AJC Executive Director's Op-ed on Arab anti-Semitism

American Jewish Committee
Tuesday, 2 May 2000

American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris has warned again that vitriolic anti-Semitism in the Arab world is hindering efforts to create a climate and culture of peace in the Middle East.

The AJC leader's warning came in an op-ed article, "Peace and Poison in the Middle East," published in today's Washington Post, on the opening day of the American Jewish Committee's Annual Meeting.

"As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators move toward a much-awaited permanent settlement, there has been a shocking rise in vitriolic anti-Semitism across the Arab world," writes Mr. Harris. "This extraordinary paradox of Israeli and Arab political leaders attempting to build peace while official Arab media, schools, religious leaders and intellectuals actively demonize the Jewish people is startling."

Mr. Harris testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month on the subject of Arab anti-Semitism (The testimony is available at www.ajc.org).

The op-ed article, which appears on Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day, also notes that "the language of Holocaust denial has become common" across the Arab world.

"When we raised our concerns about anti-Semitism in the Arab media during an American Jewish Committee mission to five Arab countries in March, our interlocutors proclaimed this the price of a 'free' press and assured us that comprehensive peace would moderate the media," writes Mr. Harris. "At the same time, when pressed on improving their relations with Israel, government officials appealed for patience, because, after all, while the government is more than willing to deepen ties with the Jewish state, 'public opinion' is not yet ready."

Mr. Harris questions why "there is no acknowledgement of linkage between people's perception of Israel and the daily venom fed them through the Arab media and school curriculum—all sanctioned by the respective Arab governments?"

In conclusion, Mr. Harris observes that Israel is prepared to take calculated risks to achieve peace. "But the antagonistic posture of the Arab media, schools, religious leaders and intellectuals hardly contributes to the climate and culture that are desperately needed to turn the region from conflict to cooperation."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org