Blood libel against Jews
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2008-07-16T09:22:54Z
Jeff5102
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/* Contemporary blood libels */
{{Antisemitism}}
'''Blood libels against Jews''' are false accusations that [[Jew]]s use [[human blood]] in certain aspects of their [[religious ritual]]s and [[religious holiday|holiday]]s.
Although the first known instance of [[blood libel]] against Jews is found in the writings of [[Apion]], an early 1st century [[Paganism|pagan]] [[Greeks|Greco]]-[[Egyptians|Egyptian]] who claimed that the Jews sacrificed [[Greek people|Greek]] victims in the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]], no further incidents are recorded until the 12th century, when blood libels began to proliferate in [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Europe]]. Blood libel accusations have often asserted that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and historically blood libel claims have often been made to account for otherwise unexplained deaths of children. In some cases, the alleged victim of human sacrifice, child or adult, has become venerated as a [[Christian martyr|martyr]], a holy figure around whom a martyr cult might arise. A few of these have been even [[Canonization|canonized]] as [[saint]]s.
Although broadly discredited, these libels have persisted among some segments of Christians to the present time, and recently Muslims as well. In Jewish lore, blood libels were the impetus for the creation of the [[golem of Prague]] (a commonly known Jewish legend) by Rabbi Judah Lowe ben Bezalel, the [[Maharal]].
Many popes have either directly or indirectly condemned the blood accusation, and no pope has ever sanctioned it, <ref>Strack, Blut in Glauben and Aberglauben (Munich, 1900), 177 and v.</ref> though the assertions are usually spread and promoted by local clergy.
==Descriptions of alleged ritual murder==
[[Image:Legend of the Jew calling the Devil from a Vessel of Blood Fac simile of a Woodcut in Boaistuau s Histoires Prodigieuses in 4to Paris Annet Briere 1560.png|right|thumb|Legend of the Jew calling the Devil from a Vessel of Blood. Facsimile of a [[woodcut]] in [[French Renaissance literature|Boaistuau]]'s ''[[Histoires Prodigieuses]]'', published in 1560.]]
In general, the libel alleged something like this: a child, normally a boy who had not yet reached [[puberty]], was kidnapped or sometimes bought and taken to a hidden place (the house of a prominent member of the Jewish community, a synagogue, a cellar, etc.) where he would be kept hidden until the time of his death. Preparations for the sacrifice included the gathering of attendees from near and far and constructing or readying the instruments of [[torture]] and [[execution (legal)|execution]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
At the time of the sacrifice (usually night), the crowd would gather at the place of execution (in some accounts the synagogue itself) and engage in a mock tribunal to try the child. The boy would be presented to the tribunal naked and tied (sometimes gagged) at the judge's order. He would eventually be condemned to death. Many forms of torture would be inflicted during the boy's "trial", including some of those used by the [[Inquisition]] on suspects of [[heresy]]. Some of the alleged tortures were mutilation (including [[circumcision]]), piercing with needles, punching, slapping, strangulation, [[strappado]] and whipping, while being insulted and mocked throughout.
In the end, the half-dead boy would be crowned with thorns and tied or [[Crucifixion|nailed to a wooden cross]]. The cross would be raised and the blood dripping from the boy's wounds, particularly those on his hands, feet, and genitals, would be caught in bowls or glasses.
Finally, the boy would be killed with a thrust through the heart from a spear, sword, or dagger. His dead body would be removed from the cross and concealed or disposed of, but in some instances rituals of black magic would be performed on it.
The earlier stories describe only the torture and agony of the victim and suggest that the child's death was the sole purpose of the ritual. Over time and as the libel proliferated, the focus shifted to the supposed need to collect the victim's blood for mystical purposes.
The story of [[William of Norwich]] (d. 1144) is the first known case of alleged ritual murder, which was made by a Christian monk. It does not mention the collection of William's blood nor of any ritual purpose to the alleged ritual murder. In the story of [[Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln]] (d. 1255) it was said that after the boy was dead, his body was removed from the cross and laid on a table. His belly was cut open and his entrails removed for some occult purpose, such as a [[haruspex|divination ritual]]. In the story of [[Simon of Trent]] (d. 1475) it was highly stressed how the boy was held over a large bowl so all his blood could be collected.
