Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Jewish Holy Book?

Using international financial aid, the Egyptian government has renovated the library at Alexandria and opened within it a manuscript museum to house old, original documents. But why have they decided to include "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in the display case of the holy books of the monotheistic religions, right next to a Torah?

MEMRI quotes the museum's director, Dr. Yousef Ziedan:

"When my eyes fell upon the rare copy of this dangerous book, I decided immediately to place it next to the Torah. Although it is not a monotheistic holy book, it has become one of the sacred [tenets] of the Jews, next to their first constitution, their religious law, [and] their way of life. In other words, it is not merely an ideological or theoretical book. Perhaps this book of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' is more important to the Zionist Jews of the world than the Torah, because they conduct Zionist life according to it… It is only natural to place the book in the framework of an exhibit of Torah [scrolls]."

This is a good example of how serious the problem of antisemitism in the Arab-Muslim world is. Ziedan is not some uneducated person from the street - he's the director of one of Egypt's most important libraries. His academic credentials are, presumably, quite good. But he believes that the Protocols are non-fiction and that the claim of six million Jewish dead in the Holocaust is a fiction. What future can there be for peace between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East when such views persist?

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• Palestine and Israel
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