The hate industry:
a review of anti-Semitic literature published in Egypt in recent years and sold at the Cairo International Book Fair. Such literature, marketed from Egypt across the Arab and Muslim world, is designed to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish people, virtually justifying the use of violence against them.
Overview
Overview
1. The present Information Bulletin reviews seven anti-Semitic books purchased at the Cairo International Book Fair, held between January 24 and February 4, 2007 . Held annually in Egypt , the book fair attracts hundreds of publishing houses from across the globe, many of them being from the Arab and Muslim world.
2. Egypt is the Arab world's biggest center of publishing anti-Semitic literature. Such literature is marketed across the Arab and Muslim world, distributed through the Internet, and sold every year at the Cairo International Book Fair. Such literature is also marketed to such Arab fairs as the 17th Arab Book Fair, held in Qatar in December 2005. (1) The books covered here, including new versions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, are a representative sample of the extensive "industry" of anti-Semitic literature produced by Egyptian book publishers. The anti-Semitic literature is also targeted against the State of Israel and the Zionist movement, with hatred against the US , the West, and Christianity being a fairly common theme as well.
3. The books reviewed recycle lies, fabrications, and anti-Semitic myths rooted in classical European and Islamic anti-Semitism. Characteristically, the Jews are said to possess all manner of negative qualities and are presented as the source of evil and cause of corruption everywhere in the world. The Jews are accused of striving to take over the world and blamed for all the wars and revolutions ever to befall mankind. Their holy books—the Torah (claimed to be falsified by the Jews) and the Talmud—are presented as a list of instructions for the Jews to murder gentiles and take over the world. Defamations and lies, such as the use of gentile blood for baking the Passover matzos or the claim that Jews are the descendants of monkeys and pigs, are recycled over and over again in those anti-Semitic books.
4. As is the custom in Egypt, the authors of the anti-Semitic books, full of lies and mindless drivel, hold academic and religious degrees and serve in social or official capacities (such as Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Hijazi al-Saqa, who holds a PhD in Comparative Research from Al-Azhar University, or Ibrahim Abu Dah, general manager and editor-in-chief of the oppositionist weekly Al-Siyasi al-Misri). Some anti-Semitic book publishers are big, such as Madbuli Publishing, one of Egypt 's largest. All that combines to give an air of credibility and scientific objectivity to the lies and defamations targeted against the Jewish people.
5. That anti-Semitic literature, whose publication and distribution go against the spirit of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, has a negative impact on Israeli-Egyptian relations, spreading hatred against the Jews across the Arab and Muslim world as well as Arab and Muslim communities in Western countries. (2) Thus, the anti-Semitic myths, lies, and drivel take hold in the consciousness of those exposed to such literature, demonize and delegitimize the Jews, and lay the foundations for acts of violence against them.
6. Despite its ability to impose strict censorship, the Egyptian government nevertheless allows the publication of anti-Semitic books (including The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ) and statements widely distributed through the written and electronic press. It allows that phenomenon to exist as part of a policy designed, as we understand it, to hinder the process of normalization with Israel, as an expression of its displeasure with Israel in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as a factor contributing towards Israel's isolation in the Middle East, and as a pressure release valve, mostly on the part of the radical Islamic opposition.
7. Following are the books reviewed in the present document: (3)
a. "The Nature of the Jews [as reflected] in the Torah and the Talmud, by Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Hijazi al-Saqa ( Cairo , Maktabat Zahran Publishing, 2003).
b. " Israel 's Follies and the Lies of Zionism—Religion and State", by Ibrahim Abu Dah ( Cairo , Maktabat Zahran, 2003).
c. "The Complete Version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion ", by Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Hijazi al-Saqa ( Cairo , Maktabat Zahran Publishing, 2003).
d. "The Jews and the New Crusaders, the Religious and Political Controversy", by Muhammad Younes Hashem ( Cairo , Dar al-Ibda' lil-Sahafa wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi', 2005).
e. "The Divine Inspiration and its Reversal, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion ", by Dr. Baha al-Amir ( Cairo , Madbuli Publishing, 2006).
f. "The Children of Israel and the Lie of Semitism", by Dr. 'Ayid Taha Nassef ( Cairo , Mu'assassat Taibe lil-Nashr wal-I'lam, 2005).
g. "Secrets of the Bastions of the False Messiah in the Hidden Island Triangle, the Wandering Jew and the Bermuda [Triangle] Region", by Muhammad Issa Daoud ( Cairo , Madbuli al-Saghir Publishing, 2005).
