Abu Dhabi Book Fair Pulls ‘Protocols of Elders of Zion’
Image by Getty Images
A book fair in Abu Dhabi removed copies of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” among other anti-Semitic texts, the U.S. State Department said.
“We welcome reports the organizers of the book fair removed both anti-Semitic and Jihadi texts from display, and that these hateful materials represented only a miniscule percentage of the literature on display,” spokeswoman Marie Harf said this week.
Harf said she did not know what led to the removal of the texts from the fair, which ran from April 30 to May 5, but her comments came after Algemeiner, an online Jewish news website, reported that the books were available at a fair where the United States was listed as a “cultural partner.”
Harf downplayed that designation.
“The United States is listed as one of many, quote, ‘cultural partners’ of the Abu Dhabi Book Fair,” she said. “In this case, like many other countries, the United States simply hosted a booth at the fair staffed by U.S. Embassy personnel.”
A State Department official said combating the dissemination of the notorious forgery “Protocols” and other anti-Semitic publications is a department priority.
“We are concerned that the continued dissemination of the ‘Protocols’ is fueling anti-Semitism around the world,” the official, who commented anonymously to speak without authorization, told JTA.
The official noted that the Aladdin Project, a Paris-based organization advancing Muslim-Jewish understanding, also had a booth at the fair and was selling noted works on the Holocaust in Arabic translation, including Anne Frank’s diary.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
