Al Ahram Weekly

Transcription

Al Ahram Weekly

Special Report
Page 2 of 5
Special Report - Egypt
April 2, 2004
No. 28
Anti-American and Antisemitic Cartoons in Leading
Egyptian Government Weekly Al-Ahram: 1998-2004
By Steven Stalinsky*
Background
Al-Ahram newspapers1 are controlled by the Egyptian government and edited by the government-appointed
Ibrahim Nafi', who also serves as chairman of the Arab Journalists Association.
Following a MEMRI dispatch from an October 10, 2000 issue of Al-Ahram based on a centuries-old blood
libel, according to which Jews used the blood of a priest in Damascus to make Passover matzoh, the French
Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et L'antisémitisme (LICRA) filed a complaint against Nafi' for
incitement to racial hatred. He was subpoenaed to appear before a French court, but was excused for alleged
medical conditions.2
Comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany
Many articles in Al-Ahram are anti-American and often compare the U.S. to Nazi Germany. For example, in an
article describing U.S. officials as war criminals columnist Samir Amin, wrote: "Americans have come to
regard themselves as the 'chosen people' - in practice, a synonym for the Nazi term, Herrenvolk. This is the
threat which we are facing today. And this is why American imperialism (not 'Empire') will be even more brutal
than its predecessors…"3 Egyptian columnist and author Anis Mansour similarly explained that Al-Qa'ida
members in Guantanamo Bay are being tortured by the U.S. "in a way unprecedented in history – worse than
what Hitler did to his rivals from among the Jews and Christians."4
Conspiracy Theories Against the U.S. and the Jews
Conspiracy theories against the U.S. and the Jews are also common in Al-Ahram. President Hosni Mubarak
was quoted shortly after September 11th in an interview with Al-Ahram stating that: "I find it hard to believe
that people who were learning to fly in Florida could, within a year and a half, fly large commercial airliners
and hit with accuracy the towers of the World Trade Center which would appear, to the pilot from the air, the
size of a pencil. Only a professional pilot could carry out this mission, not someone who learned to fly for 18
months in Florida. For your information, a license to fly commercial planes has many conditions, in terms of
study and training. Many hours of flying are needed to qualify as a co-pilot, let alone a pilot, of such planes."5
More recently, on August 31, 2003, following a car bombing in Iraq that killed 120 people including
Ayatollah Muhammad Bakir Al-Hakim, the former head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), an editorial in Al-Ahram blamed the U.S.: "The responsibility for this very act of
terrorism is Western responsibility – and, more specifically, American."6
In another editorial, editor Ibrahim Nafi' wrote during the early U.S. military actions in Afghanistan in
October 2001 about "reports," according to which the U.S. military was purposely targeting Afghani women
and children and dropping genetically treated food in areas full of landmines. Nafi' explained: "The
humanitarian materials have been genetically treated, with the aim of affecting the health of the Afghani people.
If this is true, the U.S. is committing a crime against humanity by giving the Afghani people hazardous
humanitarian products, as it was said in those reports…"7
Other conspiracies against the U.S. printed in Al-Ahram include allegations that the CIA and the Mossad
introduced the AIDS virus to Africa: "Foreign nurses injected them with the AIDS virus, while pretending to
immunize them… The CIA or the Israeli Mossad were behind this crime…"8 When Egypt Air Flight 990
Search previous MEMRI publications at our website: www.memri.org
Special Report
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crashed in 1999, Al-Ahram had a series of articles stating that the U.S. and Israel were behind the crash by
quoting a series of high-ranking government officials. "Parliament Member Amin Hamed, from President
Mubarak's National Democratic Party, said he believed, "the Israeli 'Mossad' infiltrated the American control
tower and shifted the airplane from its course so it would be hit [by a missile]." Many parliament members
supported this position. Member of Parliament 'Omar Barakat, from the opposition Al-Wafd party, said,
"There was an American - Zionist conspiracy. I blame the CIA and the Mossad, because 33 Egyptian officers
were on board the airplane."9
The Jews were Behind September 11th
Dr. Gamal 'Ali Zahran, head of the political science department at Suez Canal University, wrote in Al-Ahram
shortly after September 11th: "At the WTC, thousands of Jews worked in finance and the stock market, but
none of them were there on the day of the incident. Out of 6,000 killed, of 65 nationalities from 60 countries,
not one was a Jew!" Dr. Zahran later wrote: "There were many rumors, and open publicity, that the Jews, who
were huge stockholders in the airlines and insurance companies, sold their stocks at the highest possible prices
some 10 days before the attacks on America. After the stock market began functioning again, on September 17
… the Jews competed amongst themselves to buy [these] stocks at the lowest possible prices, or waited until the
stocks reached their minimal value and then acquired them, for tremendous profits. There is no doubt that this
can expose their involvement in the crime. This demands covert investigation by U.S. government bodies far
from the official investigative bodies."
