"We urge the GCC to expand its measures to also remove antisemitism from all media sources."

"Sowing hatred of Jews in the Arab world or in the Muslim diaspora provokes terrorism against Jewish targets in Europe and beyond." 

Paris, 30 August 2017

In a letter to Dr. Abdul Latif Rashid Al-Zayani, Secretary General of the six state Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations Dr. Shimon Samuels, commended the GCC for "its measures to press Qatar to cut its financing of terrorist organisations and to close its Al Jazeera television network for incitement to hate and violence."

Samuels noted that "only this week, on 25 August, Al Jazeera Arabic (Blogs) published an antisemitic article on 'The Jews - That is their Character/Trait'.  The author, writer and microbiologist, Mohammed Abdallah, mentions he has a duty as a Muslim and a Palestinian to clarify to people the true nature of the Jews:

'Deceitful, breakers of covenants, have no values or morals, have duped the world with what is known as the Holocaust into believing they are the only persecuted race, they achieve this by controlling the decision makers of the world, establish chaos, spread rumours and, as in their Jewish Protocols, focus on transforming the minds and ideas of people etc'.

Ironically, the writer concludes the article by declaring that anybody who states these facts is labelled an antisemite! "
Source: Al Jazeera Arabic (Blogs) August 25, 2017
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/blogs/2017/8/25/اليهود-هذا-ديدنهم

The letter drew attention to "the Centre's annual monitoring of hate on the display stands of the Frankfurt Book Fair.  Iran has won our 'Worst Offender Award' for three years for its extolling suicide martyrdom in children's literature  and Qatar for the last two years for anti-Jewish conspiracy theories."

Samuels added that "we also monitor six Arab book fairs, where vicious antisemitic screeds have been abundant."

"The sowing of hatred against Jews through texts, whether in the Arab world or in the Muslim diaspora, provokes terrorism against Jewish targets across Europe and beyond", argued Samuels.

The Centre urged the GCC, "to expand its measures against the poison of Al Jazeera to  remove also antisemitism from all media sources."

"Our Centre would be eager to work with you to this end", he concluded.