BLOOD LIBEL IN OTTOMAN LANDS: VICTIMS, PERPETRATORS AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE RULERS

From the twelfth to the twentieth centuries, Jews were frequently subjected to blood libel—a baseless and deeply ingrained myth accusing them of abducting and murdering Christians for use in religious rituals. While the most notorious instances of these accusations occurred in Italy, Germany, and England, similar incidents were reported across the Mediterranean, including in the Ottoman Empire. Blood libel emerged in Ottoman territories in the fifteenth century and persisted sporadically. Accusations often led to violent attacks on Jewish communities, including significant incidents in Amasya (1530), Jerusalem (1546), Phokaia (1560), Ragusa (1622), Istanbul (1633), Zante (1712), Aleppo (1830), and during the infamous cases in Damascus and Rhodes (1840), as well as Izmir (1872 and 1901). While some Catholic elites in the Ottoman Empire supported these libels, most Ottoman officials actively condemned them. Three Ottoman sultans—Suleiman the Magnificent (1545), Abdulmecid (1840), and Abdulaziz (1866)—issued edicts explicitly denouncing the accusations and taking measures to protect Jewish communities. This study explores the historical development of blood libel within the Ottoman context, examining its impact on Jewish communities and the state’s response as a matter of domestic law. Drawing on archival records and existing scholarship, it highlights the Empire’s approach to maintaining pluralistic coexistence while mitigating intercommunal tensions. Furthermore, by evaluating these accusations within the framework of Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony, the study explores how blood libel functioned as a hegemonic tool employed by Christian minorities to marginalize Jews, and how the Ottoman state’s counter-hegemonic policies sought to uphold justice and social harmony. This analysis underscores the complexities of managing diversity in a multiethnic empire and offers insights into the enduring relevance of combating divisive narratives in pluralistic societies.