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The hate industry: the Jordanian press continues to publish
anti-Semitic articles. One article accuses Jews of using the blood of
Christian children for ritual purposes. The article is meant to
support virulent propaganda against Israel, which is accused of
deliberately murdering Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.
1. The Jordanian press continues to publish blatantly anti-Semitic articles written by publicists associated with radical Islam or the left wing[1] Several such anti-Semitic articles have been published in the Jordanian press in recent months, one of which in particular argues that it is absolutely true that the Jews kill Christian children for ritual purposes, suggesting it as an explanation for the "deliberate" murder of Palestinian and Arab children supposedly perpetrated by the IDF. Also published were cartoons portraying Israeli leaders as murderers of children and the happenings in the Gaza Strip as a "holocaust". Details follow.
Examples of anti-Semitic articles
2. There are several writers who publish anti-Semitic articles in the Jordanian press. Of particular note is Muwaffaq Muhaddin, a pro-Syrian journalist associated with the Jordanian left wing and a columnist for independent daily Al-Arab al-Yaum. In recent years, he has published numerous blatantly anti-Semitic articles which draw inspiration from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and include anti-Jewish slurs and Holocaust denial[2]
3. In an article titled "Killing children according to Jewish faith" (Al-Arab al-Yaum, March 8, 2008 ), Muwaffaq Muhaddin writes as follows:
a. The Jewish state established in the "plundered land of Palestine " is based on "the scent of blood, the roasting, and the collective killing of children first, before the adults". The author states that he first became aware of that "vile phenomenon" while conducting a "study" about the relation between anthropology and policy, published in a book called The Cycle of Jewish Religion (a historical "study" on Zionism and Judaism, published by Muhaddin). The author claims that the killing of children by the Jews is never a military accident but is rather deliberate, rooted in Jewish faith and supported in the history of the Jewish people.b. In order to "prove" that the Jews make use of children's blood, the author brings up the Damascus blood libel, according to which a boy from a Christian neighborhood of Damascus was kidnapped by Jewish rabbis and murdered in order to bake the "Matzo of Zion" (dating back to 1840, this blood libel is still a source of inspiration for anti-Semitic literature in Syria and a "proof" of the false claims raised by Arab anti-Semitists). The author notes that other such abductions took place elsewhere in the world, and that they are etched in the memory of other Christian neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and in Lithuania.
c. The author presents his own "anthropological interpretation" of the blood libels. He claims that "roasting people" and "the scent of blood" are recurring elements in Biblical culture, since the God of the Jews (Jehovah) blesses Jewish soldiers when he smells victims being roasted. The author goes on to say that children, being pure, are known as the best victims, hence their use for ritual purposes. He also claims that the Jewish Talmud discusses the need for children's blood since it is unspoiled.
a. In an article published in Al-Arab al-Yaum on May 11, 2008, titled "Nazi Zionism", Muhaddin writes that "the Zionist project is a replica of the Nazi project". He claims that Zionism and Nazism have identical roots, including racism, a concept of superiority, and permission to murder other peoples.b. In an article published in Al-Arab al-Yaum on April 26, he claims that it's not just the Arabs who hate the Jews, but that there are other elements in the world who consider Jews to be the root of all evil. He also claims that there is an independently thinking Jewish elite which shares that view.
a. Arafat Hijazi, a Palestinian board member of government daily Ad-Dustour, lashed out against the Jewish religion, the Jews, and Israel. In an article published in Ad-Dustour, Hijazi said that Zionist leaders have used and still use terrorism, inspired by the Talmud, which instructs them to dominate peoples and take control of their property. "The false Torah... which relies on empty lies has led generations [of Jews] to believe that they are the chosen people and that Palestine is [their] promised land. Also, [the Torah] allowed them the use of prostitution, bribe, murder, and treachery to satisfy their urges and realize their goals..." (Ad-Dustour, May 7, 2008 ). Arafat Hijazi has also published an article which denies the Holocaust and argues that the real holocaust is taking place in the Gaza Strip (Ad-Dustour, March 9, 2008 ).b. Salah al-Khalidi published an anti-Semitic article in the oppositionist weekly Al-Sabil, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Action Front, which occasionally publishes anti-Semitic articles. The article, written against the background of the appointment of a Jewish woman from Bahrain to the Ambassador of Bahrain in the US, attacks those Arabs who sympathize with the Jews and asserts that the Jews will not settle for anything they are given. The author of the article considers the Ambassador's appointment to be part of a "plot" being concocted against the Arab and Islamic world (in Tel-Aviv, Washington, and other places) "so that this damaged world becomes the setting for the Jewish and American plans..." (Al-Sabil, April 29, 2008 ).
6. Ad-Dustour, a Jordanian newspaper partly owned by the Jordanian government, has recently published cartoons in which Israeli leaders are portrayed as murderers of innocent Palestinian children. The cartoons are created by Jalal al-Rifa'i, a cartoonist of Palestinian descent, who frequently publishes anti-Semitic cartoons in Ad-Dustour.
A cartoon depicting the happenings in the Gaza Strip as a "holocaust"
A character whose jacket says "Western Hypocrisy" is crying, with its tears extinguishing a fire whose flames say "The Jewish Holocaust". An identical character is crying over a fire that says "The Holocaust of Gaza"; however, it has bullets for tears (Ad-Dustour, April 28, 2008).
Footnotes
1 For details on manifestations of anti-Semitism in the Jordanian press, see our Information Bulletin: Contemporary Arab Muslim anti-Semitism, its Significance and Implications (Updated to March 2008). The bulletin currently appears on our site in Hebrew and is being translated into English.
2 Ibid.
Dr. Reuvan Erlich is Director of the non-governmental
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
(http://www.terrorism-info.org.il).
This was published May 20, 2008 and is archived at
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/
English/eng_n/html/hi_130508e.htm
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