According to [[Walter Laqueur]],
<blockquote>"Altogether, there have been about 150 recorded cases of blood libel (not to mention thousands of rumors) that resulted in the arrest and killing of Jews throughout history, most of them in the Middle Ages... In almost every case, Jews were murdered, sometimes by a mob, sometimes following torture and a trial."<ref>[[Walter Laqueur]] (2006): ''The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day'', Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-530429-2. p.56</ref></blockquote>
== Actual Jewish practices regarding blood and sacrifice ==
The descriptions of torture and human sacrifice in the [[antisemitic]] blood libels run contrary to many of the teachings of Judaism.
Most obviously, the [[Ten Commandments]] in the [[Torah]] forbid murder. In addition, the use of blood (human or otherwise) in cooking is prohibited by the [[Kashrut|kosher dietary laws]]. Blood from slaughtered animals may not be consumed, and must be drained out of the animal and covered with earth. ({{bibleverse||Lev|17:12-13|31}}) According to the book of Leviticus, blood from sacrificed animals may only be placed on the altar of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Great Temple in Jerusalem]] (which no longer existed at the time of the Christian blood libels). Furthermore, consumption of human flesh violates [[kashrut]].
While animal sacrifice was part of the practice of ancient Judaism, the [[Tanakh]] (Old Testament) and [[Halakha|Jewish teaching]] portray [[human sacrifice]] as one of the evils that separated the pagans of [[Canaan]] from the Hebrews.({{bibleverse||Deut|12:31|31}}, {{bibleverse|2|Kings|16:3|31}}) Jews were prohibited from engaging in these rituals and were punished for doing so ({{bibleverse||Ex|34:15|31}}, {{bibleverse||Lev|20:2|31}}, {{bibleverse||Deut|18:12|31}}, {{bibleverse||Jer|7:31|31}}). In fact, ritual cleanliness for priests prohibited even being in the same room as a human corpse ({{bibleverse||Lev|21:11|31}}).
Proponents of the blood libel, such as British [[fascist]] [[Arnold Leese]] ("Jewish Ritual Murder" 1938) and sympathetic contemporaries, claim that proof of ritual murder is contained within scripture. The [[neo-Nazi]] site www.JRBooksOnline.com lists [[Psalm 137]] as proof that Jews engaged in ritual child murder, citing the line "Happy will be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the stones" (www.jrbooksonline.com/leese). However, in the context of the rest of Psalm 137, this verse expresses a desire for vengeance following Babylonian massacres of the Jews. In context, then: "O daughter of Babylon who is [to be] destroyed, happy will be he who repays you as you have done to us; happy will be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the stones." ({{bibleverse||Psalms|137:8|31}})
Professor Israel Jacob Yuval of the [[Hebrew University]] of Jerusalem published an article in 1993 that argues that the blood libel myth may have originated in the 12th century from Christian views of Jewish behavior during the [[First Crusade]]. Some Jews committed suicide and killed their own children rather than be subjected to forced conversions. Yuval investigated Christian reports of these events and found that they were greatly distorted with claims that if Jews could kill their own children they could also kill Christian children. Yuval rejects the blood libel story as a Christian fantasy that was impossible due to the precarious nature of the Jewish minority's existence in Christian Europe.<ref>{{web cite| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/827036.html | title = And if it's not good for the Jews? | author = Lily Galili | publisher = Ha'aretz | date = February 18, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-02-18}}</ref><ref>''Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages'' by Israel J. Yuval; translated by Barbara Harshav and Jonathan Chipman, University of California Press, 2006)</ref>
== Notable instances ==
There have been many blood libel accusations and trials of Jews beginning in the first century and continuing through modern times. A few of them are discussed here.
===Alexandria, first century AD===
The first recorded blood libel against Jews was by the classical Greek author [[Apion]], who claimed that Jews sacrificed Greek victims in [[Second Temple|their temple]]. This blood libel from ancient Greek times pre-dates Christianity and is usually thought of as an act of antisemitism. <ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1173&letter=B#3489 Jewish Encyclopedia - BLOOD ACCUSATION], By Richard Gottheil, Hermann L. Strack, Joseph Jacobs</ref> This resulted in an attack on Jews in Alexandria in 38 CE in which thousands of Jews died.<ref>Per [[Philo of Alexandria]]</ref>.
