The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day: There were no mass attacks against "Jewish poisoners" after the period of the Black Death, but the accusation became part and parcel of antisemitic dogma and language. It appeared again in early 1953 in the form of the "doctors' plot" in Stalin's last days, when hundreds of Jewish physicians in the Soviet Union were arrested and some of them killed on the charge of having caused the death of prominent Communist leaders... Similar charges were made in the 1980s and 1990s in radical Arab nationalist and Muslim fundamentalist propaganda that accused the Jews of spreading AIDS and other infectious diseases. Modern instances of antisemitic libel Allegations of well poisoning entwined with antisemitism have also emerged in the discourse around modern epidemics and pandemics such as swine flu, Ebola, avian flu, SARS, and COVID-19. EU address by Mahmoud Abbas In his address to the European Parliament on 23 June 2016, in Brussels, Palestinian Authority president and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas made an unsubstantiated allegation, "accusing rabbis of poisoning Palestinian wells". This was based on false media reports saying Israeli rabbis were inciting the poisoning of water of Palestinians, led by a rabbi Shlomo Mlma or Mlmad from the Council of Rabbis in the West Bank settlements. A rabbi by that name could not be located, nor is such an organization listed. Abbas said: "Only a week ago, a number of rabbis in Israel announced, and made a clear announcement, demanding that their government poison the water to kill the Palestinians ... Isn't that clear incitement to commit mass killings against the Palestinian people?" The speech received a standing ovation. The speech was described as "echoing anti-Semitic claims". A day later, on Saturday 26 June, Abbas admitted that "his claims at the EU were baseless". Abbas' further said that he "didn't intend to do harm to Judaism or to offend Jewish people around the world." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in reaction, that Abbas had spread a "blood libel" in his European Parliament address. See also Environmental impact of war Groundwater pollution In My Country There Is Problem Nakam Water supply terrorism Jonestown References External links Accusation of Well-Poisoning (Jewish Encyclopedia) The Virtual Jewish History Tour. Belgium Christian antisemitism in the Middle Ages Antisemitic canards Environmental impact of war Biological warfare Black Death Water wells Terrorism tactics Mass poisoning