A Lib Dem and a blood libel

A rumour of Israel 'harvesting' organs in Haiti, given credence by Jenny Tonge, belongs to a baleful tradition of antisemitic lies

From the Guardian:

Just when we thought we heard everything, there comes Lady Tonge, the Liberal Democrat peer, calling for Israel to set up an inquiry to disprove allegations that its medical teams in Haiti "harvested" organs of earthquake victims for use in transplants.

It is easy to dismiss this as sheer nonsense. Indeed, my friend Yisrael Medad, with whom I usually disagree, had it right this time, when in his blog he wondered whether someone had made off with the baroness's brain. One thing for sure: nobody stole Tonge's tongue, and whether or not it is connected to any brain at all, it keeps erupting anti-Israeli abuses, which had already caused her party embarrassment in the past.

Attacking Israel's policies is one thing; insinuating that the army of the Jewish state is stealing organs or – as the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet published last year, that the IDF was killing Arabs for their organs – is to repeat what antisemites were saying about the Jews in the darkest periods of history. A blood libel, in short.

One hundred and seventy years ago, the Damascus blood libel shocked the world. On 5 February 1840, Father Thomas, the superior of the Capuchin house in Damascus, and his Muslim servant disappeared. The local Jews were immediately accused of murdering the two for the intention of using their blood for making Passover Matzot. Several Jews were arrested and tortured, and some of them died, not before producing "confessions".

British Jews, quick to stand by their oppressed brothers and sisters in Damascus, commissioned the leading Jew in Britain, Sir Moses Montefiore, to travel to the east and rescue the poor victims. Lord Palmerston, the foreign secretary, gave him his fullest support, and Queen Victoria even lent him one of her boats for the first leg of his travel. He went to Sultan Abdul Mejid, who was only 17 but already wise enough to write in his firman (decree) that only "Ignorant people believe that the Jews are in the habit of making human sacrifices in order to use the blood in the [Passover] wafers", and ordered to leave the Jews alone.

As Montefiore was preparing for his trip in 1840, Louis Loewe, his secretary, wrote that "on Friday, July 3rd, there was a crowded and enthusiastic meeting in the Egyptian Hall at the Mansion House, of bankers, merchants, and many influential and learned British Christians, for the purpose of expressing their sympathy with the Israelites, and their earnest wishes for the success of Sir Moses Montefiore".

British decency, then, in those days, revolted against such blatant lies, which had harsh repercussions on Jews everywhere. Now British decency is tested again, except that the blood libel comes not from Damascus, but from London.