=== Constantinople, 415 ===
[[Socrates Scholasticus]] reported that some Jews in a drunken frolic bound a Christian child on a cross in mockery of the death of Christ and scourged him until he died.<ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/syriabloodlibel.html Blood libel in Syria]</ref>
=== Norwich, East Anglia, 1144 ===
{{main|William of Norwich}}
March 20 (Passover), the first blood libel in Europe against Jews. Jews of [[Norwich]] were accused of both [[ritual murder]] and [[blood libel]] after a boy (William of Norwich) was found dead with stab wounds. The legend was turned into a cult, with William acquiring the status of martyr and crowds of pilgrims bringing wealth to the local church. In 1189, the Jewish deputation attending the coronation of [[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]] was attacked by the crowd. [[History of the Jews in England#Massacres at London and York (1189–1190)|Massacres of Jews at London and York]] soon followed. On Feb 6 1190, all the Norwich Jews were found slaughtered in their houses, except a few who found refuge in the castle. Jews would later be [[Edict of Expulsion|expelled from all of England]] in 1290 and not allowed to return until 1655.
=== County of Blois 1171 ===
In 1171, [[Blois]] was the site of a [[blood libel]] accusation against its Jewish community that led to 31 Jews (by some accounts 40) being burned to death .<ref>[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=112387 The Martyrs of Blois]</ref>
=== County of Flanders, c. 1250 ===
An early blood libel against Jews appears in ''Bonum Universale de Apibus'' ii. 29, § 23, by [[Thomas of Cantimpré]] (a monastery near Cambray). Thomas wrote "It is quite certain that the Jews of every province annually decide by lot which congregation or city is to send Christian blood to the other congregations."
Thomas also believed that since the time when the Jews called out to [[Pontius Pilate]], "His blood be on us, and on our children" ({{bibleverse||Matthew|27:25|NIV}}), they have been afflicted with hemorrhages:
:"A very learned Jew, who in our day has been converted to the (Christian) faith, informs us that one enjoying the reputation of a prophet among them, toward the close of his life, made the following prediction: 'Be assured that relief from this secret ailment, to which you are exposed, can only be obtained through Christian blood ("''solo sanguine Christiano''").' This suggestion was followed by the ever-blind and impious Jews, who instituted the custom of annually shedding Christian blood in every province, in order that they might recover from their malady."
Thomas added that the Jews had misunderstood the words of their prophet, who by his expression "''solo sanguine Christiano''" had meant not the blood of any Christian, but that of Jesus—the only true remedy for all physical and spiritual suffering.
Thomas did not mention the name of the "very learned" proselyte, but it may have been [[Nicholas Donin]] of [[La Rochelle]], who in 1240 had a disputation on the [[Talmud]] with [[Yechiel of Paris]], and who in 1242 caused the burning of numerous Talmudic manuscripts in Paris. It is known that Thomas was personally acquainted with this Nicholas.
===Lincolnshire, 1255===
{{main|Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln}}
The case of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln is mentioned by [[Chaucer]], and thus has become well known. A child of eight years, named Hugh, son of a woman named Beatrice, disappeared at Lincoln on the 31st of July. His body was discovered on the 29th of August, covered with filth, in a pit or well belonging to a Jewish man named Copin or Koppin.
On being promised by John of Lexington, a judge, who happened to be present, that his life should be spared, Copin is said to have confessed that the boy had been crucified by the Jews, who had assembled at Lincoln for that purpose. [[Henry III of England|King Henry III]], on reaching Lincoln some five weeks afterward, at the beginning of October, refused to carry out the promise of John of Lexington, and had Copin executed and ninety-one of the Jews of Lincoln seized and sent up to London, where eighteen of them were executed. The rest were pardoned at the intercession of the Franciscans (Jacobs, "Jewish Ideals," pp. 192-224).
===Margraviate of Baden, 1267===
At [[Pforzheim]], Baden, the corpse of a seven-year-old girl was found in the river by fishermen. The Jews were suspected, and when they were led to the corpse, blood allegedly began to flow from the wounds; led to it a second time, the face of the child became flushed, and both arms were raised. In addition to these miracles, there was the testimony of the daughter of the wicked woman who had sold the child to the Jews.
