c. 2007 Religion News Service

Professor Pulls Book With Controversial `Blood Libel’ Claim

JERUSALEM (RNS) The author of a controversial new book that says a small number of Jews living hundreds of years ago may have ingested the blood of Christian children has asked his publisher to stop distributing the book.

The book, “Easter of Blood,” by Italian Jewish professor Ariel Toaff, has resurrected charges of “blood libel.” Toaff said Thursday (Feb. 15) he wants to “re-edit those passages which comprised the basis of the distortions and falsehoods that have been published in the media.”

Toaff teaches at Israel’s Bar Ilan University. His book has deeply upset Jews around the world, who say it spreads unsubstantiated and dangerous claims that a group of Jewish zealots living in the Italian city of Trento between the 11th and 14th centuries consumed the blood of Christian children to avenge widespread Christian persecution of the Jews.

For centuries, Christians and others have used the blood libel claim to justify the torture and murder of Jews. Jewish leaders now fear Toaff’s book will spur anti-Semitism.

Jewish leaders, including Toaff’s own father, the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, have denounced the book, stressing that its blood libel assertions are based on statements made by Jews subjected to torture.

“There has never existed in Jewish tradition any permission or custom for using human blood for ritual purposes. Such a practice is considered with horror,” senior Italian rabbis said in a joint statement. “It is absolutely improper to use centuries-old statements, extracted under torture, to formulate singular and aberrant historical theses. The only blood shed in these stories is that of many innocent Jews.”

In a statement, Bar Ilan University said it “condemns and repudiates” charges based on Toaff’s book circulated in the media.

Toaff said he was “astounded by the sheer force of these misrepresentations, which turned what is a research book into a vehicle used to harm Judaism and the Jewish people and, God forbid, as a justification for blood libel.”

The historian said he will donate all earnings from the book’s publication to the Anti-Defamation League.

“I will never allow any Jew-hater to use me or my research as an instrument for fanning the flames, once again, of the hatred that led to the murder of millions of Jews,” Toaff said.

_ Michele Chabin

Laura Bush Urges Continued Faith-based Work on Malaria

WASHINGTON _ First lady Laura Bush congratulated religious and community organizations involved in the fight against malaria and urged others to join in the campaign at a White House conference on Thursday (Feb. 15).

She spoke at a program of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives that highlighted the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), which was launched in 2005 and aims to spend $1.2 billion over five years to address malaria in 15 countries.

“People of faith have always reached out to their neighbors in need,” Bush told more than 100 people at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House. “By working together and coordinating with PMI and other initiatives, people of faith can now help save millions of lives from malaria.”

The first lady cited several groups _ from Catholic Relief Services to megachurch pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in California _ who are fighting the disease that kills about 1 million people each year, many of them children.

“There are too many children who die of this preventable and treatable disease,” said Jay Hein, director of the White House office that sponsored the meeting.

Speakers urged cooperation among religious groups, businesses, and philanthropists to reduce transmission of the insect-borne disease.

Susan Lassen, Nets for Life coordinator with Episcopal Relief and Development, spoke of her travels to rural Zambia, where she asked people how children had died. “The answer was always the same: fever,” she said.

Her project, a partnership with businesses and foundations, is distributing insecticide-treated bed nets to reduce the rates of malaria infection.

Bush pointed out that, “in many African villages, churches are the only formal institutions that can manage malaria control and prevention. In malaria-prone regions, people look first to their churches, mosques or synagogues for help.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Tens of Thousands To Sing `Amazing Grace’ on Sunday

(RNS) Tens of thousands of voices from churches around the globe will take a public stand Sunday (Feb. 18) against modern-day slavery by singing the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

More than 2,500 churches from a range of denominations have committed to pray for freedom for those still the victims of slavery, and to sing the hymn to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade in England.

The National Association of Evangelicals and the National Council of Churches are two organizations encouraging members to participate in “Amazing Grace Sunday.”

In a letter on NAE’s Web site, interim NAE president Leith Anderson asked members to spend a few moments during their Sunday service to “speak for the oppressed.”

He said the significance of Sunday’s event was to commemorate the work of British abolitionist William Wilberforce and to acknowledge that the fight to end slavery continues.

“From forced child labor to bonded labor and sexual servitude, millions are suffering and need evangelicals to speak out on their behalf,” Anderson said. “We believe your involvement in this effort is a signal of NAE’s continuing commitment to fight to end modern-day slavery.”

The global event is linked to “Amazing Grace,” a new film from Bristol Bay Productions that champions Wilberforce, a politician who pioneered legislation to abolish the British slave trade. The movie opens Feb. 23.

_ Melissa Stee

Quote of the Day: Amanda Marcotte, Formerly John Edwards’ Campaign Blogger

(RNS) “… and if I can’t do the job I was hired to do because Bill Donohue doesn’t have anything better to do with his time than harass me, then I won’t do it.”

_ Amanda Marcotte, a blogger hired by John Edwards’ presidential campaign, announcing her resignation after Catholic conservatives, including Catholic League President Bill Donohue, criticized her previous writings as “anti-Catholic.” Marcotte’s resignation was announced on her blog: pandagon.net

KRE/LF END RNS