Iran Media Uses Erroneous But Widely Circulated Holocaust Myth To Deny Authenticity Of The Holocaust

A Iranian news website sympathetic to the regime in Tehran published an article denying the Holocaust by pointing to an erroneous Holocaust story that claims the Nazis manufactured soap from their Jewish victims. For this website, Mashregh News, this dubious story was all the evidence needed to prove that the Holocaust is a myth and that it must be exposed as a historical falsity.

The article is an example of an often-used tactic by neo-Nazi groups and prominent Holocaust deniers. By their logic, if the soap story is a fabrication, consequently all historical facts concerning the authenticity of the Holocaust are nothing more than “Jewish myths” promoted by an “international Jewish organization.”

The current Iranian regime is no stranger to Holocaust denial. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for “experts” to investigate the veracity of the Holocaust. In December 2006, Iran played host to a Holocaust denial conference, “Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision,” which was attended by a diverse group of anti-Semites, including neo-Nazi, radical anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists, and Islamic fundamentalists.

One month prior, Iran’s Culture Ministry hosted a cartoon contest that sought entries deriding Jews and mocking the Holocaust. The winning cartoon was submitted by a Moroccan artist who depicted Israelis constructing a wall around the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, with the panels of the wall reflecting an image of the infamous railway leading to the gates of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Although Mashregh News is not directly affiliated with or run by the Iranian government, it nonetheless staunchly promotes the government’s ideology and features articles and interviews with top officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Sabeel Attacks Israel From All Angles In Its "Cornerstone" Publication

The Spring 2012 edition of Cornerstone, a publication of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, is a full scale assault on Israel’s legitimacy from all angles. The Sabeel Center is a driving force behind the campaign by mainline Protestant churches to divest from Israel, including a number of proposed resolutions being considered at next week’s Presbyterian General Assembly.

The publication depicts Israel as systematically racist, employs offensive Holocaust imagery and uses theological arguments to demonize the Jewish State.

An article titled The Role of the Prophet, written by Sabeel Center co-founder and executive committee member Jonathan Kuttab, notes that “Judaism brought [together] the two correctives of the Law and the Prophets.” It then describes Israel as an unjust and racist country that approves “laws that violate the interests and freedoms of the individual or the minorities living among them.”

Kuttab blames most Jews in Israel for what he perceives as unfair treatment of the Arab population, saying, “the majority of Israeli Jews, acting through their duly elected representatives are the architects of these laws.”

An article submitted by Mossawa, the advocacy center for Arab citizens of Israel, is titled Anti-Democratic, Anti-Arab Legislation in Israel. The synopsis states “there are at least 35 laws which discriminate directly or indirectly against Arab citizens of Israel.” The article lists “four key legislative measures” as evidence, citing as one example the Citizenship law, which Mossawa claims “disproportionately affects Arab citizens,” although it applies to all Israelis.

An Open Letter to Foreign Missions by Taiseer Khatib, an Arab citizen of Israel, tells a story of his wife and children having problems obtaining permanent residency inside of Israel. This problem, Khatib contends, is a result of the Citizenship Law, which he claims shows Israel’s racism since its goal is allegedly to “diminish the number of the Arab population.” He adds that this “should remind Jews in Israel of dark times in their own history, when they were themselves separated from their families, never to see them again.”

A poem titled Hear O Israel by Jewish Voice for Peace activist David Glick also makes claims that Israel is inherently racist and compares the country to Nazi Germany, saying, “But what O Israel/Have you become?/The Nazis made me fearful to be a Jew/but you [Israel] have made me ashamed.” He then writes “Time to confront the darkness we have become./With the Holocaust it is Never Forget/but with Deir Yassin it is Never Mind.”

Press TV Airs Anti-Semitic Interviews to Mark U.S.S. Liberty Anniversary

Press TV, Iran’s English-language propaganda television station, marked the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Liberty by interviewing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activists Alison Weir, Michael Santomauro, and J. Bruce Campbell.

During the interview, which was held on June 8, the trio accused Israel of purposefully targeting the U.S. warship during the height of the 1967 Six-Day War. (The circumstances surrounding the U.S.S. Liberty, an American ship that was unintentionally fired on by Israeli forces, has been regular fodder for anti-Israel conspiracy theorists.) The interview also included several anti-Semitic statements and conspiratorial accusations of Jewish control over the U.S. government.

Michael Santomauro, an anti-Israel blogger and Holocaust denier, alleged that the USS Liberty is a cover-up maintained by U.S.-based Jewish support for Israel and the disproportionate influence Jews hold over the U.S. government. Jewish interest groups, whom Santomauro claimed provide over the overwhelming amount of funding to U.S. political parties, wield their power through what he termed “Jewish PAC money.”

J. Bruce Campbell, a contributing writer for the anti-Semitic website, Veterans Today, claimed that the attack on the Liberty was part of a conspiratorial U.S-Israeli plan he called Operation Cyanide, a secret military operation that Campbell alleges purposefully sent the Liberty to get sunk by the Israelis in order to place blame on Egypt. The desired result, Campbell claims, would have been for the U.S. to retaliate against Egypt and to “drop nuclear bombs on Cairo and Alexandria.” Campbell asserted that this was ordered by the U.S. to assist Israel in creating “great [sic] Israel stretching from the Nile to Euphrates rivers.”

