ADL Calls on U.S. Embassy to Denounce Anti-Semitism in Qatari Book Fair

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is calling on the United States embassy in Qatar to denounce the anti-Semitism in books that are being featured at a Qatari book fair.

In a letter to William Grant, the embassy’s top diplomat, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote that the Doha International Book Fair, which began on Nov. 30 and ends on Dec. 10, “continues to promote egregiously anti-Semitic books in its content.”

“Some obviously anti-Semitic sample book titles in the book fair’s online catalog this year include one titled Lies Spread by the Jews, another called Talmud of Secrets: Facts Exposing the Jewish Schemes to Control the World, and a third entitled The History of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the History of the Corruption of the Jews, and the Demise of their Entity,” Greenblatt wrote. “Other anti-Semitic titles promoted on the book fair’s website this year include an Arabic version of Ku Klux Klan alumnus David Duke’s anti-Semitic tract exaggerating and slandering Jewish influence in the United States as well as multiple editions of Henry Ford’s ‘The International Jew,’ which teaches as historical fact the seminal anti-Semitic hoax ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.’”

Greenblatt also noted that the book fair has previously “provided a platform to noted anti-Semitic hate preachers,” such as a cleric who called for Israelis to be attacked with knives.

Because the U.S. embassy is participating in the book fair, as it has been for several years, Greenblatt urged Grant to use his position to expunge such content from the book fair.

“I ask that use your contacts with the book fair’s governmental organizers – and with the Qatari government more broadly – to ensure as soon as possible that this sort of hatred is no longer propagated at an event that boasts of the participation of the U.S. Embassy,” Greenblatt concluded.

The Qatari government has also reportedly provided financial support for terror groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The embassy did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment at publication time.