Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed, an Egyptian professor of Hebrew at King Saud University, said on June 13, 2019 during an interview on the antisemitic Egyptian TV show "Blue Line," that some Jews eat matzos that contain human blood on Passover.
This was reported by MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization that monitors and translates public media in the Middle East. Memri says that it "bridges the language gap between the West and the Middle East and South Asia, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends."
Memri monitored the interview and provided a translation of the questions and answers.
Professor AbdelWahed said that he believes that some members of the community donate the blood for preparing the matzo, and that the practice — which he said is today limited to "extremist" Haredi Jews — was once widespread among Jews. Dr. AbdelWahed also said that the consumption of this matzo has negative effects on one's health.
Here is a partial transcript of the interview:
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "On Passover, they make a kind of matzo that is mixed with blood."
Interviewer: "Real blood?"
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "Yes, human blood."
Interviewer: "Where do they get it from?"
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "By Allah, I don't know."
Interviewer: "I mean, is it in blood bags, like the ones used when donating blood..."
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "No, I believe that it is like a sacrifice by some Jews, or a sort of donation in order to prepare this mixture."
Interviewer: "Do they eat the matzos with blood?"
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "Yes, they do."
Interviewer: "Is this done to this very day?"
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "Of course, this is not as common as it used to be. Nowadays these things are limited. [Nowadays] it is only done by the extremists, the haredim. They insist on doing these things, but regular people do not do this."
Interviewer: "I believe that this is something that is not healthy at all."
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "That's right."
Interviewer: "Matzos with human blood have an effect on one's health."
Dr. Fouad M. AbdelWahed: "Of course, yes."
To view the interview with the translation of MEMRI, please click here .
