Damascus Affair

The Damascus affair was an 1840 incident in which the accusation of ritual murder was brought against members of the Jewish community of Damascus. Eight notable Jews of Damascus were falsely accused of murdering a Christian monk, imprisoned and tortured. Several of the imprisoned died of torture, and another was forced to convert to Islam. In addition, the Muslim populace of Damascus fell upon the Jewish synagogue in the suburb of Jobar, pillaged it, and destroyed the scrolls of the Law.

The affair drew wide international attention in particular due to the efforts of the Austrian Consul in Aleppo Eliahu Picciotto, who made representations to Ibrahim Pasha, who then ordered an investigation. Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, backed by other influential westerners led a delegation to the ruler of Syria and Egypt, Mehemet Ali. The negotiations in Alexandria continued from August 4 to August 28 and secured the unconditional release and recognition of innocence of the nine prisoners still remaining alive (out of thirteen). Later in Constantinople, Montefiore persuaded Sultan Abdülmecid I to issue a firman (edict) intended to halt the spread of blood libel accusations in the Ottoman Empire. The prevailing contemporary interpretation of this event is that of being a part of a long history of false blood libel charges against Jews.