← Blood Libel (Ritual Murder Accusation)·Genealogy graph

How the blood libel spread

This map plots 63 documented ritual-murder accusations — from Apion's ancient libel and the first medieval case at Norwich (1144) to the Damascus affair (1840) and modern revivals. Press play to watch the same false accusation travel across nine centuries and a continent. Each pin is a real, sourced historical event — the accusation, never the libel, was real.

2002

case 63 / 63

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2002March 2002

Al-Riyadh Purim blood libel article

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · Middle East & N. Africa

On 10 March 2002 the Saudi government daily Al-Riyadh published an article by Dr. Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma of King Faysal University claiming that Jews murder non-Jewish youths (Christian or Muslim) to use their blood in pastries for the holidays of Purim and Passover, complete with graphic invented detail about how the blood must be obtained.

Outcome
After the article was translated by MEMRI and condemned by the U.S. Congress, State Department, and President George W. Bush, editor-in-chief Turki Al-Sudairi published an apology, called the publication a mistake, and the author was removed from the paper.

Why it matters
A prominent documented instance of the medieval blood libel appearing in 21st-century state-affiliated Arab media, illustrating the trope's continued circulation in mainstream press.

Sources