Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin released a video Wednesday in which she struck back at critics who have connected her war-like political rhetoric to the shooting in Arizona that left six dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded Saturday. 

(Creative Commons)

Political and media analysts have criticized her and other tea-party leaders and activists for using gun- and war-related metaphors in their speeches, advertisements and websites. Palin has taken heat for a map on her website in which Giffords' Arizona district was targeted by the Tea-Party movement. Giffords' district is one of 20 shown in crosshairs.

In the seven-and-a-half-minute statement, Palin accused reporters of trying to blame society for the actions of an individual. "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them, not collectively with all the citizens of a state," she said.

She repeatedly referred to America as "exceptional."

"Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn," she continued. The phrase "blood libel" refers to an ancient anti-semitic slander by which Jews were accused of using the blood of Christians in their rituals. The reference has sparked an outcry from Jewish leaders.

"Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a “blood libel” against her and others," said David Harris of National Jewish Democratic Council in a statement. "This is of course a particularly heinous term for American Jews,  given that the repeated fiction of blood libels are directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries—and given that blood libels are so directly intertwined with deeply ingrained anti-Semitism around the globe, even today.

It's not only political talking heads who have drawn the conclusion that U.S. must tone down the rhetoric, though. Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik said in response to the shooting that "the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous, and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital."

Though no political motivation has been confirmed in connection with the accused shooter, Jared Loughner, news outlets have been debating whether or not the shooting is a symptom of a broader disease affecting the country.

A recent poll shows that most Americans do not see a connection between the shooting and the political climate. 

In an odd public relations move, Palin's camp provoked more speculation when an aide said that the markings on the aforementioned map were not crosshairs, but 'surveyors marks.'"