Sentence:  The Jewish reaction to <WSD>blood libels</WSD> appears less articulated than we might have expected, because although it denied any Jewish culpability, it internalized some of the narratives which nourished the ritual murder accusations. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The false, anti-Semitic accusation that Jews abduct and murder non-Jewish children to use their blood for their religious rituals and holidays.