Armenian Blood Libel

I knew about the Church and what is known as the 'blood libel' and how Islam promoted it.

However, yesterday it was also shown to me how the blood libel was also taken up by the Armenian priesthood and many Jewish people were slaughtered due to it.

"For the Christian Armenians the Jews were in great sin. It was a common belief among the Armenians that the Jews slaughter young Christian Armenians and use their blood at the Passover feast. In Amasya province for instance local Armenian priests and notables claimed that an Armenian woman had seen Jews slaughter a young Armenian boy and use his blood for religious purposes. Stanford J. Shaw describes the following events:

‘Several days of rioting and pillaging and attacks on Jews followed, with Armenian mobs devastating the Jewish quarter of the city, beating men, women and children alike. The Armenian notables convinced the local Ottoman governor to imprison several Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Yakub Avayu, who was accused of having supervised the blood letting. They were said, after undergoing severe torture, to have confessed to their crimes and were hanged. Later, however, the Armenian boy who supposedly had been murdered was found and a new Ottoman governor punished the accusers, though nothing could be done about the Jews who had suffered in the process.’[3]

However, I support the Armenian cause and for the genocide of the Armenian people to be recognized by the nations and that includes Israel and Turkey. 


1. http://www.turkishweekly.net/article/230/armenia-s-jewish-scepticism-and-its-impact-on-armenia-israel-relations.html