For two thousand years, we suffered blood libels. The most significant libel followed us for almost two thousand years. Hundreds of times, they accused us of mixing the blood of Christian boys in the Passover matzot. To us, it sounds crazy, but the Christians believed it, and because of the libel, they allowed themselves to riot against the Jews, to murder them privately on a momentary whim or in an organized riot.
That is why it is called a blood libel, not because of the blood of the non-existent Christian child but rather because of the blood of the Jews who paid the price of the lies.
Today as well, the haters of Israel allow themselves to brazenly lie and falsely accuse the Jewish people. Newspapers discuss the flag march on Jerusalem Day and say there was racism, hate, and violence. The Haaretz newspaper wrote that the Jews rioted in the Arab streets, damaged, broke, and yelled: "Death to Arabs."
This is a lie like no other. I was there, I walked along the entire route in the old city, and I did not see any expression of hatred. Not one person yelled "Death to Arabs." No one broke windows or damaged Arab property. Everyone joyfully sang and danced on the old city's main street, a street where Jews lived in the past and where many Jews still live today.
The press that stains an entire population caused the US State Department to condemn the non-existent hateful chants by Jews. In this situation, the State Department did not condemn the Arabs who threw stones at the Jewish marchers in the country's capital. It doesn't condemn the thousands of rocks that are thrown at Jews on a daily basis in Judea and Samaria. It doesn't condemn the firebombs. If the Jews provoke the Arabs, as far as they're concerned, any reaction from the Arabs is ok, just like the pogroms that took place for thousands of years.
Words can kill. Lies can turn into blood. The press can distort and fabricate facts. But lies do not have legs to stand on, and the truth will come out.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu is the Chief Rabbi of Tzfat