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For the logical fallacy, see poisoning the well.

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Well-poisoning is the act of malicious manipulation of potable water resources in order to cause illness or death, or to deny an opponent access to fresh water resources. Historically it was one of the gravest of three accusations brought against Jewish people as a whole (the other two being host desecration and blood libel), for example in Europe following the Black Death (1348-1350).

Such accusations were also made of Koreans living in Japan in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

In both cases the accusation was never substantiated, but did lead to widescale persecution and pogroms against the group so accused.

Contents 1 In warfare 2 Accusations of well-poisoning against Jews 2.1 Contemporary accusations 3 Other contemporary accusations 4 External links 5 References

Well poisoning has been used as an important scorched earth tactic. During the Winter War the Finns rendered wells unusable by planting animal carcasses or feces in them in order to passively combat Soviet forces ^[1]. During the 20th century the practice has lost most of its potency against an organized force as modern military logistics ensure secure and un-contaminated supplies.

The existence of viruses and bacteria was unknown in medieval times, and the eruption of epidemics could not be explained. Any sudden deterioration of health was blamed on poisoning. Europe was hit by several waves of Black Death (often identified as bubonic plague) throughout the late Middle Ages. Crowded cities were especially hard hit by the disease, with death tolls as high as 50% of the population. In their distress, emotionally distraught survivors searched for something, or someone, to blame.

The city-dwelling Jews of the Middle Ages, forced to live in walled-up, segregated ghetto districts, proved to be convenient scapegoats. As mortality was significantly lower among the Jews, medieval Christians in Europe theorized that the Jews, who had their own wells in the ghetto, had poisoned the city wells in order to kill Christians, just as they had killed Christ. An outbreak of plague thus became the trigger for pogroms, with hundreds of Jews burned at the stake, or rounded up in synagogues and private houses that were then set aflame.

With the decline of plague in Europe, these accusations lessened, but the term "well-poisoning" remains a loaded one that continues to crop up even today among anti-Semites around the world.

Walter Laqueur writes in his book 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.^[2]

Accusations of well-poisoning have also been brought up against Serbs. Most notoriously, Serbs were accused of poisoning Kosovo Albanians. There are also accusations of well-poisoning as a part of the Srebrenica massacre.^[3]

v • d • e Military fortifications

Abatis  · Area denial weapons  · British "hedgehog" road block  · Caltrop  · Cluster bomb  · Czech hedgehog  · Cheval de frise  · dragon's teeth  · Electric fence  · Gabions  · Hudson River Chain  · Land mine  · Medieval fortification  · Punji sticks  · Salting the earth  · Scorched earth  · Sentry gun  · Sudis  · Trou de loup  · Well poisoning · Wire obstacles (Barbed tape  · Barbed wire  · Concertina wire)

• Accusation of Well-Poisoning (Jewish Encyclopedia)
• The Virtual Jewish History Tour. Belgium

Contemporary accusations

• Amnesty: West Bank farms poisoned (BBC)
• PLO Official Again Says Israel is Poisoning Arab Food
• Jews are Poisoning Bananas says Imam

1. ^ The Winter War, the Russo-Finnish War of 1939-40, Willam R. Trotter, Aurum Press Ltd, London 2003, ISBN 1-85410-932-4
2. ^ Walter Laqueur (2006)" The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-530429-2. p.62
3. ^ David Rohde: Bosnian Serbs Poisoned Streams To Capture Refugees, Muslims Say