A Short History of Holocaust Denial in the Middle East

[mhatrw]

http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/lawreviews/meta-elements/journals/bctwj/23_2/04_TXT.htm

Given that the hostility between many Arab countries and Israel historically has spurned anti-Semitic sentiment, Arab countries provide a fertile ground for Holocaust deniers’ theories.105 Hindered by legislation and litigation in the Western world, deniers recently have expanded their activities into the Arab countries of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority.106 Deniers have found that, as a result of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, the atmosphere in the Arab world creates the ideal backdrop for Holocaust deniers to promote their propaganda.107 To date, Holocaust denial appears throughout many of these countries in articles and columns by journalists, speeches and pronouncements by public figures and religious leaders,108 and resolutions of professional organizations.109 ...

More recently, a new form of Holocaust-inspired anti-Semitism has taken shape in Arab countries, such as Syria and the Palestinian Authority, which have adopted the belief that the Holocaust never occurred.118 Once a longtime phenomenon found only in the West, Holocaust denial has expanded into, and is increasingly accepted by, many citizens of these Arab states.119 Beginning in the 1990s, Holocaust denial began to appear in the media of many Arab countries.123 For example, the July 1990 issue of the Palestinian Liberation Organization-affiliated Palestinian Red Crescent’s magazine, Balsam, contained an article that claimed that Jews created the lie of the gas chambers in order to gain support for Israel and that the Nuremberg trials were set up fraudulently by the Jews in order to establish the Holocaust as historical fact.124 ...

Nonetheless, in August 2002, the Arab League's Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-up, an official think-tank of the Arab League, convened a symposium in Abu Dhabi devoted to Holocaust Denial.135 The Zayed Center described the symposium as an effort "to counter the historical and political fallacies propagated by Israel."136 Previously, the Zayed Center had hosted legitimate lectures by Western heads of state and diplomats, such as former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice President Al Gore.137 The fact that the Arab League, as well as such nations as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, would give Holocaust denial a legitimate platform represents a critical step backwards in the effort to suppress deniers’ activities.138 ...

Not surprisingly, the Arab perception of the Holocaust is influenced by the immediate state of the Arab-Israeli conflict.145 Whenever tensions escalate between Israel and its Arab neighbors, there is a correlating increase in declarations denying the Holocaust, "as if the denial of the Holocaust automatically eliminates Israel’s raison d'etre."146 Similarly, whenever Israeli and Palestinian negotiators move toward a permanent peace settlement, Holocaust denial increases throughout the Arab world.147 In some Arab and Muslim countries, such as Jordan and Lebanon, only opposition parties and dissident factions that denounce any form of relations with Israel have adopted denial; denial, then, is employed to discredit their government rivals and increase popular hatred of Israel.148 In other countries, including Iran, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority, the national government itself sponsors Holocaust denial.149 For example, the Iranian government provides refuge for Western holocaust deniers escaping legal prosecution.150 During the Pope’s historic pilgrimage to Israel in 2000, Sabri, the mufti of Jerusalem, publicly reiterated his belief that the Holocaust is a myth.151 In addition, the government-controlled newspapers of Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority espouse the view that the Holocaust never happened.152 Specifically, Teshreen, the Syrian daily newspaper owned and operated by the ruling Baath party, and Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, the newspaper controlled by the Palestinian authority, print numerous expressions of Holocaust denial.153 It is interesting to note that Holocaust denial only rarely appears in the media of Arab countries, such as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, which have taken steps to normalize relations with Israel. The previous examples of denial activity in Iran, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority, however, suggest that the governments of some Arab and Muslim countries both support and sponsor Holocaust denial and deniers’ activities.154 ...

much more here: http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/lawreviews/meta-elements/journals/bctwj/23_2/04_TXT.htm