Paris, 6 February 2023
After seven years monitoring hate at the Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) for the Wiesenthal Centre, Dr Shimon Samuels noted that “this year has seen a tsunami of Arabic editions of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’, the Tsarist secret police forgery ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’, Henry Ford’s ‘The International Jew’ and Guy Carr’s ‘Pawns in the Game’ (the ‘implementation of the Protocols’), spread out along a dozen of stands.”
What is particularly worrying in this CIBF is that, among the listed publishers, figure not only the usual purveyors of hate, conspiracy theories and antisemitism – such as Dar Al-Kitab Al-Araby – but also apparent newcomers in the business, who consider that these books meet the local market’s demand.
Since the inception of Arab nationalism, ‘Mein Kampf’ is being peddled as a classic staple for Egyptian families. How could academics, journalists or diplomats really find justification in Arab anti-Zionism – and claim it is not antisemitism – if the non-religious political bestseller in the Arab world is a book that calls for the extermination of the Jews?
Dar Al Kitab Al Araby (Egypt) - stand B46
‘Mein Kampf’
‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’
‘Pawns in the Game’
‘The International Jew’
‘Pharaoh Owner of Stakes... Judaization of History’, by Ahmed Saadeddin
First Book Publishing (Egypt) - stand A15
‘Mein Kampf’
Dar Al Hayat for Publishing (Egypt) - stand A7
‘Mein Kampf’
‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’
‘Pawns in the Game’
Dar Al Nadaa for Cultural Investments (Egypt) - stand C12
‘Mein Kampf’
Dar Al Kholoud for Publishing (Egypt) - stand A12
‘Mein Kampf’
‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’
‘Pawns in the Game’
Dar Al Waleed Publishing (Syria) - stand A26
‘Mein Kampf’
‘Pawns in the Game’
Two publishers that we discover this year:
U M Publishing (Egypt) - stand C54
‘Pawns in the Game’
Dar Pharos for Publishing (Egypt) - stand B28
‘Mein Kampf’
‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’
‘Pawns in the Game’
And additional publishers with new-entry books that appear antisemitic:
Zein Publishing (Egypt) - stand A7
‘The Jews and the Holocaust’, by Nesreen Saad El-Din
The description online mentions that this book tells “the history of Nazism and its relationship to the Jews”.
Hala Publishing (Egypt) - stand B12
‘The Role of American Jewry in Supporting the Zionist Movement’, by Adbelwahab Sa’ed Shaker
Last year, Samuels urged the US, French, British and German Ambassadors to Egypt to withdraw their support for the CIBF. Reportedly, the only diplomat to attend was the representative of UNESCO.
“The list of Jew-hating publishers will now be sent to the Frankfurt Book Fair, to be blacklisted for its next edition, as they are breaking the Fair’s regulations and commitment – specified in the contract with publishers worldwide – to fight all forms of antisemitism, discrimination and hate,” concluded Samuels.
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For further information, contact Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com