A regular judicial examination did not take place; it is probable that the above-mentioned "wicked woman" was the murderess. That a judicial murder was then and there committed against the Jews in consequence of the accusation is evident from the manner in which the [[Nuremberg]] "Memorbuch" and the synagogal poems refer to the incident ([[Siegmund Salfeld]], ''Das Martyrologium des Nürnberger Memorbuches'' (1898), pp. 15, 128-130).
===Alsace, 1270===
At Weissenburg, a miracle alone decided the charge against the Jews. According to the accusation, the Jews had suspended a child (whose body was found in the Lauter river) by the feet, and had opened every artery in its body in order to obtain all the blood. Again, supernatural claims were made: the child's wounds were said to have bled for five days afterward, despite its treatment.
===Oberwesel, Lorraine, 1286===
At Oberwesel, "miracles" again constituted the only evidence against the Jews. The corpse of the eleven-year-old Werner is said to have floated up the Rhine (against the current) as far as Bacharach, emitting radiance, and being invested with healing powers. In consequence, the Jews of Oberwesel and many other adjacent localities were severely persecuted during the years 1286-89. Emperor Rudolph I., to whom the Jews had appealed for protection, issued a public proclamation to the effect that great wrong had been done to the Jews, and that the corpse of Werner was to be burned and the ashes scattered to the winds.
===Switzerland, early 1400s===
The statement was made, in the "Chronicle" of [[Konrad Justinger]] of 1423, that at Bern in 1294 the Jews had tortured and murdered a boy called Rudolph. The historical impossibility of this widely credited story was demonstrated by Jakob Stammler, pastor of Bern, in 1888 (see "Katholische Schweizer-Blätter," Lucerne, 1888).
===Tyrol, Austria 1462===
At Rinn, near Innsbruck, a boy named [[Andreas Oxner]] (also known as Anderl von Rinn) was said to have been bought by Jewish merchants and cruelly murdered by them in a forest near the city, his blood being carefully collected in vessels. The accusation of drawing off the blood (without murder) was not made until the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the cult was founded. The older inscription in the church of Rinn, dating from 1575, is distorted by fabulous embellishments; as, for example, that the money which had been paid for the boy to his godfather was found to have turned into leaves, and that a lily blossomed upon his grave. The cult continued until it was officially prohibited in 1994 by the Bishop of Innsbruck. (source [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/rinn.html]).
===Trentino, 1475===
[[Image:Schedel judenfeindlichkeit.jpg|thumb|left|250px| The story of Simon of Trent (1475), by Hartmann Schedels (1493)]]
[[Image:Judensau Frankfurt.jpg|thumb|right|250px| From an 18th-century etching from Brückenturm. ''Above'': The murdered body of Simon of Trent. ''Below'': The "[[Judensau]]."]]
{{main|Simon of Trent}}
Simon of Trent, aged two, disappeared, and his father alleged that he had been kidnapped and murdered by the local Jewish community. Fifteen local Jews were sentenced to death and burned. Simon was regarded as a saint, and was canonized by [[Pope Sixtus V]] in 1588. His status as a saint was removed in 1965 by [[Pope Paul VI]], though his murder is still promoted as a fact by a handful of extremists.
===Castile, 1491===
{{main|Holy Child of La Guardia}}
Christopher of Toledo, also known as Christopher of La Guardia or "the Holy Child of La Guardia," was a four-year-old Christian boy supposedly murdered by two Jews and three [[Converso]]s (converts to Christianity). In total, eight men were executed. It is now believed<ref>Reston, James: "Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the defeat of the Moors", page 207. Doubleday, 2005. ISBN 0-385-50848-4</ref> that this case was constructed by the [[Spanish Inquisition]] to facilitate the [[Alhambra decree|expulsion of Jews from Spain]]. He was canonized by [[Pope Pius VII]] in 1805. Christopher has since been removed from the canon, though once again, a handful of individuals still claim the validity of this case.