Columnist Muhammad Abd Al-Fattah Muhsin also wrote in Al-Ahram blaming Israel for September 11:
"Israel, and the Jewish lobby behind it, have managed to drag American society into launching a hate campaign
against Arabs and Muslims, after they pinned the blame for terrorism on them. They have depicted the Arabs
and Muslims as the ones behind the tragic events of 'Black Tuesday.' Yet if we browse through the pages of
history, we find obvious clues [indicating] that terrorism is originally 'made in Israel'…"
A comprehensive article also appeared in Al-Ahram by Ahmad Abu Zayid, titled 'The Jews are Behind the
Explosions in America.' In it Abu Zayid counted 14 "pieces of evidence" in support of the theory that Israel and
the Mossad were involved in the September 11th attacks, and cites other examples which appeared in Al-Ahram
as evidence.10
European-Inspired Antisemitism in Al-Ahram
Antisemitic themes such as the Blood Libel and support of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' can also be
found in Al-Ahram. Anis Mansour wrote, "[Without Israeli casualties,] it would become clear to the world that
what happened to the Jews of Germany, Poland, and Russia, was justified. It is not true that all the Jews are
peaceniks. There is a suicidal sect among them that does not desire to live. [Therefore,] they kindle the people's
hatred and hostility and, as a result, people turn against them. Although there are many intelligent people among
them, they use their intellect to devise new ways for people everywhere to hate them and unite against them.
Because megalomania overcomes the Jewish peoples, they do not bow their heads in order to survive; they
prefer to surface and [appear] behind the steering wheels of the leadership in the US and Europe, in order to
evoke people's empathy. They were in the shadows, in the rear lines, and in the dark alleys before the
establishment of the State of Israel. They prefer an Israel surrounded by enemies, to a ghetto that no one has
heard of. Therefore, a large number of Jews opposed the establishment of the State of Israel, which became a
target for all the Arabs. They believe that Israel was established before the time set for it in the Jewish religion.
This is a Pariah state. Its existence [is prohibited, and so are], its money, its army, and having any relations with
it."11
Similarly, Dr. Mustafa Mahmoud, Ph.D, wrote in Al-Ahram that Jews control the world, and stated: "The
torments of Hell [that you Jews will face] are … unfathomable to the [human] mind… It will be the Holocaust
all over again, only this time an eternal Holocaust with no hope and no salvation. It will be an eternal curse.
What benefit will they [the Jews] derive from the dominion they have achieved in this world, once they leave it?
How will they benefit from their riches when they reach absolute poverty [in Hell]? Who will rescue them?
There is no America there, and if America were there, it would not be able to help them; rather, it would share
their fate…"12
Special Report
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When the U.S. government criticized the 2002 Egyptian-produced Ramadan TV series 'Knight Without a
Horse,' which was based on the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' Egyptian journalists such as Al-Ahram's
Muhammad Salleh responded as follows: "… They [the Jews] managed to prevent the performance of
Shakespeare's wonderful work The Merchant of Venice in the theaters of Europe and America, [but] they will
not succeed in dictating their position to the Arab world… It is the stupidest joke, but it reveals the extent of the
arrogance in Israel and in the U.S., its patron…"13
Support for Suicide Attacks
Al-Ahram often supports suicide bombings against Israel. For example, following the attack by Wafa Idris, the
first female Palestinian suicide bomber, Al-Ahram editor Nafi' wrote: "She decided to end her fresh young life at
a moment of a profound sense of oppression such as no people had suffered as the Palestinians do. But before
that, she decided that her death would reverberate so as to draw attention to the tragedy created by the Israelis,
with their airplanes and tanks against a defenseless people. She blew herself up on Haifa Road [sic], bustling
with innocent people – like Wafa herself… She left on a morning like every other morning. No one noticed
signs of tension. She smiled at the children in the family, and continued on the path set for her to blow herself
up on Haifa Street… so as to tell the world that the body itself would turn into a time bomb at any moment and
that the idea that one organization was a terrorist organization and another was a peaceful organization had no
meaning."14
Al-Ahram columnist Ahmad Baghat also praised Wafa Idris, stating: "Wafa revealed the meaning of the
Palestinian personality; she revealed the heroism of the Palestinian woman and turned from a living creature
walking on the Earth to a symbol that went down in history, the trace of which cannot be eradicated. As a nurse,
her work was like that of the merciful angels."15
Following another suicide bombing in Jerusalem, Islamist columnist in Al-Ahram Fahmi Huweidi wrote:
"I cannot hide my happiness about the martyrdom operation that took place in Jerusalem last Thursday. I won’t
deny that it liberated me from the sorrow and misery that have overtaken me over the past weeks… In this
dismal atmosphere, the operation that took place in Jerusalem was, for me, a ray of hope and a life-saver…"16
Anti-American and Antisemitic Cartoons
The anti-American and antisemitic content of Al-Ahram is evident in its use of political cartoons, which are
closely associated with the incitement in editorials, and news stories by the paper's writers. The following report
includes cartoons that have appeared in Al-Ahram from 1998-2004, and focus on: September 11th, the U.S. as a
world bully, President Bush as a Crusader, the U.S. as cowboys, the U.S. as being obsessed with oil, and
conspiracy theories about the U.S. and the Jews. There has been no noticeable difference in attitude against the
U.S. between the Clinton administration and the Bush administration.17
Cartoons Glossary
I.