Book 1: "The Nature of the Jews [as reflected] in the Torah and the Talmud"by Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Hijazi al-Saqa
Front cover illustration:
an illustration of Earth with a ship called "World Zionism". The Jews are portrayed as snakes that take over and ruin the world. The text on the snake lair in Russia says "The Communist Revolution"; another lair in France has the text "The French Revolution". The text on a drowning ship near England reads "The English Revolution". The message is that the Jews are responsible for spreading revolutionist ideas and stood behind all the revolutions that took place in Western countries. At the bottom of the drawing is a book whose title is "The Torah, the Talmud, and The Protocols", next to which is a knife cutting the world and causing it to bleed. The message is that the Jews use the Torah, the Talmud, and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to spill blood and take over the world.Appendix A
Selected list of Information Bulletins published by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center on anti-Semitic literature published in Egypt
1. "The Grand Mufti of Egypt in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion – a "fictitious book" that "has no truth to it"; in his article he categorically denies having written the foreword to the 2003 edition of The Protocols , which was attributed to him" (May 15, 2007).
2. "Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism: the Iranian media gave wide coverage to the Holocaust denial conference held in Cairo by marginal opposition parties. The conference was rife with anti-Semitic propaganda, and the director waved The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and repeated the lies it contained" ( January 7, 2007 ).
3. "The Arab hate industry: Egypt continues as a center for the publication of crude anti-Semitic literature encouraging hatred for Israel, the Jewish people and the West, and in effect justifying the use of violence against them" (October 29, 2006).
4. "Monitoring anti-Semitic publications issued in the Arab countries: two anti-Semitic books published in Egypt in 2005 preach hatred of the Jewish people, the state of Israel and the Zionist movement (with no distinctions made between the three) and provide religious Islamic sanction for violence against them" (January 8, 2006).
5. "Exporting Arabic anti-Semitic publications issued in the Middle East to Britain : anti-Semitic books ( The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf ) issued in Egypt and Lebanon are sold in bookstores in London " ( October 10, 2005 ).
6. " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion still a hit on the Egyptian book market: Two new versions of The Protocols, published in Egypt in 2003, are offered for sale in Cairo's bookstores and, in our assessment, are marketed throughout the Arab and Muslim world" (January 25, 2005).
7. "Anti-Semitism in the Contemporary Middle East" (April 2004; the Egyptian section).
8. "A new Arabic edition of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was issued in Egypt in July 2002, by the same company that publishes the weekly establishment newspaper, Akhbar al-Youm, one of the five large publishing houses still under Egyptian government control" (January 2004).
9. "The Arab Information Center: An independent publishing house operating in Egypt, on behalf of Palestinian radical Islamists and in which members of the Egyptian political opposition are also involved, openly conducts an extensive, ongoing, anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian propaganda campaign. The Center's crudely anti-Semitic publications, preaching hatred and inciting terrorist acts against Israel , the Jews and the Zionist movement (as well as the United States and Britain ). They are written by various (sometimes distinguished) Arab scholars and distributed (usually to subscribers) throughout the Arab and Muslim world, to Muslim communities in the West, to the Palestine Authority (PA)-administered territories and even to Israeli Arabs" (January 2004).
1 For a review of anti-Semitic books sold at the International Book Fair in Qatar, where the most prominent anti-Semitic publishing houses were from Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, see Information Bulletin: "The Arab hate industry: Egypt continues as a center for the publication of crude anti-Semitic literature encouraging hatred for Israel, the Jewish people and the West, and in effect justifying the use of violence against them" (October 29, 2006).
2 For an example of exporting a Protocols edition from Egypt to London, see Information Bulletin dated October 10, 2005: "Exporting Arabic anti-Semitic publications issued in the Middle East to Britain: anti-Semitic books ( The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf ) issued in Egypt and Lebanon are sold in bookstores in London".
3 For additional anti-Semitic books published in Egypt and reviewed in earlier bulletins of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center , see Appendix.
HTML version with illustrations: The Hate Industry
Cross posted: Israel News Middle East Analysis
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