General characteristics

Within the information available on Al-Nakba, an Internet website of the Palestinian State Information Service (SIS), one may find an online version of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion . The website, hostile to Israel , contains inciting publications on the Nakba ¹(the term used by the Palestinians to describe the “catastrophe” of 1948) and is available both in Arabic and in English. The Arabic version, catering to Arab and Palestinian public, has a higher dosage of inciting contents while the English version, addressing non-Arab target audiences, is more moderate and does not contain The Protocols (see Appendix A for characteristics of the website).

The Palestinian Authority State Information Service is a governmental institution directly affiliated to the presidency of the Palestinian Authority. Founded on February 12, 1996 by a decree issued by Yasser Arafat, then Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, it is the official institution responsible for “organizing and developing information and media activities in the Palestinian territories” ². The State Information Service is headed by Riyad al-Hassan .

As noted earlier, the Al-Nakba webpage that contains The Protocols only appears in the Arabic version, as a subsection inside a section titled “The Historical Background of the Nakba ”, i.e., the Palestinian and Arab reader may infer that the foundation of the State of Israel and the em ergence of the probl em of Palestinian refugees are nothing but a part of the impl em entation of the so-called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

It should be noted that the connection between “classic” Christian anti-S em itic myths (expressed in The Protocols ) and the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflict is immensely popular in anti-S em itic literature. As early as in the 1950s, translations of The Protocols as well as derivative “research” literature started appearing in Egypt . In the first translation of The Protocols published in Egypt in 1951, Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad, one of Egypt 's top writers, wrote that all Arabs must learn The Protocols for the Arab world was the principal victim of the Jewish sch em es since the end of the 19th century until and after the Nakba ³. Such a connection of The Protocols with the foundation of the State of Israel and the other “plagues” that befell the Arab world also appears in introductions to modern editions of The Protocols ⁴.

The Al-Nakba website, featuring The Protocols, was last updated in 2004 (i.e., in Arafat's era) and it does not appear that the website is being regularly updated. The webpage containing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was last updated on May 12, 2004 and has not changed since. It should be noted that in Abu Mazen's era, the Palestinian Authority reduced the levels of incit em ent on television and in newspapers. However, the continuing availability of The Protocols on an official Palestinian Authority website is a clear d em onstration that the Palestinian Authority has yet to thoroughly cleanse all the media operating on its behalf, including the Internet, of blatant expressions of incit em ent against the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and even against the United States and the UK.

The website contains 24 Protocols translated by ‘ Ajaj Nuwayhid, a Lebanese Druze and a well-known figure in the Arab-Palestinian national mov em ent (see Appendix D ). The translation of The Protocols was taken by the Palestinian SIS from the website of the Islamic Da'wa Party, a Shiite party operating in Iraq . It should be noted that The Protocols, translated and edited by ‘Ajaj Nuwayhid, were first published in Beirut in 1967 and later appeared in many editions in Syria and in Lebanon . In Syria , the book was published by the publishing house of Mustafa Tlass , a confidant of former Syrian President Hafez Assad and Syria 's Defense Minister for many years.

It should be noted that the Internet serves as an important leverage for the spread of anti-S em itic publications on behalf of various countries, bodies and figures across the Arab/Muslim world. The example at hand well d em onstrates how The Protocols are marketed by the Internet among Arab countries (and, subsequently, to Muslim/Arab communities across the world). It is our assessment that the translations of The Protocols spread via the Internet are based mostly upon versions published in Egypt , Syria and Lebanon . These three countries are the predominant source of anti-S em itic inflammatory publications, including The Protocols , which continue to top the bestseller lists in the Arab/Muslim world for over half a century ⁵.

Characteristics of the Al-Nakba website

General

The operators of the website

The Al-Nakba website is stored on the server nakba.sis.gov.ps. The address alone makes it clear that the server belongs to the State Information Service (SIS), defined under the government domain name (gov) in the Palestinian Authority (ps). The logo that appears on the website (in both of its versions) is another indication of Al-Nakba's being an official Palestinian Authority website.

At the bottom of the posters and banners appearing on the website is the name of the organization in English (State Information Service) and in Arabic. There is also an address for contacting the managers of the website by e-mail (nakba@sis.gov.ps).

The major th em e of the website is the Nakba —the events of 1948, the historical developments that preceded th em and the probl em of the Palestinian refugees. Documents, maps and various studies regarding the Nakba are used to support the Palestinian point of view.

The Arabic version of the website contains more extensive materials than its English counterpart. Several main sections in the Arabic version, such as maps, documents, studies and caricatures, do not appear in the English version at all. Even sections that appear in both versions and could have been expected to be identical do not necessarily contain the same information. Likewise, the wording in the English version is much more moderate than in the Arabic version.

Website updates

Most of Al-Nakba's webpages were last updated during the months of May-June 2004. The front page, providing the tone of the website, was last updated on June 3, 2004 in the Arabic version and on May 10, 2004 in the English version. Certain sections of the website in the English version are still “under construction” and it does not appear the website is being routinely updated. The webpage containing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was last updated on May 12, 2004.

General characteristics

The webpage containing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is only available in the Arabic version, as a subsection in a section titled The Historical Background of the Nakba, in the sub-part dealing with the Zionist movement (between the part dealing with the leaders of Zionism and the part dealing with the Balfour Declaration). The address of the webpage is http://nakba.sis.gov.ps/Zionism/Zionism-5.html.

The address of the website from which the translated Protocols were taken appears at the end of the text: www.islamicdawaparty.org.

The above-mentioned website proclaims itself to be the official website of the Islamic Da'wa party, which is the shortened name of the Islamic Da'wa Party in Iraq . The website contains announc em ents on events happening in Iraq , interviews with prominent figures, articles and more. Among other things, on the left side of the website, under the Internet search box, appears a list of links to various articles, including the translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion . It is therefore the source of The Protocols that appear on the Palestinian Authority website, both relying on ‘Ajaj Nuwayhid's translation and editing.

‘Ajaj Nuwayhid—editor and translator of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to Arabic ⁷

‘ Ajaj Nuwayhid (1897-1982)—lawyer, writer, journalist, translator, public activist and political propagandist. He was born in the Lebanese town of Ras al-Matn to a Druze family whose Arabian ancestors had lived in Y em en 's Asir region ⁸. He acquired his primary and high-school education in local Christian missionary schools, where he formed both his anti-S em itic worldview and his feeling of affinity with the new Arab nationality that began to em erge in the Fertile Crescent at that time. It is likely that it was his feeling of affinity with the Arab nationality, rather than his Druze roots, that served as his main motivation for his diverse activities during his lifetime.

In 1932, Nuwayhid resigned his position and founded the weekly Al-Arab as well as a printing house ( Matba'at al-Arab ). Even though the weekly was independent, it expressed the worldview of the Arab nationality since it served as the periodical of the Arab Al-Istiqlal (independence) party. It was the first Arab party formed in Palestine during the British mandate and Nuwayhid was one of its 12 founders. The party preached to active resistance both against the British and the Zionist movement. The weekly had reporters in several major Arab cities ( Cairo , Damascus , Baghdad etc.); however, it ceased its activities in 1934. In the years 1932-1940, Nuwayhid also served as a reporter for Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram in “ Palestine ”.

‘Ajaj Nuwayhid took part in the large strike that broke out in 1936 (and marked the beginning of the so-called Arab Rebellion). He was arrested and put in Sarafand detention camp along with many of his colleagues. After his release, he continued his journalist work and in the years 1940-1944 served as the supervisor of the Arab division of the (British Mandate) Palestine Broadcasting Service. He set a number of conditions for his willingness to fill this position, mainly: the Arab division must r em ain independent from its counterpart Jewish division and from the mandate regime, and Jews must not be allowed to work in his division.

Following Israel 's War of Independence, Nuwayhid had to leave “ Palestine ”. He settled in Jordan and, owing to his close relations with King Abdallah, filled three positions: Head of the King's Office, Manager of the Jordanian Broadcasting Station and Director General of the Jordanian Government's then Publication Center—in the years 1949-1952 (it is probable that the murder of King Abdallah in 1952 was the cause for the termination of his government work). In 1959, Nuwayhid returned to Lebanon , his homeland, where he r em ained active until the day he died. In 1961, he published a series of articles in Al-Ahrar newspaper titled “Bearers of the Torch [i.e., banner] in Literature, Science and Thought in Palestine ”. He also published several books and translated books from English to Arabic, including The Protocols .

The Arabic translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

The crown jewel of Nuwayhid's translation work into Arabic was a translation from English of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, published posthumously in Beirut , Lebanon in 1967 (in 4 parts divided into two volumes). In this context, there is a particular reference to this translation by Ya'qub al-‘Udat, the main source of information on Nuwayhid: “Mr. Nuwayhid dedicated several years of his life to the preparation and translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion from English. This is one of the most important Zionist documents, and it appears to have been composed in 1897. [This document] unveils the hidden aims of the Jews, particularly [those included] in the Talmud etc. or [included] in biographies of senior Zionists in Palestine . It [the translation] was praised by the newspapers of the Arab world. In this context, Sa'id ‘Aql, the Lebanese philosopher representing the genius of Lebanon , said [in an article] in the daily newspaper Al-Ahrar: ‘All those involved in politics in this era in the history of the Near East must read the book [i.e., translation] by researcher and scholar ‘Ajaj Nuwayhid ⁹'”.

Ya'qub al-‘Udat, revealing his own anti-S em itic viewpoint, adds that “the appearance of the book was an important event that allowed the diplomat, the student, the researcher, and the Arab reader to explore the Zionist ploy in the world and its stages, hidden and overt. The importance of this book shall be preserved to the day the Arabs succeed in defeating the filthiest cancer ever to appear in their territorial area, both in the ancient and in the new world [i.e., the Jews and Israel].” It should be noted that Ya'qub al-‘Udat's “prophecy” has indeed come true and ‘Ajaj Nuwayhid's translation of The Protocols has become a bestseller and it is continuing to be published in Arab (including Palestinian) media to this day.