| SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE – EUROPE 66 rue Laugier, 75017 Paris, France Tel.: +33 1 47 23 76 37 – Fax: +33 1 47 20 84 01 csweurope@gmail.com "The Embassies of United States and France are joined by UNESCO at their dedicated pavilions amidst the vilest antisemitic and conspiracy theory titles at the Doha InternationalBook Fair." Paris, 7 December 2016 In a letter to Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser Al Ali, Culture and Sports Minister of Qatar, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Directot for International Relations,Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressedoutrage at the continued display of titles inciting to hatred of Jews at the Doha International Book Fair (DECC). Samuels noted that "this year, the Fair concludes on 11 December thus leaving time for removal of these antisemitic and conspiracy theory books: 12- The Sacred Crime: Genocide from the Ideology of the Hebrew Book to the Zionist Project by Essam Sakhnini, published by Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in 2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Center_for_Research_and_Policy_Studies This book addresses the allegations surrounding the history of mass murder and persecution which the Jews were subjected to throughout history. The author believes that some of theseallegations, belong to the world of fairy tales that have not been historically proven, others underwent an exaggeration and hype. Books focuses on genocide mentality in the Jewish religious book and Zionist movement towards the Palestinians (and others). Source: Doha Institute (publisher) - https://bookstore.dohainstitute.org/p-67.aspx Samarkand Publishing (Booth B33) The letter added, "even more worrying is that a search for ‘27th Doha Book Fair 2016’ brings up YouTube of the 28 November preparations and in the margin, among others, a link to an almosttwo hour film entitled 'Synagogue of Satan - Marching to Zion: The Jews exposed'!" The letter continued, "just as our organization would express outrage at anti-Islamic material, we request you to take measures to proclaim that Qatar rejects incitement to hatred andviolence against Jews." The Centre added, "we are aware that the DECC contract with exhibitors contains a clause prohibiting any publication that insults Islam, we urge you to add Judaism, Christianity and otherfaiths to create a platform of solidarity among all believers. Continued manifestations of hatred at the DECC can not serve Qatar's image or interests." The letter concluded, "Mr. Minister we look forward to hearing from you in cooperation against all forms of bigotry." Samuels expressed special indignation that, "the Embassies of United States and France are joined by UNESCO at their dedicated pavilions amidst the vilest antisemitic and conspiracy theorytitles at the Doha International Book Fair." The Centre's protest was shared with the United States Ambassador to France, the French Foreign Minister and the Director-General of UNESCO. For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 609 77 01 58, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at internationalagencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino). |