===Hungary, 1494===
In a case at Tyrnau (Nagyszombat, today [[Trnava]], [[Slovakia]]), the absurdity, even the impossibility, of the statements forced by torture from women and children shows that the accused preferred death as a means of escape from the torture, and admitted everything that was asked of them. They even said that Jewish men menstruated, and that the latter therefore practiced the drinking of Christian blood as a remedy.
===Hungary, 1529===
At Bösing (Bazin, today [[Pezinok]], [[Slovakia]]), it was charged that a nine-year-old boy had been bled to death, suffering cruel torture; thirty Jews confessed to the crime and were publicly burned. The true facts of the case were disclosed later, when the child was found alive in Vienna. He had been stolen by the accuser, Count Wolf of Bazin, as an easy but fiendish means of ridding himself of his Jewish creditors at Bazin.
===Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1690===
[[Image:Antisemitic-church-fresco.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Fresco]] in St Paul's Church in [[Sandomierz]], Poland, depicting blood libel]]
{{main|Gavriil Belostoksky}}
The only child-saint in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] is the six-year-old boy Gavriil Belostoksky from the village Zverki. According to the legend supported by the church, the boy was kidnapped from his home during the holiday of [[Passover]] while his parents were away. Shutko, a Jew from [[Białystok]], was accused in bringing the boy to Białystok, poking him with sharp objects and draining his blood for nine days, then bringing the body back to Zverki and dumping at a local field. A cult developed, and the boy was canonized in 1820. His relics are still the object of pilgrimage. On [[All Saints Day]], July 27, 1997, the Belorussian state TV showed a film alleging the story is true.<ref>[http://www.vestnik.com/issues/97/0902/win/stonov.htm Is the New in the Post-Soviet Space Only the Forgotten Old?] by Leonid Stonov, International Director of Bureau for the Human Rights and Law-Observance in the Former Soviet Union, the President of the American Association of Jews from the former USSR)</ref> The revival of the cult in [[Belarus]] was cited as a dangerous expression of antisemitism in international reports on human rights and religious freedoms<ref>[http://www.4humanrights.org/by/eng/reports/relig2003.shtml Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2003] Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor</ref><ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/37195.htm Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2004] Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor</ref><ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51542.htm Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2005] Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor</ref><ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71370.htm Belarus. International Religious Freedom Report 2006] Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor</ref><ref>[http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/108/91075d.pdf Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2004]</ref> and were passed to the [[UNHCR]].<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/450fb0b128.html UNHCR - U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2006 - Belarus<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
===Syria, 1840===
{{main|Damascus affair}}
In February, at Damascus, a Catholic monk named Father Thomas and his servant were murdered. In this instance, also, confessions were obtained only after the infliction of torture.
===Rhodes, 1840===
{{main|Rhodes blood libel}}
The Jews of [[Rhodes]], then in the [[Ottoman Empire]], were accused of murdering a [[Greeks|Greek]] Christian boy. The libel was supported by the local governor and the European consuls posted to Rhodes. Several Jews were arrested and tortured, and the entire Jewish quarter was blockaded for twelve days. An investigation carried out by the central Ottoman government found the Jews to be innocent.
===Hungary, 1882===
{{main|Tiszaeszlár blood libel}}
The Jews of the village [[Tiszaeszlár]] were accused with the ritual murder of a fourteen-year-old Christian girl, Eszter Solymosi. The case was one of the main causes of the rise of antisemitism in the country. The accused persons were eventually acquitted.
===Bohemia, 1899===
{{main|Hilsner Affair}}
Leopold Hilsner, a Jewish vagabond, was accused of murdering a nineteen-year-old Christian woman, Anežka Hrůzová, with a slash to the throat. Despite the absurdity of the charge and the relatively progressive nature of society in [[Austria-Hungary]], Hilsner was convicted and sentenced to death. He was later convicted of an additional unsolved murder, also involving a Christian woman. In 1901, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. [[Tomáš Masaryk]], a prominent Austro-Czech philosophy professor and future president of [[Czechoslovakia]], spearheaded Hilsner's defense. He was later blamed by Czech media because of this. In March 1918, Hilsner was pardoned by Austrian emperor [[Karl of Austria|Charles I]]. He was never exonerated, and the true guilty parties were never found.
