It is an image eerily reminiscent of the oil paintings from two centuries earlier depicting the Jewish blood libel—except now made real, and committed against Jews. According to Weinberg, “Ethnic divisiveness was a centrifugal force that diminished the capacity of Odessa workers to act in a unified fashion.” A lesson for the tsar, and a lesson for the ages: if you want to crush a revolutionary movement coming at you from below, nothing works quite like an anti-Semitic conspiracy that calls up hatreds older than Jesus Christ.

XREF: Connects to broader patterns where ruling powers weaponize ethnic scapegoating to divide opposition movements, echoing similar dynamics in other historical contexts.

Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, loc. 943