-Caveat Lector- Group Rebukes Egyptian TV Series --------------------
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD Associated Press Writer November 19, 2002, 11:49 AM EST CAIRO, Egypt -- In the first domestic criticism of its kind, an Egyptian rights group rebuked state television for broadcasting a series based in part on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an anti-Semitic work known to be a forgery. The series "Horseman Without a Horse" has been shown nightly on Egyptian television for the past two weeks, provoking condemnation from the United States, Israel and Jewish groups for airing the series based on the Protocols, which describe a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. Egyptian Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif has denied the series is anti-Semitic and defended it as an example of free expression. But the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said Monday that free expression "should not be abused to propagate events that might incite hatred." The group, Egypt's best-known rights organization, released a statement urging that the show begin with an acknowledgment that the Protocols are forged. The rights group is the first Egyptian organization to criticize the series, which has received sympathetic reviews in local media. Tuesday, a pro-government Egyptian weekly published excerpts from the protocols preceded by an introduction quoting a prominent Muslim cleric as saying: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were used by the Zionists to corrupt the nations of the world." The religious affairs weekly Aqidati was quoting a decades-old doctoral thesis on Judaism written by Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the grand sheik of Al-Azhar, a Cairo mosque and university that is one of the most influential institutions in the Sunni Muslim world. Tantawi could not be immediately reached for comment. In an interview with another pro-government weekly, Akher Saa, that also appeared Tuesday, Tantawi said he had not seen "Horseman without a Horse" but did not believe it deserved criticism. "Suppose that the series has some criticism or shows some of the Jews' traits, this doesn't necessitate an uproar," he said. "The accusation of anti-Semitism was invented by the Jews as a means to pressure Arabs and Muslims to implement their schemes in the Arab and Muslim countries, so don't pay attention to them." Tantawi did not discuss his thesis in the Akher Saa interview. Egyptian actor Mohammed Sobhi, who stars in the show and co-wrote the script, has said he knows the Protocols were forged, but that the Israelis "implemented them." Historians have dismissed the Protocols as an invention of the Russian czar's secret police in an attempt to blame the country's problems on Jews. The human rights group said the current hostility toward Israel -- over its conduct in the Palestinian uprising -- should not lead anyone to condone the Protocols, particularly when the Arab world is asking the West to condemn prejudice against Muslims. "Supporting the Palestinian cause doesn't need forged Protocols," the secretary general of the rights group, Hafez Abu Saada, said in an interview. What is happening on the ground (in the Palestinian territories) is more reprehensible than anything else." Copyright (c) 2002, The Associated Press <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
