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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 11, 2026

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I don't like that we're describing every accusation as a blood libel now. I'm not a fan of creeping woke rhetorical norms.

The doctor above objected that while they had seen cases of dogs anally penetrating humans, it was always consensual. This is an absurd assertion: the dog has no concept of consent.

I remain blissfully ignorant on the practicality of this entire episode.

Not every accusation against the IDF is a blood libel, but this one seems bang on.

It has all the right texture; It combines religious / social taboo with maximally inflammatory claims with little to no regard for practicality or realism. It relies on Jews having almost a cosmic quality of evil to them, it’s borderline magical thinking.

For a counter example; the accusation of the IDF blowing up that school in Iran. Not a blood libel, just a plain old accusation of atrocities. Textbook stuff, the same type of propaganda and counter propaganda you might see for example in the Irish war for Independence or the American Civil War. Much more mundane.

For a counter example; the accusation of the IDF blowing up that school in Iran. Not a blood libel, just a plain old accusation of atrocities.

And here's the Free Press:

It was unsettling to watch California governor Gavin Newsom on Monday spouting off a rejiggered blood libel this week, and not simply because Democrats have mostly succumbed to a fashionable Jew hate.

The term Blood Libel is used constantly in the Pro-Israel press to refer to anything that anyone accuses the Jews of having done wrong. Accusations of Antisemitism have become the new thought terminating cliche.

Yep! You’ll get no argument from me that it’s overused almost as much the antisemitic tropes it’s being leveled against. People do indeed use the word for cases that don’t fit.

However, the “IDF Training dogs to anally rape Muslims” is almost a platonic example of a modern blood libel. It’s basically a perfect case.

That’s my point.

Exactly. Commentary from Jews about anti-semitism is generally so tedious and hysterical, it feels like I am living in a world where NPR never gave up their ridiculous campaigns against "anti-AAPI hate."

Which is why it is so dismaying to me to see this obvious lie about dog rape published in the New York Times; for once I am unable to roll my eyes when Jews claim "blood libel."

"Lord, protect me from my friends sympathetic press; I can handle my enemies on my own."