Comment

PWN3D: Austrians Place Flag of Israel Next to Portrait of Anti-Semitic Queen

5
SanFranciscoZionist12/09/2011 11:14:00 am PST

re: #4 ProLifeLiberal

Compare this to Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, who said

Summary: He said Tolerate or die.

He also acted like a smart-ass towards Ferdinand and Isabella regarding the expulsions.

I recall that quote, something like “They can’t be very bright, they’re making my country richer and impoverishing their own.”

The Ottomans were still establishing their larger empire at that point, and they wanted to build a merchant class. They were thrilled with the opportunity to scoop up the refugees coming out of the Iberian peninsula.

There’s a scene in “The Borgias”, where the visiting/hostage Ottoman prince asks about some people they see in the street, and Cesare Borgia explains that they’re Spanish Jews, who his father is allowing to pay to live in Rome. The Ottoman boy raises his eyebrows and says something like ‘How liberal’. It baffled me, because, of course, his brother is raking these same people in like poker chips at that point.