VII

THE LAWFUL USE OF CHRISTIAN BLOOD AND WEALTH

Contents of the Investigation Minutes of the 13th of Muharram 1256 H.

The session was held in the Office of the Governor General, Sharif Pasha. Those attending included members of the Investigation Committee, Mr. Beadin, the Assistant to the French Consul, Khawaja Chubli Ayub, a senior official of the Egyptian Government, and Rabbi Jacob, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community in Damascus.

The Investigator started by asking, "What is the position of the Jewish Religion, according to the Talmudic Commandments as to the status of non-Jewish nations?"

Rabbi Moussa Abou Al-Afieh replied, "The status of non-Jewish nations is considered to be that of animals. Following the example of our Master, Abraham, the Prophet of God, when he and two servants went to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham said to them, 'You stay here with the donkey. I will go with the lad.' From this, which is contained in the Talmud, it is interpreted as classifying the non-Jews as animals. Thus, the status of non-Jewish nations are to be classified accordingly."

The Investigator asked Rabbi Jacob, "And you, your honor Rabbi Jacob, what do you say on this matter?" Rabbi Jacob answered, "Our Master, Father Abraham saw God, he said to his people, 'Look!' When they did not see anything, he said to them, 'stay with the donkey.' This is interpreted in the Talmud as classifying the non-Jews as animals."

Rabbi Moussa Abou Al-Afieh, who was present and who had converted from Judaism to Islam, adopting the Muslim name of Mohammad Afandi Al-Muslimani for himself. He had brought with him The Talmud and some other Jewish books to deal with these beliefs, as to their justification in arriving at such conclusions. These books were available in the Governor General's Office. Rabbi Jacob picked up a book to read the opening verses in order to explain it to the Governor General. Mohammad Al-Muslimani responded, "He wants to read what they have written at the beginning of each of these books because they state at the beginning of the book what is being said of other non-Jewish nations, who do not know or worship God, the nations of ancient time. This is what Rabbi Jacob wants to point out and clarify to you." Al-Muslimani added that, "And in order to conceal their action or belief, so they can print their books in Europe, they leave a number of blank pages in their books. In this way they are able to mislead the public opinion in the West."

The Investigator then asked Rabbi Jacob about the subject of the omitted pages in their printed books. Rabbi Jacob replied, "Do you want us to put in this information including the name of Jesus, and what happened to him? And what should be mentioned in this regard?"

The Investigator continued, "You have said that 'after the Most Majestic God revealed himself to the People of Israel in the wilderness, that they believed in Him. And that those who failed to adopt the Jewish Religion it is lawful for the Jewish believers to kill.' Is that true?"

Rabbi Jacob answered, "It is true, because when the Almighty God revealed himself to the people, they accepted him by believing in Him. Anyone who renounces his belief must be killed."

The Rabbi was questioned further. "Is it lawful to kill those who work on Saturday?" Rabbi Jacob answered, "Yes! If he is a Jew."

Mohammad Al-Muslimani responded to this by saying, "So, it is lawful to kill the rest of the people of all nations if they refuse to work on Saturday because they have no more status than of cattle and are not entitled to rest. All non-Jews must work day and night. It is written in the book of Sanhedrin (from the Talmud) at the end of page 58. "Who works on Saturday of other nations must be killed without question or answer. And if a non-Jew reads the Torah he must be killed because the Torah is for the People of Israel. The books of other nations must be burned even though they contain the name of God. If a person, other than a Jew, were to write the name of God, even in the Torah. The Torah, if written by a non-Jew, must be burned."

The Investigator asked, "What is the position of the Jews in regard to the wealth of peoples who are non-Jews?"

Mohammad Al-Muslimani answered, "There are seven Commandments: One - Do not worship stars, planets and constellations. Two - Do not commit adultery. Three - Do not kill. Four - Do not steal. Five - Do not cut the flesh of a living lamb and eat it. Six - Do not mate an animal with one of unlike kind. Anyone (not a Jew) who does any of these, will find that his wealth is lawful for the Jews to take."

The Investigator asked Rabbi Jacob, "What do you say about that?" Rabbi Jacob answered, "When the People of Israel left Egypt, and saw that other nations did not apply or practice these seven commandments, Talmudic law it made the wealth of non-Jews become the wealth of Jews." The Investigator asked, "Do the Jews deal with the other nations according to this law?" Mohammad Al-Muslimani answered, "It is a known fact that the other religions, specifically Christianity and Islam have similar commandments and that they practice them. In fact they are identical to those in the Talmud. He who behaves to the contrary will be treated in the same way which applied to the other non-believers."

The Investigator said, "You have mentioned in your testimony that the Jews extracted the blood of Christians and used it to make bread. It is known by your belief that blood is not clean, and is forbidden by your religion even when taken from a lawfully slain animals. It is not lawful to use blood. There exists a contradiction between blood being impure and forbidden, and that of its being lawful if taken from a Christian human being, especially to make the bread for the holy day. Is there any logical or convincing proof which will explain this contradiction?"

Al-Muslimani answered, "The Talmud says that there are two kinds of blood pleasing to God. The blood of the Passover, and the blood of the circumcision." Rabbi Jacob added, "God loves two kinds of blood, the Passover sacrificial blood, and the blood of circumcision."

Chubli Ayub responded, "We do not understand very well how it is permissible to use human blood?"

Al-Muslimani answered, "The Chief Rabbis know by the codes given to them how and when it is permissible to use this blood."

The Governor General asked, "If a Jew said something that caused harm to another Jew or to other Jews, and to their religion, what would be his case?"

Al-Muslimani answered, "It is lawful to kill a Jew if he commits adultery, or does something which violates the belief or the teaching of the religion. This was so in the past, but now they (the Jews) consider him to be a deserter and they do not do anything to him, because his desertion has placed him outside of the religion. Also if anyone of them speaks ill about the Jews, or causes harm to any of them, or insults the Jewish Religion then for sure he must be killed. This is done even today in spite of their weak position because they consider him an enemy of their religion. There is no sin offering for this offence except death. The Jewish Religion relies on this practice in these days. For this reason I did not confess the truth, and I was unable to confess until I had declared my conversion to Islam.

The Investigator then asked Rabbi Jacob about this. He replied, "What he (Al-Muslimani) has said is true. The Jews would work to kill him directly or to cause his death by plotting through the rulers."

The Investigator asked, "And if the governors or rulers found that the accused Jew or non-Jew is not guilty, and they did not assist you with his killing, what would they do then?"

Rabbi Jacob answered, "This what our religion commands us. Therefore, we must exert all effort possible to kill him, and use whatever means available to accomplish that."