Blood Libel: The Damascus Affair of 1840
- ISBN-10
- 0299202801
- ISBN-13
- 9780299202804
- Series
- Blood Libel
- Category
- History / Middle East / General
- Pages
- 257
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2004
- Publisher
- University of Wisconsin Press
- Author
- Ronald Florence
Description
In Damascus in February 1840, a Capuchin monk and his servant disappear without a trace. By the end of the day, rumors point at the local Jewish community, a tiny minority in the city. Within weeks, the rumors turn to accusations of ritual murder—the infamous “blood libel.” Torture, coerced confessions, manufactured evidence, and the fury of the crowds are enough to convict the accused Jews. By the time the rest of the world learns of the events in Damascus, the entire leadership of the Jewish community is awaiting execution.
Blood Libel is a story of unexpected history. If the charges of ritual murder seem familiar—similar accusations have been heard in Europe for centuries and are heard in the Middle East today—nothing in Damascus happened as we, or contemporaries, might have anticipated. The accusers of the Jews were not the Muslim majority. The French consul, the representative of the nation that had given the world the Rights of Man and had been the first to grant Jews the full right of citizenship, was the chief prosecutor. The British consul, serving under the enlightened Lord Palmerston and the new Queen, aided the prosecution. The American consul supported the charges. The Sultan, famed for the excesses of his court and his arbitrary rule of the vast Ottoman empire, and the Austrians, who tightly restricted the rights of Jews in their own empire, defended the accused Jews. The venerable London Times printed reports that defied its liberal reputation, while conservative Austrian and French newspapers took the equally unexpected opposite stand. As news of the Damascus accusations spread, diplomacy and confused loyalties made for strange bedfellows.
Misperceptions, mutual fears, and isolation fueled the passions in Damascus. When the affair and the implications for the perceptions of world Jewry became a cause célèbre in Europe and the Americas, the priorities of diplomacy intervened: a rescue mission forgot the real victims in Damascus, and the fabric of a society that had once stretched to tolerate minorities finally burst in an outrage of fears turned to fury. The legacies of that torn fabric are the divisions of the Middle East today and the continuing myths that feed and sustain the fervor of anti-Semitism.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-03-11
- 342 pages
- Ebook
- University of Michigan Press
-
- 2020-01-28
- 304 pages
- Ebook
- Harvard University Press
-
- 2012-07-09
- 240 pages
- Paperback
- University of Michigan Press
-
- 1987
- 270 pages
- Paperback
- Simon and Schuster
Similar books
-
Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinians: From Camp David to Intifada
By Ann Mosely Lesch, Mark TesslerOther chapters treat Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza, the impact of Israeli politics on the peace issue, and the Palestinians' response to the occupation.
-
On the Banks of the Suez: An Israeli General's Personal Account of the Yom Kippur War
By Avraham AdanMilitary Misfortune by Eliot A. Cohen & John Gooch 296 pages , The Free Press New York , N.Y. , 1990. $ 22.95 ISBN 01-02-906060-5 Why do competent armies fail ? What explains these “ lost victories , ” as Field ...
-
The Island of Umm An-Nar: The Third Millennium Graves. 1
By Karen FrifeltThe Island of Umm An-Nar: The Third Millennium Graves. 1
-
The Curtain: Witness and Memory in Wartime Holland
By Henry G. SchogtSeven stories reveal how two families - one Jewish, one non-Jewish - fared in the Netherlands during the German occupation of World War II. Each story highlights a specific aspect of life; and emphasizes the difference between the options ...
-
中_: 自基督教_起至二十世_末
By 伯_德•路易斯坊__有多种___的中__史著作，它__大多_不是以基督 教降世之___尾，便是以伊斯_教的降___端。我以基督_元_ 始做_本_的__上限，是想要_到__目的。_一_，是_了拯救通 ...
-
National Security And Public Opinion In Israel
By Ilan Talmud, Tamar Hermann, Alan Arian... Gary P. Ratner , Raphael Recanati , Meshulam Riklis , Morris Rodman , Elihu Rose , Malcolm M. Rosenberg , Irving Schneider , Marvin Simon , Ruth Sinaiko , Walter P. Stern , Dr. Robert J. Stoller , Leonard R. Strelitz , James Warren ...
-
American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East Since 1945
By Douglas LittleUnlike George W Bush, however, ]ohn Quincy Adams entered the White House in 1824 with much experience abroad and with even more expertise in foreign policy. During his eight-year stint as ]ames Monroe's secretary of state, ...
-
The Iraq Study Group Report
By Lee H. Hamilton, James Addison Baker, Iraq Study GroupPresents the findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that reviewed the situation on the ground and proposed ways of improving security, strengthening the new government, rebuilding the economy, and maintaining stability in the region.
-
Presidential Control of Foreign Policy: Management Or Mishap?
By Stephen R. GrummonPresidential Control of Foreign Policy: Management Or Mishap?
-
Historical Atlas of the Middle East
By Greville Stewart Parker Freeman-GrenvilleCourts considering the future of maltreated children face complex and controversial questions, and the professional experts advising the courts must often address dilemmas which are key to the child's future...