The Damascus Affair and the Massacre of 1860

Contrary to the lies and half-truths that make the stuff out of which traditional history textbooks are written, until very recently religious tolerance—let alone harmony—was the exception rather than the rule; that was true in Syria and elsewhere, as illustrated by Muslims's description of minorities in the unedited version of the Arabian Nights.

 A case in point is the Damascus Affair of 1840, when the city's Christians accused its Jews of killing a disappeared Capuchin monk with his servant and baking their matzo using their blood. The Christians solicited the aid of the governor of Damascus, who had the suspects interrogated under torture. Some broke down and confessed. One rabbi went to the extent of converting to Islam and testifying to confirm his tormentors' worst suspicions; in other words, he told them whatever he thought they wanted to hear.

Regrettably, and even today, there is no shortage of those who still believe this preposterous tale. The libel acquired the semi-official endorsement of the Syrian government when Defense Minister Muṣṭafā Ṭlās published a comical book in 1983.

Damascus Christians' turn arrived 20 years later when violence reached catastrophic proportions: Bāb Tūmā Quarter was leveled and thousands of innocents massacred.

Image credit: L'Univers illustré 116, August 2nd 1860.