September 11
II.
The U.S. - Bully of the World
III. President Bush the Crusader
IV. The U.S. and W.M.D.
V.
The Sinister U.S.
VI. The U.S. Motivated by Oil
VII. The U.S. - British Evil Alliance
VIII. President Bush and Iraq
IX. The Evil U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
X.
The U.S. - Cowboys of the World
*Steven Stalinsky is Executive Director of MEMRI.
Page 5 of 5
Special Report
1
Al-Ahram has multiple editions: a daily in Arabic, and weeklies in Arabic, English, and French.
2
Among other things, the article stated: "[The Jews] put [the priest's] neck on a basin, and slaughtered him. They were very careful to
make sure that not a single drop was spilled. Then they moved him to another room, burned his clothes, and cut his body to pieces,
which they put into a sack and threw to the sewage near the Jewish Quarter."
3
MEMRI Special Dispatch 503, May 9, 2003, 'An Arab Intellectual in Qatar: 'Arab Media's Conduct During the War is Indicative of
a Deeper Malaise' http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP50803
4
MEMRI Special Dispatch 340, February 1, 2002, 'Egyptian Government Daily: America's Torture of Al-Qa'ida Prisoners Worse
Than Hitler's Treatment of Jewish and Christian 'Rivals''
http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP34002
5
MEMRI Hill Report; Al-Ahram Weekly, October 25, 2001.
6
MEMRI Special Dispatch 562, September 1, 2003, 'Egyptian Government Daily Al-Ahram: The U.S. is Behind the Najaf Bombing
7
MEMRI Special Dispatch 292, October 26, 2001, 'Terror in America (20): Editor of Leading Egyptian Government Daily Al-Ahram:
The U.S. is Dropping Afghanis Genetically Altered Food… in Areas Full of Landmines'
8
MEMRI Special Dispatch 214, May 1, 2001, 'Qadhafi: The CIA and the Israeli Mossad injected AIDS to Libyan children'
9
MEMRI Special Dispatch 62, December 6, 1999, 'Egyptian Reactions to the EgyptAir Crash Investigation'
10
Timmerman, Kenneth. Preachers of Hate; Islam and the War on America. New York: Crown Forum, 2003.
11
MEMRI Special Dispatch 188, February 22, 2001, 'Egyptian journalists on Sharon and the Holocaust'
12
MEMRI Special Dispatch 86, April 12, 2000, 'Jews are Destroying Russia. Anti-Semitic Article in the Leading Egyptian Daily'
13
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis 113 - November 20, 2002, 'Arab Press Debates Antisemitic Egyptian Series 'Knight Without a Horse'
- Part II' http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA11302
14
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis 85 - February 14, 2002, 'Wafa Idris: The Celebration of the First Female Palestinian Suicide Bomber
- Part III' http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA8502
15
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis 85 - February 14, 2002, 'Wafa Idris: The Celebration of the First Female Palestinian Suicide Bomber
- Part III' http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA8502
16
MEMRI Special Dispatch 265, August 31, 2001, 'I Cannot Hide My Happiness about the Martyrdom Operation that Took Place in
Jerusalem. An Op-Ed in Egypt's Leading Government Daily'
17
U.S. politicians have spoken out against the anti-American and antisemitic incitement in the Egyptian media. Last year at a MEMRI
event about the Egyptian 'Knight Without a Horse' Ramadan television series, sponsored by House International Relations
Committee members Tom Lantos (D-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Henry Waxman (D-CA), Congressman Lantos
explained, "Each time I meet with President Mubarak, I present him with a series of antisemitic cartoons that have appeared in the
Egyptian press. His response is invariably that the media is free and not controlled by the government. [This is] palpably untrue."
