Palin use of ‘blood libel’ unsettling to Jews

Four days after an assassination attempt critically wounded a Jewish
congresswoman and killed six others, Sarah Palin on January 12 accused
"journalists and pundits" of manufacturing a "blood libel" that seeks to
link her and other conservatives to the massacre.

The "blood
libel" language unsettled many Jewish groups, who say the term has been
used for centuries to justify persecution of Jews.

"Blood libel"
is often traced to a passage in the Gospel of Matthew in which Jews
calling for Jesus' death say, "His blood be on us and on our children!"
(27:25). Later it related to the notion among some Christians that Jews
used the blood of non-Jews, particularly Christian children, in their
rituals.