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Blood
Libel
The Damascus Affair of
1840
Ronald Florence
"When old, outdated anti-Semitic lies are being used
in too many circles against the Jewish people, this book is important
to all those who feel compelled to denounce them."—Elie
Wiesel
In Damascus, in February 1840, a Capuchin monk and his servant
disappear without a trace. Rumors point at the local Jewish community.
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.
Vicious charges of ritual murder had been heard in Europe for
centuries and are heard in the Middle East today—but everything
else here was turned around. The accusers of the Jews were not
the Muslim majority. The French consul was the chief prosecutor,
aided by the British consul, with the support of the American
consul. The affair became a cause célèbre in Europe
and the Americas, the priorities of diplomacy intervened, 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, and the continuing myths, feed and sustain
the fervor of anti-Semitism today.
Ronald Florence
is an historian and novelist. He is the author of The Gypsy
Man, The Perfect Machine, and The Last Season. He
lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
For more information contact
our publicity manager, phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu
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November 2004
246 pp. 6 x 9
ISBN 978-0-299-20280-4 Cloth $19.95 s
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