Damascus affair

The Damascus affair of 1840 refers to the arrest of several notable members of the Jewish community in Damascus on the accusation of murdering Father Thomas, a Christian monk, and his Muslim servant for the purpose of using their blood to bake matzo, an antisemitic accusation also known as the blood libel. The Christians were supported in their accusation by the French consul at Damascus, Ulysse de Ratti-Menton, an anti-semite who was known to favour Christian merchants and advisers over their Jewish counterparts. Ratti-Menton ordered that an investigation be carried out in the Jewish quarter where both men had last been seen and encouraged the Egyptian governor of Damascus to act upon the matter, which resulted in the accused being imprisoned and interrogated under torture after which they confessed to the murder. In the aftermath of the incident, Christian and Muslim violence against the Jewish population increased. The affair drew widespread international attention, especially among European Jewry. After receiving a request from Sir Moses Montefiore and Adolphe Crémieux, Muhammed 'Ali released the remaining prisoners but without officially acquitting them. In November 1840, after the restoration of Ottoman rule over Syria, Sultan Abdülmecid I issued a firmān (edict) that denounced blood libel charges. In 1840 Damascus belonged to the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922). Under Ottoman rule, the society was organized by the so-called millet system, which divided the Ottoman subjects into different millets based on their religious affiliation. This system guaranteed considerable autonomy to the different millets as long as its members remained loyal to the sultan. The Muslim millet was by far the biggest since Islam was the most dominant religion in the area. Christians and Jews were considered dhimmis—a class of non-Muslims possessing some limited rights under Muslim rule—and allowed to practice their own religion. In return, the Christians and the Jews had to pay jizya (a special tax imposed on non-Muslim subjects), and they possessed a lower legal and social status than their fellow Muslim citizens.