Today we are witnessing a disturbing revival of a centuries-old practice that has taken on more sophisticated forms.

This week, a number of major Western media outlets, including CNN, AP, The Globe and Mail, ABCNews to name a few, simultaneously published materials suggesting that Israeli weapons played the main role in Azerbaijan’s retaking of its territory of Karabakh from the separatists.

Do not be deceived: behind the sanitised phrases lies the same sinister innuendo: because of the actions of the Jews, Christians have suffered once again, tens of thousands of whom are forced to leave their homes.

This resurgence of anti-semitism is damaging responsible journalism and threatening Jewish communities around the world. Recent events include an act of terrorism in Yerevan, where unknown assailants tried to burn the synagogue. Threats have also been made against Israeli Jews in Europe and America.

The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), an allegedly defunct terrorist organisation with a long history of violence, claimed responsibility for this heinous act. It is widely believed that the founding of ASALA was inspired by the murder of two Turkish diplomats on American soil: in 1973, an Armenian-American, Gurgen Yanikian, shot and killed the Turkish Consul General and Vice Consul in Santa Barbara.

This was not an isolated act of violence: in the 70s–90s Armenian terrorists killed Turkish diplomats and their family members in Los Angeles, in Sydney, Paris and other European cities, stating that their actions were in retaliation for the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire.

ASALA was armed and trained by the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) terrorists during the 1980s in Lebanon and fought against Israel till 1982. So, there is nothing new in a message circulating on pro-Armenian social media, in which ASALA blames Jews and Israel for the events in Nagorno- Karabakh.

“The Jews are the enemies of the Armenian nation, complicit in Turkish crimes and the regime of Aliyev, stained with the blood of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh,” reads the text. It also provides an unambiguous clarification: "The Jewish state provides weapons to Aliyev’s criminal regime, and Jews from America and Europe actively support him. Turkey, Aliyev’s regime, and the Jews are the sworn enemies of the Armenian state and people."

The text also makes reference to a letter signed by dozens of European rabbis who criticised Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for equating Azerbaijani actions with those of the Nazis during the Holocaust. “If Jewish rabbis in the United States and Europe continue to support Aliyev’s regime, we will continue to burn their synagogues in other countries. Every rabbi will be a target for us.

No Israeli Jew will feel safe in these countries." Sapienti sat. Next month, on November 12-15, the Conference of European Rabbis’ convention is set to meet in Baku, Azerbaijan. Threats have been made against the participating rabbis, including those who signed the petition criticising the Armenian PM. Given the past history of Armenian terrorism, they should not be taken lightly.

Against this background, the support the accusations of Armenian extremists receive from major Western publications raises uncomfortable questions. Are they unwittingly or, worse, intentionally instigating the possibility of new pogroms in the 21st century? Jews fit the role of the Other perfectly, especially given the long tradition of blaming them for every misfortune, from child murder to crop failure.

The alliance of Jews with a traditionally Muslim country seems to further amplify this effect: the two favourite bogeymen of European Christian civilisation have given rise to the most heinous manifestations of xenophobia. In the twenty-first century, it is awkward to remind people about journalistic ethics, about the responsibility of media for the sentiments they seed in public opinion. Sadly, it appears that these reminders have to be repeated over and over again.

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