A Jewish group is propagating the idea that criticism of Israel's crimes against the Palestinians is 'perverse racism'. Omayma Abdel-Latif looks at the latest incarnation of an old ploy "May the holy name visit retribution on the Arabs' heads, cause their seeds to be lost and annihilate them, cause them to be vanquished and cause them to be cast from the world. It is forbidden to be merciful to them. You must give them missiles, with relish. Annihilate them, the evil ones." Those words were spoken by the leader of Israel's Shas Party, Rabbi Ouvadia Ben Yousef. Such a striking case of overtly racist comments comes to mind in the lead up to a lawsuit charging that an Egyptian newspaper was guilty of "perverse racism" in its coverage of Israeli crimes against Palestinians. Tomorrow, a Paris court will look into a case initiated against Ibrahim Nafie, editor-in-chief of Cairo's Al-Ahram newspaper, chairman of the board of the daily's mother organisation (which also publishes Al-Ahram Weekly) and chairman of the press syndicate. The case was launched by the Paris-based Jewish group, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism. Nafie is charged with inciting hatred against Jews by publishing an article entitled "A Jewish pie from Arab blood" on 10 October 2001 by journalist Adel Hamouda. The French Jewish group deemed the article anti-Semitic. Nafie's summons by the French court has drawn angry responses from across the Arab world and this week witnessed a show of support from the Press Syndicate, the Bar Association and human rights organisations who vowed "to stand by him [Nafie] so as not to be intimidated by such attempts to silence criticism of Israel". Observers told Al-Ahram Weekly that the case was "politically motivated" since it comes at a time when both the Arabs and Israelis are engaged in a war of words and imagery to win international support for their position with respect to the Palestinian Intifada. This competition over public opinion is particularly strong in Europe, which the International League Against Racism and Anti- Semitism claims is sympathetic to the Palestinians' plight. That the Arab press, in general, and the Egyptian press, in particular, is anti- Semitic is almost an article of faith for the Jewish lobby in Europe and the United States. Portrayal of the Arab media as replete with anti-Jewish rhetoric and racist incitement has been part of the Israeli campaign to defame Arab journalism in the West. Emad Gad, editor-in-chief of Mokhtarat Israelia [Israeli Selections] -- a monthly journal published by the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies -- and an expert on Israeli affairs, said the case against Nafie was merely a continuation of Israel's relentless efforts to win sympathy by invoking the charge of anti-Semitism. "They [the Israelis] exploit historic events that have resonance for Europeans. They think that by accusing the Arabs of anti-Semitism, they will undermine criticism against Israel in Europe and create sympathy for their side," he said. Gad's argument seems to hold water within a European context, since previous attempts to silence critics of Israeli policies have borne fruit. A Western journalist told the Weekly, "Many journalists back down from criticising Israel because to do so would put their careers in jeopardy." In explaining the reason behind pro-Israeli groups' constant accusations of anti-Semitism against their critics, Britain's Channel Four correspondent Lindsey Hilsum, herself a Jew, wrote in the London-based New Statesman magazine on 13 May 2002, "The moment Europe's Jews say the threat [of anti-Semitism in Europe] has diminished or disappeared, Israelis fear the reason for their state is undermined. They need anti- Semitism." "Israeli politicians," added Hilsum, "want that collective guilt to define European attitudes to the Middle East today. But pretending Europe has not changed in 60 years does not give Israel licence to do what it likes in the Palestinian territories it occupies." The case of the French Jewish group serves as an example of how Israel uses anti-Semitism as part of a strategy to ensure its survival. One observer said that the case initiated against Nafie in France could be interpreted within the context of the Israeli government's campaign that targets France's Jewish community, estimated at 600,000, making it the third largest community outside Israel after Russia and the US. Spokesmen for the Israeli government have made repeated calls for France's Jews to emigrate. In February, Sharon himself said Israel was preparing for an exodus of French Jews due to "a dangerous wave of anti-Semitism". On 10 April, the Israeli government said the emigration of France's entire Jewish community had become a "necessity" and announced the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee on the issue. Following Jean-Marie Le Pen's success in the first round of France's presidential elections, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Elie Yisha, who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, called on French Jews to emigrate to Israel, insisting that the "Jews of Europe, and the Jews of France, in particular, cannot remain indifferent in the face of growing anti- Semitic attacks, which the French authorities seem unable to stop". But in the view of some Western journalists, and a few Arab critics, the Arab press does play into the hands of Zionist groups since they sometimes permit the use of a discourse cluttered with indiscriminate slurs against Jews that range from marked insensitivity to crude racism. Such a discourse amounts to what one British journalist of Jewish background described as "European Christian anti-Semitism which fills the pages of Arab newspapers". In response to this claim, Egyptian journalists who spoke to the Weekly referred to "the context" into which this so-called anti- Semitic language emerged in the Arab press. "It did not happen in a vacuum," said Gad. "Since the Intifada, both the Arabs and the Israelis have been engaged in this 'tit for tat' war of words which has sometimes slipped into racist remarks on the Arab side," Gad said. He pointed out what he described as "the conspicuous absence" of any reference in the Western media of what he called "the other anti-Semitism" that is taking place in Israel against the Arabs -- both Muslims and Christians. "The ubiquity of Israeli incitement against Arabs and Muslims is barely commented upon in the Western press," Gad told the Weekly. "It is always underplayed -- if it is mentioned at all. One can rightly claim that they [the Israelis] also resort to incitement but this is hardly mentioned in the Western press," said Gad, who pointed to a thick file of newspaper clippings and statements by Israeli politicians and writings by rabbis that he says are full of extremely racist and anti-Arab rhetoric. According to Salaheddin Hafez, the secretary- general of the Arab Journalists Federation, Nafie's case sets a precedent that will throw the door open for similar cases to be initiated by Zionist organisations. In a pre-emptive move, an Egyptian journalist lodged a complaint this week with the Paris- based Reporters Without Borders Organisation (RSF), urging it to look into what he described as the relentless attempts by Jewish groups based in Europe to silence any criticism directed against Israel in the Arab press by accusing it of being anti- Semitic. In response to the complaint which spoke of the intimidation that Arab journalists are subjected to by pro-Israeli groups, Virigine Locussol, who is in charge of the Egyptian affairs section of the RSF, said "it is a very big problem in France, too." Locussol mentioned the case of the French Journalist Daniel Merme of Radio France International who was also accused of anti-Semitism because "he aired a programme from Gaza in which Palestinians talked about the situation under the Israeli occupation," Locussol told the Weekly by telephone. The RSF itself came under attack when the organisation included the Israeli Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz (during the period November 2001 until July 2002 on its list of "predators", or the enemies of journalists, which is posted on its Web site. RSF removed Mofaz from the list when he retired, but added Ariel Sharon. "When we were in Gaza a few months ago, we were denied press accreditation. So if you criticise the Israeli army, you are dubbed anti-Semitic," Locussol said. Locussol and others criticise the Arab press for exaggeration. "It is a pity that sometimes they publish articles which exaggerate. I would tell them, you don't need to exaggerate. The facts are already horrible." But Locussol had a warning for the Israelis, too. "If any of the critics of Israel are dubbed as anti-Semitic, it is something terrible for the memory of the Jewish people who died because of anti-Semitism. They render this term banal and use it to put pressure on others," Locussol added.