===Shiraz, 1910===
{{main|Shiraz blood libel}}
The Jews of [[Shiraz]], [[Iran]], were falsely accused of murdering a Muslim girl. The entire Jewish quarter was pillaged; the pogrom left 12 Jews dead and about 50 injured.
===Kiev, Ukraine, Russia 1911===
[[Image:1910s antisemitic flier Andrei Yushchinsky.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Antisemitic flier in [[Kiev]], 1910: "Christians, take care of your children!!! It will be Jewish Passover on March 17.]]
{{main|Menahem Mendel Beilis}}
In [[Kiev]], a Jewish factory manager, Mendel Beilis, was accused of murdering a Christian child and using his blood in [[matzo]]s. He was acquitted by an all-Christian jury after a sensational trial in 1913.
===Kielce, Poland 1946===
{{main|Kielce pogrom}}
The Kielce pogrom against Holocaust survivors in Poland was sparked by an accusation of blood libel.
==Denunciation==
*In late 1553 or 1554, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] issued a [[firman (decree)|firman]] formally denouncing [[blood libels]] against the Jews.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mansel |first=Phillip |title=Constantinople : City of the World's Desire, 1453–1924|year= 1998|publisher= St. Martin's Griffin |location= New York |pages= 124 |isbn= 978-0312187088}}</ref>
*The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram published a series of articles by Osam Al-Baz, a senior advisor to Egyptian President [[Hosni Mubarak]]. Amongst other things, Osam Al-Baz explained the origins of the anti-Jewish blood libel. He said that Arabs and Muslims have never been antisemitic, as a group, but accepted that a few Arab writers and media figures attack Jews "on the basis of the racist fallacies and myths that originated in Europe". He urged people not to succumb to "myths" such as the blood libel. <ref>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/619/focus.htm Al-Ahram Weekly Online, January 2-8, 2003 (Issue No. 619)]</ref>
== Contemporary blood libels ==
{{see|Antisemitism in the Arab world|History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union|Islam and antisemitism}}
*[[Faisal of Saudi Arabia|King Faisal]] of [[Saudi Arabia]] made accusations against Parisian Jews which took the nature of a blood libel.<ref name = "Berger">{{cite book
| last = Gerber
| first = Gane S.
| editor = David Berger ed.
| title = History and hate: the dimensions of anti-Semitism
| year = 1986
| publisher = [[Jewish Publication Society of America|Jewish Publication Society]]
| location = [[Philadelphia, PA]]
| isbn = 0827602677
| oclc = 13327957
| id = {{LCCN|86|00|2995}}
| pages = pg. 88
| chapter = Anti-Semitism and the Muslim World
| quote =
}}
</ref>
* ''The Matzah Of Zion'' was written by the Syrian Defense Minister, [[Mustafa Tlass]] in 1986. The book concentrates on two issues: renewed ritual murder accusations against the Jews in the [[Damascus affair]] of 1840, and ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]''.<ref>Frankel, Jonathan. ''The Damascus Affair: "Ritual Murder," Politics, and the Jews in 1840'', pp. 418, 421. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-521-48396-4</ref>
** The book was cited at a [[United Nations]] conference in 1991 by a Syrian delegate.
** On [[October 21]], [[2002]], the [[London]] based [[Arabic language|Arabic]] paper ''[[Al-Hayat]]'' reported that the book was undergoing its eighth reprint and was being translated into [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], and [[Italian language|Italian]].
** In 2001 an Egyptian film company produced and aired a film called ''Horseman Without a Horse'', partly based on Tlass's book.
