Publishers from U.S. partner states peddle most anti-Semitic titles at int'l book fair

Each year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center -- a global Jewish human rights organization dedicated to confronting anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism -- produces a report on anti-Semitic hate and incitement to violence on the display stands of the international Frankfurt Book Fair.

This year, the non-governmental monitor finds that publishers hailing from states or areas controlled by key American diplomatic partners rank as the worst offenders.

Several books at the Frankfurt Book Fair echo the notorious "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." (Image Source: Frontpage Mag)

Topping the list of most virulently anti-Western publishers on display are those from Qatar, which showcased titles including:

1. "The Battles of Mohammed," Qatar Foundation and Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, first published in Arabic in 2012. This booklet, now published in English for children, begins with the plots of the Jews against the Prophet, their slaughter at the battle of Khaybar and a survivor’s subsequent attempt to poison him. This distilled hatred necessitates direct intervention to ensure that Qatar takes measures for a hate-free display to participate in the 2015 Fair.

2. Despite our Centre's protests, Qatar is now recidivist for the third year, in presenting "The Open Veins of Jerusalem," Munir Akash and Fouad Moaghrabi, Juseer, Doha, 2010. The Jewish connection to Jerusalem is presented as a conspiracy to deny Palestinian autochthonous identity.

3. "The Israeli Strategic Mind", Saleh al Noumani, Al Jazeera Centre (Qatar) and Arab Scientific Publishers (Lebanon), 2013. Another conspiracy theory targeting Judaism

Runner-up for most offensive literature goes to a Palestinian Islamist publisher, Bait Almaqdes Centre, which is based in the West Bank under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but listed as a Kuwaiti entity. This comes on the heels of the Gaza Reconstruction Conference, in which the U.S. pledged $212 million, and international donors combined to pledge $2.7 billion to rebuild Gaza. The report notes:

Among the display of Korans and Islamic texts are such political screeds as:

4. "The Buraq Wall," Jehad J. Al Ayesh, Bait Almaqdes (Cairo, Nablus, Nicosia), 2011,

Buraq is the Wailing or Western Wall of Solomon's Temple – Judaism's holiest site – where Muhammed is said to have tethered his winged steed, Buraq, overnight, while the Prophet visited heaven. This unambiguously anti-Semitic booklet claims that "worshipping at the Wall is a new heresy in the religion of the Jews (31). "Jewish subversion" (p. 31), "Jewish aggressions to Judaize the Wall" (p. 37), "Conclusion: Buraq Wall is the property of Muslims" and must be returned to the embrace of Islam (p. 40).

5. "Jewish Terms: Beware of them!" (e.g. "The Myth of the Nazi Crematory").

6. A Jerusalem Municipality Document presented as "The Jewish Plot to Establish a Temple to Judaize Jerusalem."

7. "The Zionist Deception Dictionary", based on the Russian Tsarist forgery, the notorious conspiracy plot, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

8. "Jews Converted to Islam by the Prophet," Muhamad Ala Batir, Bet Al-Maqdes, Nicosia.

Bait Al-Maqdes presents itself in the Fair catalogue as specializing "in publishing books and releases that are interested in Jewish-Muslim conflict over the ages and times."

Iran, with whom the U.S. has allegedly been negotiating through back channels, as well as directly through the P5+1 process, is the home of publishers that also played a prominent role in the Wiesenthal Center's list:

Iran continues to present children’s literature extolling war, terrorism, suicide and martyrdom – in a current edition introducing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, published by Promotion of Resistance Culture.

[The following titles come from] Defa Moghaddas, the Association Publishers (Hall 5.0 F7)

12. "Children and Soldiers," "Children and Bravery."

12a. "The Shoes of the Martyrs," "We Fight the Enemy."

13. Revayat Fath Publication, Tehran (Hall 5.0 D14)

"The Exchange, Lebanon, 2005-2008," Vahid Faraji and Sayeed Faraji, Saghi Publisher, Tehran, 2011, displayed this year on the Revayat Fath Military stand. This lavish volume extols the actions of Sami Kuntar and four other Hezbollah fighters exchanged for three Israelis, two returned as corpses. Kuntar had slaughtered a family of five, slitting the throat of babies in their cots.

Publishers from Egypt, a former ally, along with even one American publisher, the International Institute of Islamic Thought based in Herndon, VA also displayed offensive or at the least questionable literature.

Turkey on the other hand for the third year in a row meanwhile was dubbed "Hate-free."

The Wiesenthal Center report concludes:

"several of the above-mentioned exhibitors are recidivists who ignore our annual warnings that they are violating European Union and German provisions against incitement, and thereby contravene their contractual obligations to the Book Fair."

[Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon] Samuels appealed to the Fair to act, in cooperation with the German authorities, "to confiscate offensive texts and blacklist delinquent exhibitors from participation in 2015," noting that "German and other Jihadist teachers are known to bring their students to the Fair seeking inflammatory materials, which can result in potentially dangerous consequences."

"As long as we continue to identify 'worst offender hatemongers', the Frankfurt Book Fair cannot achieve the "cultural respect" so desired by Director Boos. Zero-tolerance for hate in 2015 can only be achieved if measures are taken regarding Qatar and others that openly abuse the name of Islam for the sake of incitement," concluded Samuels.

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