Arab Spring? Egyptian
Media Deny and Glorify Holocaust
August
2, 2012
(CNSNews.com) - In the wake of the so-called Arab Spring
in Egypt, which led to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak and the
election of a parliament dominated by Islamist parties, expressions of
anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial and glorification have become common in the
Egyptian media, including in government-owned media, according to the U.S.
State Department.
“Anti-Semitism
is common in the state-owned and private media,” said the State Department country reporton religious
freedom in Egypt for 2011, which was released Monday.
“It sometimes included
anti-Semitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial or glorification,” said the State
Department report.
“Editorial cartoons and
articles depicting demonic images of Jews and Israeli leaders, stereotypical
images of Jews along with Jewish symbols, and comparisons of Israeli leaders
with Hitler and the Nazis were published throughout the year, particularly
after the August 18 deaths of five Egyptian soldiers in Sinai during an Israeli
operation against terrorist attackers,” said the State Department.
The State Department
noted that despite rampant anti-Semitism in both the government’s media and
“opposition” media, there have not been attacks on Jews in Egyptian “in recent
years.”
“Anti-Semitic sentiments
appeared both in the government-owned and opposition press; however, there have
been no violent anti-Semitic incidents in recent years,” said the State
Department.
However, 11 pages
earlier than the above statement, the same report noted that there are only
about 100 elderly Jews remaining in a country that has a population of more
than 83 million people.
“The country’s Jewish
community numbers about 100 persons, mostly senior citizens,” said the State
Department report.
The report also noted
that despite the commonplace anti-Semitism in the government-controlled media,
the Egyptian government had “advised” journalists to "avoid"
anti-Semitism.
“The government has
advised journalists and cartoonists to avoid anti-Semitism,” said the State
Department. “Government officials insist that anti-Semitic statements in the
media are a reaction to Israeli government actions against Palestinians and do
not reflect historical anti-Semitism; however, there are few public attempts to
distinguish between anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment.”
In late 2010, when
Mubarak was still in power, the Egyptian government had briefly stopped
Holocaust-denying-or-glorifying-TV stations from broadcasting over a
government-owned satellite system. But, subsequently these stations were
allowed to return to the system.
“A number of privately
owned, government-licensed satellite television stations continued to broadcast
virulent anti-Semitic programming, which glorified or denied the Holocaust,
over government-owned Nilesat,” said the State Department. “In October 2010 the
government warned stations to eliminate ‘sectarian content’ (i.e., content that
reinforced sectarian hatred or could spark sectarian violence) and took a
number of these channels off Nilesat. Following a court decision in November
2010, five of these stations returned to Nilesat while others resumed
broadcasting in February.”
In Egypt, according to
the State Department report, a government ministry is supposed to license all
mosques and the Muslim imams are supposed to be appointed by and be paid by the
government, although free-lance mosques are now springing up.
Despite this government
control of the clergy, Egyptian imams also promoted anti-Semitism, according to
the State Department.
“There were reports that
imams used anti-Semitic rhetoric in their sermons," said the State
Department. "The Israeli embassy was the scene of several demonstrations
featuring anti-Semitic slogans. A wall erected around it by the government in
early September was quickly covered in anti-Semitic graffiti, including
swastikas."
“In September, squatters
occupied part of Cairo’s 800-year-old Bassatine Jewish cemetery and destroyed
some headstones and monuments. The government evicted them after complaints
were made,” said the State Department.