* Multiple branches of the [[Syria]]n government, including the Damascus Police Command and the Department of Antiquities and Museums, the security ministry, the culture ministry, created an antisemitic television TV series called ''Ash-Shatat'' ("The Diaspora".) This series originally aired in Syria and in Lebanon late 2003, and was broadcast by ''Al-Manar'', a satellite television network owned by [[Hezbollah]]. This TV series is based on the antisemitic forgery ''The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'', shows the Jewish people as engaging in a conspiracy to rule the world, and presents Jews as people who murder Christian children, drain their blood, and use this blood to bake [[matzah]]. <ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rsd/rsddocview.html?tbl=RSDCOI&id=4226d98c19&count=1 U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004 - Syria] February 2005</ref> <ref>[http://www.usembassy.ma/reports/antisemitismfr.htm L'antisémitisme dans la région du Proche-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord] (US Embassy in Morocco)</ref> <ref>[http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/85255db800470aa485255d8b004e349a/3911b1e58df0bb7485256e4d0057a10c!OpenDocument Written statement submitted by the Association for World Education, a non-governmental organization on the Roster] RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION. QUESTION OF VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD. PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS. 60th session. E/CN.4/2004/NGO/5. 10 February 2004</ref>
* In a twist on the libel of Jews using blood in matzah, a Passover food, in 2002, a Saudi newspaper claimed that Jews use blood in [[homentash]]n, triangular cookies eaten on the Jewish holiday of [[Purim]]. The story celebrated on Purim, recounted in the [[Book of Esther]], takes place in ancient [[Persia]] (modern-day Iran).
* A 2004 drama from Iran speaks of the Israeli government stealing the eyes of [[Palestinian]] children in [[Israeli]] hospitals. <ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200412\FOR20041223c.html Israel Is 'Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes,' Iranian TV Series Says] by Susan Jones (CNSNews) December 23, 2004</ref>
* In early January 2005, some 20 members of the [[Russia]]n [[State Duma]] publicly made a blood libel against the Jewish people. They approached the Prosecutor General’s Office, and demanded that Russia "ban all Jewish organizations”. They accused all Jewish groups of being extremists, and of being “anti-Christian and inhumane, which practices extend even to ritual murders”.
:Alluding to previous antisemitic Russian court decrees which accused the Jews of ritual murder, they wrote that “Many facts of such religious extremism were proven in courts.” The accusation included traditional antisemitic canards, such as “the whole democratic world today is under the financial and political control of international Jewry. And we do not want our Russia to be among such unfree countries”.
:This demand was published as an open letter to the prosecutor general, in ''Rus Pravoslavnaya'' ({{lang-ru|Русь православная}}, "Orthodox Russia"), a right-wing conservative newspaper. This group consisted of members of the ultra-nationalist [[Liberal Democratic Party of Russia|Liberal Democrats]], the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|Communist faction]], and the nationalist [[Motherland (Russia)|Motherland party]], with some 500 supporters. Тhe mentioned document is known as "The Letter of Five Hundred" ("Письмо пятисот").<ref>[http://xeno.sova-center.ru/45A29F2/5295297?pub_copy=on Письмо пятисот. Вторая серия. Лучше не стало<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.rusk.ru/tema.php?idaid=14 Русская линия / Актуальные темы / "Письмо пятисот": Обращение в Генеральную прокуратуру представителей русской общественности с призывом запретить в России экстремистские еврейские организации<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Their supporters included editors of nationalist newspapers as well as journalists. By the end of the month this group had received stiff criticism, and retracted its demand.
* At the end of April 2005, five boys, ages 9 to 12, in [[Krasnoyarsk]] (Russia) disappeared. In May 2005, their burnt bodies were found in the city sewage. The crime was not disclosed, and in August 2007 the investigation was extended until November 18, 2007.<ref>[http://regnum.ru/news/872810.html The investigation of the murder of five schoolboys in Krasnoyarsk was extended again (Regnum, August 20,
