In December 2003, the manuscripts museum at the Alexandria Library
exhibited an Arabic translation of 'The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion' in its showcase of holy books of the monotheistic religions,
placing it alongside the Torah.(1) Commenting on this incident, the
editor of the Egyptian weekly Al-Qahira, Sallah 'Issa, wrote in the
independent Egyptian weekly Nahdhat Misr a criticism of the dissemination
of antisemitic ideas in the Egyptian media. The following are excerpts
from his article:(2)
'Instead of Highlighting This Stupid Event ... [the Newspapers] Pointed Out
That What Appears in the Protocols is 100% True'
"Some weeks ago, the Alexandria Library displayed the Arabic translation
of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' in a showcase next to holy books acquired
by the library's manuscripts department. No one might even have noticed, had
it not been for one alert journalist of the kind addicted to seeking out fictitious
gimmicks. He found it unacceptable that this act in the noble struggle to liberate
Palestine from the river to the sea would pass without emphasizing the role of
those who are behind it.
"He [i.e. the journalist] interviewed the director of the library's manuscript
department, and [the latter] announced with pride that the library was proud
of its acquisition of this book [i.e. 'The Protocols'] and that it had worked
diligently to exhibit it because it was one of the books that are sacred to the
Jews, and that he personally thinks that what appears in the book regarding the
Jewish plot to control the world is 100% true.
"No sooner was the interview published than the Zionist organizations active
in the West embraced it as proof that the Alexandria Library was an antisemitic
institution. They demanded that the European Union, the [various] governments,
and the international organizations that participated in funding the establishment
of the library and still participate in directing it and supporting its activities,
stop [all] this, because the library was disseminating racist ideas and a culture
of hatred...
"The newspapers that highlighted this stupid event [could have] refrained
from shaming the library, and giving the Zionists and their allies an opportunity
to accuse us of antisemitism and racism. But instead, they hastened to attack
the administration of the library, which capitulated following Zionist pressure,
[and removed the book from the case]; [the newspapers then] pointed out that
everything in the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' was 100% true."
'Ideological and Journalistic Circles Try to Present the Middle East Conflict
as a Religious Conflict Between Jews and Islam' by Using Medieval European
Antisemitic Legends
"This is not the first political dead end to which some ideological circles
and journalistic schools of thought have led us. [These circles] believe in exploiting
the ignorance prevailing in society, such that unifying the Arab public is an
end that sanctifies the use of every weapon - legal and illegal - to arouse the
enthusiasm of this public.
"[These circles] try to present the Middle East conflict as a religious
conflict between Jews and Islam [that has existed] since the conspiracy by the
Banu Qurayza and the Banu Qaynuqa'(3) and the other Jews of Al-Madina against
the Prophet Muhammad. [These circles] disseminate the idea that the battle for
the liberation of Palestine is the continuation of the battle of Khybar.(4)
"[These circles] do not flinch from disseminating, espousing, and publishing
all the legends that were common in medieval Europe in order to justify Europe's
persecution of the Jews because of their monopoly in financial activity and money-lending,
one of which was the 'matza of blood' that the Jews [allegedly] prepare on Passover
from the blood of a gentile child. These circles disseminate among Muslims the
perception that all the modern Jews are the offspring of the Jews who violated
the word of the Prophet Moses, whose prayer Allah then answered and turned [the
Jews] into apes and pigs. [These circles also say] that the Jews are responsible
for their forefathers' crime, the crucifixion of Jesus. They embraced, and still
warmly embrace, the stupid book 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' fabricated
by the advocates of the Czarist tyranny in Russia to arouse hatred of the Jews
because many of them were participating in revolutionary activity against the
[Czarist] empire."
'These Ideas Cannot Withstand Any Rational Discussion'
"The problem is that these ideas cannot withstand any rational discussion.
Furthermore, the logic on which these ideas are based is likely to lead us to
a dead end, which in any case will place us - and not the Zionists - in the prisoner's
dock.
"It is pointless to thus confirm to the world the correctness of the false
accusations disseminated by the European fanatics, i.e. that our Islam calls
us to hate members of the other monotheistic religions and incites us to take
vengeance on them for the wars and battles that took place 15 centuries ago.
"It is not very smart to espouse the lies spread in the wave of persecution
of the Jews in medieval Europe, when we - the Arabs and the Muslims - had no
part in this, and when the perpetrators [of these lies and persecution] themselves
today condemn them and apologize for them.
"It is not very smart at all to espouse a book such as the 'Protocols of
the Elders of Zion,' that attributes to the Jews the honor of being the ones
to plan the French Revolution, wave the mottoes of liberty, brotherhood, and
equality, spur workers to establish trade unions, support political and ideological
pluralism, and stand behind all revolutionary movements throughout history."
No Connection Between Today's Occupying Zionists and the Jews of Muhammad's
Time
"What is certain is that there is no connection between the Zionists who
occupied and are occupying Palestine and the rest of the Arab lands and the Jews
of Khybar, the Banu Qurayza and the Banu Qaynuqa' - [and if there is any] it
is the same as the connection between the modern Muslims and their ancestors
who invaded parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe in the Middle Ages.
"If the Jews of today are responsible for what their forefathers did, then
we, the Muslims [of today] are responsible for all the wars waged by our forefathers
on all the continents, and the residents [of those continents] are permitted
to fight us in order to avenge their defeat in those ancient wars."
Endnotes:
(1) Please see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 619, December 3, 2003, 'Jewish Holy
Books On Display at the Alexandria Library: The Torah & the Protocols of
the Elders of Zion,' http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=egypt&ID=SP61903 .
Special Dispatch No. 671, March 2, 2004, 'Al-Ahram on the Aftermath of a MEMRI
Report about the Display of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' at the Alexandria
Library,' http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP67104 .
(2) http://www.gn4me.com/nahda/artDetails.jsp?edition_id=99&artID=285353 ,
January 14, 2004.
(3) Jewish tribes who lived in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century who
were expelled or killed by the Muslim forces.
(4) Khybar was the wealthiest and most powerful Jewish town on the Arabian
Peninsula. In 628, it was conquered by the Prophet Muhammad, who permitted
its Jews to continue working their land provided they gave half the harvest
to the Muslims in Al-Madina. During the time of the second caliph, Omar bin
Al-Khattab, the Jews were expelled from Khybar and their lands were distributed
among the Muslims.
