Paris – In a letterto H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin MuhammadAl-Qasimi, Emir of Sharjah, UAE, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuelsstated: “This week's opening of the Sharjah International Book Fair, has drawn our attention to displays of antisemitic books that should have no placeat the Fair. Sadly, the current SIBF is abused, particularly by the recidivist Egyptian publisher Dar El-Kitab Alaraby (stand D5-D6). Examples include:
“Pawns in the Game..The Practical Implementaion of the Protocols of the Elders ofZion” - by William Guy Carr [notorious antisemitic conspiracy theorist] and translated by Magdi Kamel
“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: The Masonic Plots to Dominate the World” -by Mansour Abdel Hakim [based on a Tsarist Secret Police forgery of the early 1900s]
“The Rothschilds - Merchants of Wars and Revolutions” - by Magdi Kamel
“Mein Kampf” - by Adolf Hitler (edited by Farid al-Falluji)
“The Talmud - Secrets...Facts - Exposing the Jewish Plots to Control the World” - by Dr.El-Hussainy El-Hussainy Madi
“Theodor Herzl...Satan of Zionism and Devil of the Modern Era” - by Essam Abdelfattah andMohamed Sewify Abdallah”
“Your Highness, in order to render the SIBF hate-free, theSIEL Casablanca Fair could be a good example. Antisemitic titles are removed in the same manner as Islamophobic titles, in line with the policy of Morocco's King Mohammed VI. We urge the SharjahBook Fair to follow this example and to bear in mind that recidivists simply replace any volumes removed. We thus urge the Fair authorities to apply appropriate measures, by banning those publishers and cataloguesdisplaying antisemitic and anti-Israeli titles,” the letter noted.
The Centre declared, “In view of the recent official peace and normalization of relations signed with Israel, we call on YourHighness to act immediately against texts that are incompatible with the Abraham Accords and an abuse that offends the Emirate of Sharjah and the UAE itself.”
“We have also expressed our concern to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the United Arab Emirates UNESCO PermanentDelegate and the UAE Department of Culture. This letter is similarly shared with the United States and Swedish Ambassadors, as also the Institut Français, each of whose representatives graced theopening of the Book Fair in Sharjah,” concluded Samuels.
For further information, contact Shimon Samuelsat csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitterfeed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish humanrights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europeand the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).