CAIRO: A prominent Jewish-American organization said that it has delivered a report last week to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and to American President Barack Obama, in addition to the leaders of the U.S. Congress that details what they called anti-Semitism in Egyptian media. The report monitored “anti-Semitism” in the Egyptian media and accused the Egyptian government of “willful blindness ” of these sentiments in its local media outlets. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the leading organizations of the Israel lobby in the United States known for its outspoken anti-Islamic leanings, warned in its report, which was obtained and published by the America in Arabic news agency, that the “normal” way of handling the issue of “anti-Semitism” in Egyptian media could hamper “the leading regional role of Egypt.” The organization sent a letter to President Mubarak with a report criticizing the Egyptian government's manner in dealing with the issue of anti-Semitism in the media, “despite repeated attempts by Jewish community leaders and Israeli officials to raise awareness of the problem with the government,” the report stated. The letter that was quoted by America in Arabic saying that “the officials of the Anti-Defamation League met with you and the members of your government on several occasions to urge the Egyptian leadership to speak out against anti-Semitic expressions, and to clarify that the demonizing of Jews is not acceptable in Egyptian society.” The letter, addressed to President Mubarak said: “We are disappointed that these convictions were rare, and often hear from representatives of your government justifications to these examples of hatred, considering it a way of expressing the anger against the Jews, that can be understood.” The report, consisting of 36 pages, monitored 58 cartoons as well as opinion pieces in major Egyptian newspapers, in which the organizations accused it of having “anti-Semitic” leanings. The ADL accused the official government-run media, including Al-Ahram, Al-Gomhoriya, Al Akhbar, Al-Ahram Weekly (published in English) and Rose al-Youssef of perpetuating anti-Semitism in the country. It also singled out independent newspapers such as al-Youm al-Saba'a, al-Wafd and al-Ahali of also participating in what it called “derogatory” slandering of Jews. One of the cartoons monitored by theorganization and which was on the front page of the ADL's website was a caricature by al-Youm al-Saba'a. The cartoon was sharply criticized by the organization in September and considered it on eof the most “anit-Semitic caricatures” in Arab newspapers. The cartoon depicts the ISraeli presence in the Nile basin in the form of a water basin and then takes the form of a cow's udder being milked by a person carrying the star of David on his head. The cartoon was designed by Egyptian painter and cartoonist Mahmoud al-Saeed. The report said that the culture of anti-Semitism continues in Egypt in a way that “enables anti-Jewish feelings to flourish in the Egyptian press, without a word of condemnation or criticism from one of the civilian political leaders.” The report added: “The government of President Hosni Mubarak continues to work normally when it comes to blatant expressions of anti-Semitism in the media, a language that is sweeping Egyptian society to undermine the American Administration's attempts to realize the promise of President Obama's speech in Cairo.” The Anti-Defamation League, which considers any criticism of the Israeli occupation as a form of “anti-Semitism” in the Arab media, said that it delivered the report to President Hosni Mubarak last week and distributed copies of it to the officials in the Obama administration and congressional leaders. For his part, Abraham H. Foxman, Director of the ADL, said in a statement last Monday, that “this disturbing manifestation of anti-Semitism undermine the administration's attempts to fulfill the promise of better relations between the Islamic world and the non-Muslim world in Obama's address in Cairo, and that it is a major obstacle to the normalization of the relations between Egypt and Israel, and Israeli relations with other Arab States.” Most of the report's accusations focused on the Egyptian Media, saying that “Jews exploit the Holocaust, and that Egyptian media likens Israeli leaders to Nazis.” The report claimed that anti-Semitism in Egypt led to “acts of explicit discrimination against Jews in the community, such as the Egyptian government's attempt in last October to exclude Israeli scientists and doctors from participating in a conference on breast cancer in Alexandria, the conference in which Israeli doctors were allowed to attend in the end, after pressure on the Egyptian government.” The report also pointed to statements made by Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, which were critical of the Jewish campaign against him during his run for the top UNESCO; comments that the organization described as anti-Semitic. BM