September 11th
Al-Ahram Weekly, September 20 - 26, 2001
Al Ahram Weekly, September 11 - 17, 2003
1
September 11th
Al-Ahram Weekly, November 15 - 21, 2001
2
September 11th
3
Al-Ahram Weekly, November 13-19, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 2004
4
Al-Ahram Weekly, January 10 - 16, 2002
Al-Ahram Weekly, February 6 - 12, 2003
5
Al-Ahram Weekly, October 4 - 10, 2001
6
Al-Ahram Weekly, Dec. 31 - Jan. 6, 1999
Al-Ahram Weekly, Aug. 27 - Sep. 2, 1998
7
Al-Ahram Weekly, December 24 - 30, 1998
Al-Ahram Weekly, Feb. 27 - March 5, 2003
8
Al-Ahram Weekly, October 9 -15, 2003
9
Al-Ahram Weekly, November 22 - 28, 2001
10
Al-Ahram Weekly, April 17 - 23, 2003
11
Al-Ahram Weekly, September 18 – 24, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, December 10 – 16, 2003
12
Al-Ahram Weekly, October 10 – 16, 2002
Al-Ahram Weekly, March 27 – April 2, 2003
13
Al-Ahram Weekly, Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, 2004
14
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 13 - 19, 1998
Al-Ahram Weekly, September 3 - 9, 1998
15
Al-Ahram Weekly, May 9-15, 2002
16
President Bush the Crusader
Al-Ahram Weekly, April 10 -16, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, March 13 – 19, 2003
17
President Bush the Crusader
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 21-27, 2003
18
The U.S. and W.M.D.
Al-Ahram Weekly, January 22 - 28, 2004
19
The Sinister U.S.
20
The Sinister U.S.
21
The Sinister U.S.
Al-Ahram Weekly, Dec. 27, 2001 – Jan. 2, 2002
Al-Ahram Weekly, July 4 - 10, 2002
22
The Sinister U.S.
Al-Ahram Weekly, October 11-17 2001
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 10-16 2003
23
The Sinister U.S.
24
The U.S. Motivated by Oil
Al-Ahram Weekly, April 17-23, 2003
25
Al-AHram Weekly, November 13 – 19, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, September 4 – 10, 2003
26
Al-Ahram Weekly, March 4 – 10, 2004
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 22 – 28, 2002
27
Al-Ahram Weekly, January 15-21, 2004
Al-Ahram Weekly, July 24-30, 2003
28
Al-Ahram Weekly, May 15-21, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, January 29-February 4, 2004
29
Al-Ahram Weekly January 17 – 23, 2002
Al-Ahram Weekly, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2002
30
Al-Ahram Weekly, March 30–April 5, 2000
Al-Ahram Weekly, Aug. 31- Sept. 6, 2000
31
Al-Ahram Weekly, November 16-22, 2000
32
Al-Ahram Weekly, May 29- June 4, 2003
33
The U.S. - British Evil Alliance
Al-Ahram Weekly, March 27- April 2, 2003
34
Al-Ahram Weekly, 31 July-6 August 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, 20-26 February 2003
35
Al-Ahram Weekly, 7-13 August 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, 24-30 July 2003
36
Al-Ahram Weekly, March 14-20, 2002
37
President Bush and Iraq
38
President Bush and Iraq
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 15 – 21, 2002
39
The Evil U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
Al-Ahram Weekly, October 2-8, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, Sept 25 –Oct 1, 2003
40
The U.S. - Cowboys of the
World
Al-Ahram Weekly, April 19 – 25, 2001
Al-Ahram Weekly, Nov. 28 – Dec. 4, 2002
41
Al-Ahram Weekly, August 28 - September 3, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, June 26 - July 2, 2003
42
Al-Ahram Weekly, October 17, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, February 13 – 19, 2003
43
Al-Ahram Weekly, February 6-12, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly, November 7 – 13, 2002
44

Al Ahram Weekly

Transcription

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