2007)]</ref> Some Russian nationalist groups claimed that the children were murdered by a Jewish sect with a ritual purpose.<ref>[http://regnum.ru/news/454284.html "Jewish people were accused with murder of children in Krasnoyarsk" ("Regnum", May 12, 2005)]</ref><ref>[http://www.rusidea.org/index.php?a=2001 Russian nationalistic publishers "Russian Idea", the article about the antisemitic movement "Living Without the Fear of the Jews.", June 2007: "...the murder of five children in Krasnoyarsk, which bodies were bloodless. Our layer V. A. Solomatov said that there is undoubtedly a ritual murder..."]</ref> Nationalist M. Nazarov, one of the authors of "The Letter of Five Hundred" alleges "the existence of a '[[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic sect]]', whose members kill children before Passover to collect their blood," using the Beilis case mentioned above as evidence. M.Nazarov also alleges that "the ritual murder requires throwing the body away rather than its concealing". "The Union of the Russian People" demanded officials thoroughly investigate the Jews, not stopping at the search in synagogues, [[Matzo|Matzah]] bakeries and their offices.<ref>[http://regnum.ru/news/454284.html Hasids were accused in Krasnoyarsk children murder, the [[Menahem Mendel Beilis|Beilis Affair]] was reanimated (Regnum, May 16, 2005)]</ref><ref>[http://www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/content/2006/09/21/47126.shtml KavkazCenter (September 21, 2006): "Are the burnt children the Hasid's victims?"]</ref>
* During a [[December 20]], 2005, discussion among [[Iran]]ian political analysts that aired on Jaam-e Jam 2 Iranian TV, ''[[Tehran Times]]'' contributor and author of the book ''The History of the Jews'' Dr. Hasan Hanizadeh alleged that "the Jews" had carried out "two horrendous incidents" in 19th century Europe:
:<blockquote>In 1883, about 150 French children were murdered in a horrible way in the suburbs of Paris, before the Jewish Passover holiday. Later research showed that the Jews had killed them and taken their blood. ... A similar incident took place in London, when many English children were killed by Jewish rabbis. ..."<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP105305 Iranian TV Blood Libel]</ref><ref>{{cite news
|author = Steven Stalinsky
|url = http://www.nysun.com/article/30846?page_no=2
|title = Passover and the Blood Libel
|work = The New York Sun
|publisher = The New York Sun, One SL, LLC
|page = Foreign, page 6
|date = 2006-04-12
|accessdate = 2007-01-14
}}</ref></blockquote>
* [[Gary Busey]] appeared in the 2006 Turkish film, ''[[Valley of the Wolves Iraq]],'' as a Jewish-American Army doctor who harvests fresh organs from injured Iraqi prisoners to sell to rich people in [[New York]], [[London]] and [[Tel Aviv]] for [[organ transplant|transplantation]].
== Views of the Catholic Church ==
The Church's attitude towards these accusations and the cults venerating children supposedly killed by Jews varied. The church sometimes opposed them, but it generally did little to stop them, and in some cases gave its clear approval. [[Pope Benedict XIV]] permitted the continuation of the cult of Anderl von Rinn as a local cult, but refused to canonize him as a [[saint]]. On the other hand, [[Pope Gregory X]] issued a letter rejecting the blood libel accusations.<ref name="gregx">{{cite web | url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g10-jews.html | title=Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory X: Letter on Jews, (1271-76) - Against the Blood Libel | author=[[Pope Gregory X]] | accessdate=2007-05-07 }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] article on "Blood Libel"
* ISBN 0-87668-179-8 The Beilis Transcripts. The Anti-Semitic Trial that Shook the World. by Ezekiel Leikin
* R. Po-chia Hsia, "The Myth of Ritual Murder: Jews and Magic in Reformation Germany" (New Haven: Yale UP, 1988). ISBN 0-300-04120-9 (cloth), ISBN 0-300-04746-0 (pbk.).
*{{cite book
|last = Dundes
|first = Alan
|year = 1991
|title = The Blood Libel Legend: A Casebook in Anti-Semitic Folklore
|publisher = University of Wisconsin Press
|id = ISBN 978-0299131142
}}
==External links==
*[http://www.dinur.org/resources/resourceCategoryDisplay.aspx?categoryid=455&rsid=478 Resources > Medieval Jewish History > Blood Libels] Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*[http://www.snopes.com/religion/blood.htm Urban Legends Reference Pages: Religion (Blood Feast)]
==See also==
[[Host desecration]]
{{Antisemitism topics|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Blood libel| ]]
[[Category:Christian and Jewish interfaith topics]]
[[Category:Jewish history]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Religion and violence]]
[[Category:Antisemitic canards]]
[[Category:Antisemitic attacks and incidents]]
{{Link FA|de}}
{{Link FA|he}}
[[de:Ritualmordlegende]]
[[es:Libelo de sangre contra los judíos]]
[[fr:Accusation de crime rituel contre les Juifs]]
[[it:Accusa del sangue]]
[[he:עלילת דם]]
[[ja:血の中傷]]
[[ru:Кровавый навет на евреев]]