In 1910, Muslims rumored that the Jews of Shiraz had ritually murdered a Muslim girl. Muslims plundered the whole Jewish quarter. The first to start looting were soldiers sent by the local governor to defend the Jews against the enraged mob. Twelve Jews who tried to defend their property were killed, and many others were injured. Representatives of the "Alliance Israélite Universelle" recorded numerous instances of persecution and debasement of Persian Jews. In the late 19th to early 20th century, thousands of Persian Jews immigrated to the territory of present-day Israel within the Ottoman Empire to escape such persecution.