5. The Damascus Affair saw Islamic rulers court Christian diplomats by condemning the city’s Jewish population for another blood-libel
Historic antisemitism in the Islamic world spilled over in Syria in 1840, with a little nudge from some Christians. That year in Damascus a Capuchin monk, Thomas, and his Muslim servant, Ibrahim, disappeared for good. The Capuchin order spread rumours that the city’s Jews were responsible, and the French Consul, Ulysse de Ratti-Menton, won support from the Islamic governor of Syria, who wished to form a relationship with France, to launch an investigation. Investigators refused requests to send away the bones they found in a Jewish-quarter sewer for scientific examination: they simply had to belong to Thomas and Ibrahim!
In true medieval fashion, they arrested a Jew at random and tortured him until he confessed a blood-libel had taken place and incriminated prominent members of the Jewish community. 13 people were arrested, and 4 died under torture. The remainder were released after the governor’s superior, Mohammed Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, bowed to international pressure and launched an investigation. Unfortunately, by this time, the Damascus synagogue had been pillaged and its scrolls of the Law burned, and news of the ‘proven’ blood-libel led to widespread violence against Jews in the Arab world over the coming decades.
