Editing Blood libel (section)

== Blood libels in Muslim lands ==
In late 1553 or 1554, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], the reigning [[sultan of the Ottoman Empire]], issued a [[firman (decree)|firman]] (royal decree) which formally denounced blood libels against the Jews.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mansel |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Mansel|title=[[Constantinople: City of the World's Desire, 1453–1924]]|year= 1998|publisher= St. Martin's Griffin |location= New York |isbn= 978-0-312-18708-8 |page= 124}}</ref>

In 1840, following the Western outrage arising from the [[Damascus affair]], British politician and leader of the British Jewish community, Sir [[Moses Montefiore]], backed by other influential westerners including Britain's [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] and Damascus consul [[Charles Henry Churchill]],<ref name= Lewis/> the French lawyer [[Isaac Moïse Crémieux|Adolphe Crémieux]], Austrian consul Giovanni Gasparo Merlato, Danish missionary [[John Nicolayson]],<ref name= Lewis>{{cite book |last= Lewis |first= Donald |title= The Origins of Christian Zionism: Lord Shaftesbury And Evangelical Support for a Jewish Homeland |publisher= Cambridge University Press |date= 2014 |location= Cambridge |page= 380 |isbn= 9781107631960}}</ref> and Solomon Munk, persuaded Sultan [[Abdulmejid I]] in [[Constantinople]], to issue a firman on 6 November 1840 intended to halt the spread of blood libel accusations in the Ottoman Empire. The edict declared that blood libel accusations were a [[slander]] against Jews and they would be prohibited throughout the Ottoman Empire, and read in part:

<blockquote>... and for the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit the Jewish nation, whose innocence for the crime alleged against them is evident, to be worried and tormented as a consequence of accusations which have not the least foundation in truth...</blockquote>

In the remainder of the 19th century and into the 20th century, there were many instances of the blood libel in Ottoman lands,<ref name=LewisJews>{{cite book |author=[[Bernard Lewis|Lewis, Bernard]] |title= The Jews of Islam |publisher= Princeton University Press |year= 1984 |pages= 158–159}}</ref> such as the 1881 [[Fornaraki affair]]. However the libel almost always came from the Christian community, sometimes with the connivance of Greek or French diplomats.<ref name=LewisJews/> The Jews could usually count on the goodwill of the Ottoman authorities and increasingly on the support of British, [[Prussia]]n and Austrian representatives.<ref name=LewisJews/>

In the [[1910 Shiraz blood libel]], the Jews of [[Shiraz]], [[Qajar Iran|Iran]], were falsely accused of murdering a Muslim girl. The entire Jewish quarter was pillaged, with the pogrom leaving 12 Jews dead and about 50 injured.

In 1983, [[Mustafa Tlass]], the [[Ministry of Defense (Syria)|Syrian Minister of Defense]], wrote and published ''[[The Matzah of Zion]]'', which is a treatment of the Damascus affair of 1840 that repeats the ancient "blood libel", that [[Jew]]s use the blood of murdered non-Jews in religious rituals such as baking Matza bread.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/15/world/an-anti-jewish-book-linked-to-syrian-aide.html An Anti-Jewish Book Linked to Syrian Aide], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 15 July 1986.</ref> In this book, he argues that the true religious beliefs of Jews are "black hatred against all humans and religions", and no Arab country should ever sign a peace treaty with [[Israel]].<ref name=adl>{{cite web |title=Literature Based on Mixed Sources – Classic Blood Libel: Mustafa Tlas' Matzah of Zion |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League|ADL]] |url=http://www.adl.org/css/mix_blood_libel.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413063812/http://www.adl.org/css/mix_blood_libel.asp |archive-date=13 April 2011 |access-date=5 July 2012}}</ref> Tlass re-printed the book several times. Following the book's publication, Tlass told ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', that this accusation against Jews was valid and he also claimed that his book is "an historical study ... based on documents from France, Vienna and the [[American University in Beirut]]."<ref name=adl/><ref name=HNNblood>[http://hnn.us/articles/664.html Blood Libel] Judith Apter Klinghoffer, ''[[History News Network]]'', 19 December 2006.</ref>

In 2003, the Egyptian newspaper ''[[Al-Ahram]]'' published a series of articles by [[Osama El-Baz]], a senior advisor to the then Egyptian President [[Hosni Mubarak]]. Among other things, Osama El-Baz explained the origins of the blood libel against the Jews. He said that [[Arabs]] and [[Muslim]]s have never been antisemitic, as a group, but he accepted the fact that a few Arab writers and media figures attack Jews "on the basis of the [[Racism|racist]] fallacies and myths that originated in [[Europe]]". He urged people not to succumb to "myths" such as the blood libel.<ref>{{cite web |first=Osama |last=El-Baz |title=Al-Ahram Weekly Online, 2–8 January 2003 (Issue No. 619) |publisher=Weekly.ahram.org.eg |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/619/focus.htm |access-date= 2010-01-23 |archive-date=19 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919022746/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/619/focus.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Nevertheless, on many occasions in modern times, blood libel stories have appeared in the state-sponsored media of a number of Arab and Muslim nations, as well as on their television shows and websites, and books which allege instances of Jewish blood libels are not uncommon there.<ref>Antisemitic blood libel in the modern world:
*In 1986, the Defense Minister of [[Syria]] [[Mustafa Tlass]] authored the book ''The Matzah of Zion''. The book renews the anti-Jewish ritual murder accusations of 1840 [[Damascus affair]] and alleges that ''[[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]]'' is a factual document. (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}})
* In 2001 an [[Egypt]]ian film company produced and aired a film titled ''Horseman Without a Horse'', partly based on Tlass's book.
* The Syrian TV series ''[[Ash-Shatat]]'' ("The Diaspora") depicts Jews engaging in a conspiracy to rule the world, murder Christian children, and use their blood to bake [[matzah]].
* [http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/177/1561.htm Iranian TV Blood Libel] 22 December 2005
*[[Faisal of Saudi Arabia|King Faisal]] of [[Saudi Arabia]] accused Jews of a blood libel in Paris. Gane S. Gerber (1986): ''History and hate: the dimensions of anti-Semitism''. [[Jewish Publication Society of America]]{{ISBN|0827602677}} p. 88
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The blood libel was featured in a scene in the Syrian [[Syrian television series|TV series]] ''[[Ash-Shatat]]'', shown in 2003.<ref>[http://archive.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_recycled.html#.VhNkrPlVgoI Anti-Semitic Series airs on Arab Television] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630002519/http://archive.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_recycled.html#.VhNkrPlVgoI |date=30 June 2015 }}, [[Anti Defamation League]], 9 January 2004</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHqXt_JNSt8 Clip] from ''[[Ash-Shatat]]'', [[MEMRI]]</ref>

In 2007, Lebanese poet Marwan Chamoun, in an interview aired on [[Télé Liban]], referred to the "... slaughter of the priest Tomaso de Camangiano ... in 1840... in the presence of two rabbis in the heart of Damascus, in the home of a close friend of this priest, Daud Al-Harari, the head of the Jewish community of [[Damascus]]. After he was slaughtered, his blood was collected, and the two rabbis took it."<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP145307 Lebanese Poet Marwan Chamoun: Jews Slaughtered Christian Priest in Damascus in 1840 and Used His Blood for Matzos] ([[Middle East Media Research Institute|MEMRI]] ''Special Dispatch Series – No. 1453'') 6 February 2007</ref> A novel, ''[[Death of a Monk]]'', based on the Damascus affair, was published in 2004.