THE ANTISEMITISM MONITORING FORUM
THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
28 January, 1999
Expressions of Anti-Semitism in the Arab Press
Collection No. '99/2
General:
During the past month anti-Semitic expressions continued to be published
in the Arab press. This month also Jews were accused of blackmail (in
connection with the Jewish wealth and gold affair in Switzerland), of
plotting to gain control of the world, of behaving like the Nazis and even
of falsifying the Koran. Prime Minister Netanyahu was compared this month
to the Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels.
Palestinians:
On 21 January, 1999, the Jordanian 'Al-Ra'i' newspaper published an
interview granted it by Assad Abd Al-Rahman, a member of the PLO executive
who is in charge of its refugee department. Abd Al-Rahman said that
'Netanyahu actually operates according to the method used by the German
Goebbels (the Nazi propaganda minister), who repeated a lie so frequently
that the public eventually believed him'.
Jordan:
In the 5 January, 1999 edition of the Jordanian establishment newspaper
'Al-Ra'i', the veteran journalist Reza Al-Issa published an article
entitled, 'The Jewish Woman President' on the election of Ruth Dreifuss,
the former Swiss Minister of Interior, as president of Switzerland.
Al-Issa writes that 'now that world Jewry, led by American Jewry, has
finished milking the Swiss banks and insurance companies, they have
completed the takeover of Switzerland by the election of a Jewish woman
president'. In his opinion, Switzerland may only be the first in a series
of countries which world Zionism intends to take over by means of
capital.
In the 7 January, 1999 edition of 'Al-Ra'i' under the title 'Monica and
Pollard', Al-Issa refers to the information, which ostensibly comes from
the Israeli media, that Clinton and Netanyahu reached an agreement over
Netanyahu's activity among Republican groups in the U.S. so they will not
act against Clinton in the Monica Affair. In return for this, Clinton
would release the spy Pollard before the Israeli elections. Without
investigating the validity of the information, the journalist writes that
clearly only Jews could think of a deal linking the matter of the spy to
that of the playgirl.
Assad Bayudh Al-Temimi published an article in the 15 January, 1999 issue
of the Jordanian establishment newspaper 'Al-Arab Al-Yom', on the
normalization with Israel. According to him: 'There are those who oppose
normalization, fearing a Jewish cultural invasion. We must oppose
normalization for a number of reasons: On religious grounds, the Jews are
our enemies. They stole Palestine, killed and uprooted its people and
declared war on the Muslims. They stole and robbed us of our right and we
must hate them and let them feel that for us they are only thieves. They
set a historical precedent when they stole the homeland, something in
history that only the Jews did. How can we have normal relations with
those thieves who have turned the Palestinian people into the greatest
victim of the twentieth century?...'
Egypt:
In its 26 December, 1998 edition, the establishment weekly 'Al-Ahram'
Al-Arabi' stated that in his new book 'The Second World War', the British
historian Morris Buckham revealed that the 'Western' Jews carried out a
great massacre among the units of the German army. The victims were
estimated to be some 15,000 German prisoners of war.
The opposition newspaper 'Al-Shaab' published an anti-Semitic article on
29 December, 1998 claiming that 'the Israeli danger has become a danger
now threatens the entire world', and that 'Zionism is a danger to the
future of humanity'. The newspaper called for forming a worldwide popular
alliance in order to escape from the Zionist gang and isolate the Jews
from the world community'.
On 5 January, 1999, the London-based 'Al-Hayat' newspaper published that
the opposition newspapers responded to statements by the Egyptian Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wally, who supported
the use of Israeli agricultural technology to improve yields in Egypt.
They accused him of being of Jewish origin, (cursing and insulting him).
The minister told the representatives 'I do not like to respond to slander
and curses since it is something that backfires'. He noted that in 1986
the 'Al-Shaab' newspaper wrote that he was of Jewish origin.
In the 15 January, 1999 edition of the establishment newspaper 'Al-Ahram',
Anis Mansour wrote that the re-election of Netanyahu would increase hatred
for the Jews all over the world, as can be seen today in Russia. He said
he found it strange that on the one hand, Jews cry out every time they are
persecuted, but on the other hand they are the ones that force all the
nations to this situation.
In its 18 January, 1999 edition, the opposition newspaper 'Al-Usbu''
published in its headline and in an extensive article that a group of Jews
has been lying falsifi verses from the Koran to modify it. The writer
claimed that this Jewish group, which is based in Washington and Tel Aviv
and is composed of Jews from Arab countries who are fluent in Arabic, have
conspired against Islam by translating the Koran in a manner which
distorts the truth and they have marketed it in the U.S. and Europe.
According to the article, while printing the Koran the group also intends
to combine the verses in such a way that they will receive a new meaning,
contrary to the original Koran. The article also says the Jewish group
intends to harm the Egyptian people by finding justifications for the
Jews' right to Sinai and returning the Sinai Peninsula to the Jews by the
year 2020 (...).
The establishment newspaper 'Al-Ahbar' published an article by Dr. Mahmoud
Al-Said Al-Kardi, entitled, 'A Warning Letter to the American Senate'. He
wrote that by chance he had come across a warning letter to the American
people brought to their attention some 200 years ago by the well-known
American philosopher and statesman Benjamin Franklin. According to the
Egyptian writer, apparently the American people did not pay sufficient
attention to this letter which was a kind of prophecy. 'Franklin, who
participated in the constitutional conference where the constitution of
the United States was signed, warned against the 'Jewish' danger which was
threatening the United States and called for preventing the immigration of
Jews to the U.S. by stipulating this in the constitution, so that they do
not 'take control over it', the writer explained.
Morocco:
The 15 January, 1999 edition of the newspaper 'Al Sahara' reported on a
statement by the Arab League that Israel 'is even worse than the Nazis' in
the number of homes it destroyed.
Oman:
On 13 January, 1999 the Omani newspaper 'Al-Wattan Al-Arabi' published an
anti-Semitic article by Dr. Mubarak Bin Seif Al-Hashemi, a professor at
the Islamic Culture College at the University of the Sultan Kabos in
Muscat. According to him, Judaism cannot be considered a culture or
religion today. The Sons of Israel, who distorted the Torah and sanctify
the Talmud (a man-made creation) more than the Bible, claim they are the
Chosen People and they intend to enslave all nations. The Koran says that
the Sons of Israel were expelled from their land because they sinned and
committed heresy, as well as insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Their
judgment is ,therefore, to be burned in the fires of Hell. In the
meantime, they continue to spread defilement and abomination and are the
enemies of humanity.