Anti-Semitic incitement continues in the Egyptian press, claims the US Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which refers to 13 alleged instances between February and May 2001 where Arabic language newspapers "continued their campaign of anti-Jewish bigotry."
"Anti-Semitism persists in the Egyptian media without any official censure from the government, which without question exerts influence over the media," said the ADL in a report published on its website.
Articles appearing in major Egyptian newspapers - including the government-backed Al Ahram, Al Akhbar and Al Gumhuriya - continue to resurrect classic anti-Jewish stereotypes and myths, the watchdog group claims.
Egyptian newspapers regularly dabble in anti-Semitic canards, Holocaust denial and praise for Hitler, conspiracy theories, blood libel and justification for anti-Semitism, the ADL reported.
Excerpts from articles, translated from Arabic, in addition to cartoons and images, have been posted on the ADL web site as part of a special new section devoted to exposing anti-Semitism in the Arab World. The page will be updated as new incidents of "anti-Jewish incitement" appear in Arab nations, said the group.
Among the recent manifestations of anti-Semitism in the Egyptian press, the group cites Al Akhbar's May 27 article entitled In Defense of Hitler, which accuses "world Zionism" of inventing the "false Holocaust."
“Comparisons of Israel with the Nazis, denial of the Holocaust and traditional libels are common manifestations of anti-Semitism in the Egyptian media. It is ironic that while the Egyptian media frequently engages in denial of the Holocaust, it continues to demonstrate the "evil" of the Israeli government by comparing Israel and Israeli leadership to the Nazis,” said the ADL.
However, the report did not cite any of the many remarks by Arab editorialists, journalists and politicians making a clear distinction between Zionists and Jews, echoing a 1975 UN resolution equating Zionism with racism.
The resolution was recently thrown out under pressure from the US, which threatened to not pay its financial dues to the international organization unless the offending material was scrapped.
The ADL itself cannot claim a history clean of scandals.
In 1993, the Baltimore Sentinel published an article accusing the pro-Israeli group of spying on US citizens.
A major scandal, centered around ex-San Francisco Police Inspector Tom Gerard, was cited in the report.
Gerard was charged in San Francisco with theft of government property and conspiracy. He was suspected of having collected privileged material on many residents and organizations in California's Bay Area. He turned the information over to a “shadowy character” named Roy Bullock. Gerard was introduced to Bullock in the San Francisco office of the ADL.
according to the article, Bullock had been the ADL's top "investigator" for more than three decades. The ADL paid him over $170,000 between 1985 and 1992 for his cloak-and-dagger work – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
