Old Myth: Mohammed Morsi appeared to float an old canard when he told visiting lawmakers that ?certain forces? control the American media. Image by getty images

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi told U.S. senators that he gets bad U.S. press because “certain forces” control the media.

The senators who met last week with Morsi understood him to be referring to Jews and “recoiled,” one of the participating lawmakers, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), told The Cable, a blog on the Foreign Policy magazine website.

The conversation grew heated, but Morsi never specifically named the Jews as responsible for his negative media and the senators decided eventually to move on to other topics.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

At at a news conference afterward, the senators said the overall meeting was positive. They had raised among other topics the revelation last week that in 2010, Morsi had referred to Zionists as descended from “pigs and apes” and “bloodthirsty.”

Morsi’s spokesman said that the slurs had been taken out of context and Morsi respected those who belong to monotheistic religions.

Since assuming the presidency in June, Morsi has maintained his commitment to peace accords with Israel and helped broker a cease-fire with Hamas that ended last month’s war in the Gaza Strip, earning kudos from U.S. and Israeli leaders.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said last week that Morsi’s spokesman’s statement affirming respect for other faiths was a “good first step.”

“That statement was an important first step to make clear that the type of offensive rhetoric that we saw in 2010 is not acceptable, not productive and shouldn’t be part of a democratic Egypt,” Nuland said. “That said, we look to President Morsi and Egyptian leaders to demonstrate, in both word and in deed, their commitment to religious tolerance and to upholding all of Egypt’s international obligations.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount