Jordan bans anti-Semitic show
Following protests by Israeli, American groups, controversial TV program taken off the air; in one episode, prostitute in massage parlor managed by Jews talks of desire to infect non-Jewish clients with sexually transmitted diseases
Twenty two episodes of the program were aired during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan until Friday, the day the show was banned.
Walid al-Hadidi, chairman of the private Jordanian television channel that aired the program, said the show was taken off the air “for technical rather than political reasons.” Hadidi refused to say whether the Jordanian government pressed him on the matter. However, he did say the show, which was purchased for about USD 1.25 million, will be back on television after Ramadan is over.
The 29-episode show was produced last year by a Syrian company at the request of Hizbullah’s television channel, al-Manar. The program’s “stars” are Jews who attempt to take over the world. In one episode, a prostitute at a massage parlor managed by Jews describes how she wishes to infest non-Jewish clients with sexually transmitted diseases.
The program is premised mainly on an infamous anti-Semitic text, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
'Authentic historical documentation'
The timing of the announcement is not surprising, as only a week ago research institute Palestinian Media Watch reported about the program. This was the third time the series was broadcast, after airing one al-Manar in 2003, and on an Iranian channel last year.
According to the institute, the series pretended to be an "authentic historical documentation" of the Zionist movement and of the "secretive Jewish global government" that convened to discuss how it can gain control over world leaders.
The "Jewish government" is presented in the series as the initiator of the Soviet revolution and the World Wars, and as the body that encouraged the Nazis to eliminate the Jews and was behind several manipulations that resulted in the drop of the atomic bombs on Japan.
The Jews are also portrayed as a blood thirsty nation that aims to dominate the world and uses the blood of Christian children for Passover ceremonies.
Anti-Semitic contents printed in Lebanon and Egypt routinely find their way to distribution in London. A special report issued by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center indicated that two anti-Semitic books imported from Lebanon and Egypt, Mein kampf and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were purchased at two London bookstores on September. The two shops are located at an area populated mostly by Muslims and Arabs.
The authors of the document estimated that anti-Semitic and extreme Islamist publications in Arabic are being sold in other stores in London as well.
Egypt is a prominent publisher of anti-Semitic materials, which are marketed in Middle Eastern states and the Palestinian Authority.
These publications are also sold in Britain and other countries worldwide where large Muslim communities reside.
