Blood Libel History

For thousands of years Jews have been accused of blood libels. Blood libels are false accusation against Jews use human blood in certain aspect of their religious rituals and holidays.

In General, the libel alleged something like this:
A child, normally a boy who had not yet reached puberty was kidnapped or sometimes bought and taken to a hidden place (the house of a prominent member of the Jewish community, a synagogue, a cellar, etc.) where he would be kept hidden until the time of his death.

The description of torture and human sacrifice in the antisemitic blood libels run contrary to many of the teaching of Judaism.

* The Ten Commandments in the Torah forbid murder!!!

* The use of blood (human or otherwise) in cooking is prohibited by the kosher dietary law.

* Blood from slaughtered animals may not be consumed, and must be drained out of the animal and covered with earth. (Lev 17:12-13)

* Blood from sacrificed animals may only be placed on the altar of the Great Temple in Jerusalem.(which no longer existed)

* Furthermore, consumption of human flesh violate kashrut.

While animals sucrifice was part of the practice of ancient Judaism, the Tanakh (old testament) and Jewish teaching portray human sacrifice as one of the most evils that separated the pagans of Canaan from the Hebrews. ( Deut' 12:31, 2 Kings 16:3)

Jews were prohibited from engaging in these rituals and were punished for doing so. (Ex' 34:15, Lev' 20:2, Deut' 18:12, Jer' 7:31)

* The first recorded blood libel against Jews was by the Graeco-Egyptian author Apion, who claimed that Jews sacrificed Greek victim in their temple. This blood libel from ancient Greek time pre dates Christianity and is usually thought of as an act of antisemitism.

This resulted in an attack on Jews in Alexandria in 38 CE in which thousands of Jews were did.

* The last recorded blood libel against Jews was on August 2009, a Swedish Newspaper, "Aftonbladet" published an editorial:

"They plunder the organs of our sons".

Claiming that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians to steal their organs prompting furious condemnation and accusation of an anti-Semitic blood libel from a rival Swedish publication.

Why Do People Hate the Jews?

God cursed the Jews, therefore they don't deserve a country - (the statement of H.R.H.
King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud: 'Our hatred for the Jews dates from God's condemnation of them for their persecution and rejection of Isa (Jesus Christ), and their subsequent rejection later of His chosen Prophet.

The Jews cause trouble wherever they are For example: "People all over the world have come to realize that Hitler was right, since Jews . . . are bloodsuckers . . . interested in destroying the whole world which has . . . expelled them and despised them for centuries ... and burnt them in Hitler's crematoria ... one million ... six millions. Would that he had finished it!"
~ Anis Mansour, Al-Akhbar, August 19, 1973 ~

Jews (or "Zionists") control the world or are plotting to control the world, based on the Protocols of the elders of Zion (see Hamas Charter for example and "Knight Without a Horse" - the popular Egyptian TV drama and see Mahathir Mohamed - OIC Congress address )

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Why Do People Hate the Jews?

It has been said that the history of almost all of the Jewish holidays can be summed up succinctly: "They wanted to kill us; we won. Let's eat." Why has anti-Semitism been so pervasive in so many countries, in so many time periods and for so many reasons? (One begins to wonder. Perhaps there is something wrong with the Jews and Judaism? After all, there is an old Yiddish saying -- "If one person calls you a donkey, ignore him; if two people call you a donkey, buy a saddle.")

Between the years 250 CE and 1948 CE - a period of 1,700 years - Jews have experienced more than eighty expulsions from various countries in Europe - an average of nearly one expulsion every twenty-one years. Jews were expelled from England, France, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, Moravia and seventy-one other countries.

Historians have classified six explanations as to why people hate the Jews:

Economic -- "We hate Jews because they possess too much wealth and power."
Chosen People -- "We hate Jews because they arrogantly claim that they are the chosen people."
Scapegoat -- "Jews are a convenient group to single out and blame for our troubles."
Deicide -- "We hate Jews because they killed Jesus."
Outsiders -- "We hate Jews because they are different than us." (The dislike of the unlike.)
Racial Theory -- "We hate Jews because they are an inferior race."

As we examine the explanations, we must ask -- Are they the causes for anti-Semitism or excuses for Anti-Semitism? The difference? If one takes away the cause, then anti-Semitism should no longer exist. If one can show a contradiction to the explanation, it demonstrates that the "cause" is not a reason, it is just an excuse. Let's look at some contradictions:

Economic -- The Jews of 17th- 20th century Poland and Russia were dirt poor, had no influence and yet they were hated.

Chosen People -- a) In the late 19th century, the Jews of Germany denied "Choseness." And then they worked on assimilation. Yet, the holocaust started there. b) Christians and Moslems profess to being the "Chosen people," yet, the world and the anti-Semites tolerate them.

Scapegoat -- Any group must already be hated to be an effective scapegoat. The Scapegoat Theory does not then cause anti-Semitism. Rather, anti-Semitism is what makes the Jews a convenient scapegoat target. Hitler's ranting and ravings would not be taken seriously if he said, "It's the bicycle riders and the midgets who are destroying our society."

Deicide -- a) the Christian Bible says the Romans killed Jesus, though Jews are mentioned as accomplices (claims that Jews killed Jesus came several hundred years later). How come the accomplices are persecuted and there isn't an anti-Roman movement through history? b) Jesus himself said, "Forgive them [i.e., the Jews], for they know not what they do." The Second Vatican Council in 1963 officially exonerated the Jews as the killers of Jesus. Neither statement of Christian belief lessened anti-Semitism.

Outsiders -- With the Enlightenment in the late 18th century, many Jews rushed to assimilate. Anti-Semitism should have stopped. Instead, for example, with the Nazis came the cry, in essence: "We hate you, not because you're different, but because you're trying to become like us! We cannot allow you to infect the Aryan race with your inferior genes."

Racial Theory -- The overriding problem with this theory is that it is self-contradictory: Jews are not a race. Anyone can become a Jew - and members of every race, creed and color in the world have done so at one time or another.

Every other hated group is hated for a relatively defined reason. We Jews, however, are hated in paradoxes: Jews are hated for being a lazy and inferior race - but also for dominating the economy and taking over the world. We are hated for stubbornly maintaining our separateness - and, when we do assimilate - for posing a threat to racial purity through intermarriages. We are seen as pacifists and as warmongers; as capitalist exploiters and as revolutionary communists; possessed of a Chosen-People mentality, as well as of an inferiority complex. It seems that we just can't win.

Now we know what are NOT the reasons for anti-Semitism