• The heads of the Simon Wiesenthal Center , Rabbi Marvin Hier (Dean and Founder) and Rabbi Abraham Cooper (Associate Dean) called upon Abu Mazen to dismiss the director of Palestinian television without delay, saying, “ Is this genocidal sermon the kind of peace dividend that the people of Israel can look forward to?" (Ynet, May 16, 2005).

• The Anti-Defamation League protested to the Palestinian Authority for including The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on its Website, calling them “the classic in racist and paranoid literature” and “a hoax which continues to poison and frighten minds” ( www.haaretz.com , AP May18, 2005).

Some of the reactions as they appeared in the media follow.

Broadcast of sheikh Mudeiras' anti-Semitic sermon

During its weekly meeting, the Palestinian government denounced the “religious insinuations” which appeared in sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiras' Friday sermon. In its announcement the government stressed the fact that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was political and had never been religious, and claimed that the national mass media should avoid the use of religion when dealing with “the nature of the conflict” (Palestinian News Agency, May 18, 2005).

Nabil Sha'ath , the Palestinian Minister of Information and therefore responsible for Palestinian television, repeatedly denounced the sermon and demanded that sheikh Mudeiras' hate-mongering sermons no longer be broadcast .

• Nabil Sha'ath described the sermon as “an attempt to turn aside the Palestinian national struggle toward the humiliation of a monotheistic religion .” Sha'ath made it clear that contrary to Mudeiras' sermon, according to which the Jews were responsible for the Holocaust, “it was western civilization which brought about the Holocaust.” Sha'ath stated that Palestinians are not the enemies of the Jewish faith and that the “battle” of the Palestinians is with the government of Israel which has “occupied our country” and not with world Jewry ( Radio Palestine , May 17, 2005).

• Nabil Sha'ath demanded that sheikh Mudeiras no longer be permitted to preach . He told Reuters that he was asking the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, which employs Mudeiras, “to suspend him, investigate him and prevent him from delivering further sermons on Fridays ” ( Reuters , from Gaza, May 18, 2005).

• Nabil Sha'ath denounced the attack on Judaism and promised he would act to ensure that there would be no further broadcasts of sermons containing hate propaganda and deviating from the path of Islam ( Reuters , from Gaza , May 18, 2005).

Adely Sadek , a columnist for the PA official daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda responded as follows to the Wiesenthal Center 's demand that Abu Mazen dismiss the director of Palestinian television ( Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda , May 17, 2005):

• The cleric Ibrahim Mudeiras presents “a widespread political culture” which explains “crime of having our homeland stolen from us.” Those who commit similar crimes around the world and encourage the invasion of Iraq , Iran and other countries are the most dangerous [the United States ?].

• However, the Palestinians have to “polish their information and ideological message.” “We oppose the doubts expressed about the number of Nazi victims during the Holocaust, in the first place because it is none of our business… and in addition, Nazi crimes had a negative impact on us as well…”

• The State of Israel itself is racist, but that should not prevent the Palestinians from “having strict discipline and restraining outbursts, so that they may not attack us for what we say if we are carried away by emotion when we speak about our catastrophe…”

• In that context it is worthwhile to consider the establishment of a high Palestinian information council. Such a council could unify Palestinian external and internal messages.

Removing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion from the PA's Website

Our examination showed that The Protocols were in fact removed from the SIS' Al-Nakba site on the night of May 18, 2005 .