the population, BBC News issued a correction to Fletcher’s claim. A separate UN official also declined to repeat the claim and made the correction in a press briefing….

On Tuesday, around 93 trucks carrying aid, including flour, baby food, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs, were allowed to enter the Strip.

The Netanyahu government had said its blockade was aimed at preventing Hamas terrorists from seizing and reselling aid. It has denied claims that there is a shortage of food in Gaza and insisted that instances of starvation are caused by Hamas withholding supplies from the civilian population.

Lesson one: don't trust the UN, especially on Israel.

Lesson two: any lie which paints Israel in as bad a light as possible will be seized on and amplified across the media. Any later corrections will be muttered quietly and discreetly.