Der Spiegel sides with Sarah “Blood Libel” Palin

The term "blood libel" is associated with violent pogroms against Jews in the middle ages which resulted from the false accusation that Jews murdered Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals, in particular the baking of matzos for passover.

For Sarah Palin, "blood libel" describes those who have criticized her violent political rhetoric in the wake of the attempted assassination of a Democratic member of Congress.  Her use of the phrase was immediately condemned by Jewish groups:

We are deeply disturbed by Fox News commentator Sarah Palin’s decision to characterize as a “blood libel” the criticism directed at her following the terrorist attack in Tucson. The term “blood libel” is not a synonym for “false accusation.” It refers to a specific falsehood perpetuated by Christians about Jews for centuries, a falsehood that motivated a good deal of anti-Jewish violence and discrimination. Unless someone has been accusing Ms. Palin of killing Christian babies and making matzoh from their blood, her use of the term is totally out-of-line. […]

For Der Spiegel's US correspondent Marc Hujer, it is not Sarah Palin who is poisoning political discourse in the US, but rather her critics on the left:

Of all people, it is precisely those who have complained the loudest about the culture of debate — about the rhetoric of the Tea Party, the right wing's harsh words and the baseless Obama-Hitler comparisons — who are now poisoning the debate with their own baseless insinuations. With little reliance on facts, they began searching for scapegoats for the attack and they found them, selectively, among the right wing, the Tea Party, Republican Party boss Michael Steele and Tea Party heroine Sarah Palin.

For the past several years, Sarah Palin has presided over a Tea Party "movement" which uses guns and gun imagery in its rhetoric to intimiidate its opponents.  But, for Der Spiegel, those who have called out Palin and her minions for the violent threats of "second amendment remedies" are to blame:

The accusations being lodged are grave. "Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin," leftist blogger Markos Moulitsas sneered after the bloodbath. Meanwhile, MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann called for Palin to be ousted from the Republican Party if she didn't repudiate her role in "amplifying violence and violent imagery in politics." In his column in the New York Times, Paul Krugman sought to link the "toxic rhetoric" coming from right-wing preachers of hate with the assassination attempt. And former member of Congress Chris Carney said Palin should "say she was wrong."

We know that the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords was a deliberate assassination attempt on a member of Congress.  We do not know the shooter's motivation, but it is legitimate to ask whether right-wing eliminationist speech – which Palin has always encouraged – was a contributing factor.  But even before all the facts are known,  Der Spiegel has declared that such inquiry is wrong:

Indeed, the massive criticism of Sarah Palin is misguided. This is not only due to the fact that the accusation is baseless, but also because the calculated attempt to weaken Palin in this manner could ultimately backfire.

Blood and mayhem – especially in America – sell magazines in Germany, so it is no surprise that the editors of Der Spiegel are rooting for Sarah "blood libel" Palin.