February 1, 2021 — New York
American Jewish Committee (AJC) today released an Arabic-language video about the infamous antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, part of the organization’s popular Arabic video series, ‘An al-Yahud (“About the Jews”).
The new animated short film presents the twisted history of the 117-year-old fabricated text, which alleges a secret conspiracy by a cabal of influential Jews to control the world. It then goes on to debunk The Protocols’ outrageous claims. Despite having been proven to be fictitious shortly after its publication, the Protocols continues to drive antisemitic conspiracy theories around the world, including in the Middle East, where it is still widely disseminated according to a recent United Nations report on antisemitism. The video closes by stressing the dangers of antisemitic conspiracy theories, which divert public attention from the true causes of societal ills. It is also being released in English.
“Like antisemitism itself, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion refuses to die,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “Though debunked time after time, this preposterous forgery is nevertheless popular reading in many parts of the Arab world. Today we are shedding light on The Protocols’ history and revealing the absurdity of its claims in order to prevent it from poisoning any more hearts and minds.”
The film is the fifth in AJC’s Arabic-language video series, ‘An al-Yahud (“About the Jews”), which has been viewed by tens of millions of Arabic-speakers around the world. Launched in early 2020, the project’s Arabic-language social media channels have drawn more than 300,000 followers. The top locations of the videos’ viewers include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. The previous four videos focused on the origins and beliefs of the Jewish people, the history of Muslim-Jewish relations, the Holocaust, and Jewish ties to Jerusalem.
“This Arabic film on The Protocols will furnish a growing network of partners throughout the Arab world with a strong and engaging tool to challenge the pernicious myth of ‘Jewish control,’” Harris further commented. “There is increasing recognition that scapegoating the Jews and Israel will not solve the region’s problems, and that antisemitic conspiracy theories have been a stubbornly big obstacle to regional advancement."
‘An al-Yahud builds on AJC’s unique, extensive, and longstanding engagement with the Arab and Muslim worlds. As the leader in the Jewish world, AJC representatives have regularly met during the past three decades with Arab and Muslim leaders across the Middle East and North Africa to exchange views on matters of mutual concern, among them the fight against extremism, Muslim-Jewish relations, and deepening ties between Israel and Arab states. In the United States, AJC established the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council (MJAC) with the Islamic Society of North America, offering Muslim and Jewish leaders a platform for advocacy on combating hate crimes, religious discrimination, and other domestic issues of common concern.