When asked by the host whether he agrees that Israel controls the U.S. government, Campbell responded, “I would say the Jews in America [run the United States]. Israel is a euphemism … It is really American Jews who are behind this [the Iraq and Afghanistan wars] just as it was during 1967…” Campbell also claimed that American Jews want to kill “millions of Muslims” and “thousands of Americans. This is what American Jews want, this is what they make happen through Washington D.C.”

Alison Weir, president of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), an anti-Israel organization that opposes U.S. aid to Israel, added to Santomauro’s comment about the pro-Israel lobby and characterized the U.S-Israel relationship as an “extremely unhealthy situation.” Weir also said that large sums of donations from pro-Israel groups are the cause of “tragedy, misery, violence and war after war after war.” Weir’s comments are consistent with her record of using anti-Semitic imagery and portraying Israel and its agents as powerful forces that control American policy through intimidation and deception.

Press TV, which is based in Tehran, is used by the clerical regime to provide a platform for extreme elements and activists to air their views and opinions. Many of Press TV’s U.S.-based guests are frequently invited by the station specifically for their conspiratorial anti-Israel views. Earlier this year, Weir appeared as a guest on the station to discuss the 2012 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference, calling the pro-Israel lobby “very dangerous to the world” and “for Americans.”

CEIRPP Paris Conference Furthers UN Anti-Israel Bias

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), a forum for anti-Israel rhetoric that represents the worst example of institutionalized anti-Israel bias in the United Nations, concluded a two-day conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on May 31.

This year’s meeting, ostensibly on “The Role of Youth and Women in the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine,” was another typical display of the CEIRPP’s attempt to portray a highly distorted image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In typical bait-and-switch fashion, CEIRPP’s press statement misleadingly billed the gathering as “an international meeting in support of the Israeli-Palestinian peace-process,” with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon delivering a pro-peace video message to those gathered. Yet, as usual, the actual agenda was generally highly critical of the Jewish State, with speakers resorting to placing the onus of the blame for the Palestinian situation and the current stalemate in the negotiating process on Israel, while failing to offer serious constructive methods to address the challenges of the peace process.

CEIRPP, the only United Nations organ devoted to a specific people, is the single most prolific source of material bearing the official imprimatur of the U.N. which maligns and debases the Jewish State.

In a 2009 report, ADL highlighted CEIRPP’s UN funded anti-Israel agenda and activities, calling the committee an anachronism. ADL has repeatedly urged the UN to defund and disband it.

Anti-Semite Dieudonne In the News in France

Update: Dieudonne ran unsuccessfully for French Parliament as the Anti-Zionist Party candidate from Dreux. He was eliminated in the second round of the election, receiving just 1.14% of votes cast. His film, L’Antisémite, has been banned from the Cannes film festival for violating the festival’s policy of not “threatening public order or insulting religious beliefs.”

Anti-Semitic performer Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala has garnered some media attention in France since he announced on May 18 that he will be running for Parliament as a member of the Anti-Zionist Party (Parti Anti-Sioniste or PAS) in upcoming elections. Dieudonne is known for his performances which routinely include Holocaust denial, praise for Adolf Hitler, Nazi salutes, slurs against the Talmud and other anti-Semitic language.

This is not Dieudonne’s first time running for political office. Most recently, he stood as a candidate for the European Parliament in 2009 with the Anti-Zionist Party, receiving 1.3% of the vote. According to its website, the Anti-Zionist Party’s primary goal is to remove the “Zionist intervention” from the public affairs of France.

Dieudonne, one of four PAS members running for Parliament, hopes to represent the city of Dreux, 50 miles west of Paris. The other PAS candidates are running in the 8th and 13th districts in the North as well as the 14th district in the Rhone region.

While Dieudonne has repeatedly been prosecuted for his racist and anti-Semitic performances and comments, none of his criminal convictions render his candidacy illegal. According to an article in the French edition of The Huffington Post, even if his campaign materials incite hatred or racial violence, the penalties would be significant (€45,000 fine and five years in prison) but would not make him ineligible for Parliament.

As a 501(c)(3) organization, ADL does not endorse or oppose candidates for office in the United States or abroad.

Anti-Semite Dieudonne’s Tour Cancelled in Montreal

Update: Dieudonne’s film, L’Antisémite, has been banned from the Cannes film festival for violating the festival’s policy of not “threatening public order or insulting religious beliefs.”

Four scheduled shows in Montreal by French comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, whose act routinely includes Holocaust denial, praise for Adolf Hitler, Nazi salutes, slurs against the Talmud and other anti-Semitic language, were cancelled last week by Quebec’s largest concert promoter.

The cancelled shows were part of Dieudonne’s first attempt to seriously promote his first feature film L’Antisémite, released earlier this year, in North America. The film, reportedly funded in part by the Iranian government, makes no attempt to conceal its message. The film’s trailer shows Dieudonne declaring, “It’s clear the Jews control everything — media, finance, politics. We no longer have a choice,” before arriving to the apparent punch line, “we must exterminate them.” Another short clip from the film mocks the discovery of the gas chambers at Auschwitz, suggesting that they were a fabrication.



Dieudonne has been the subject of much controversy in Europe where he has been convicted of inciting hatred in France and is under investigation in Belgium for “inciting racial hatred and xenophobia” during a performance earlier this year. Additionally, Belgian authorities recently forced Dieudonne to cancel two shows in Brussels, and French police stopped Dieudonne mid-performance on May 9 for breaking local defamation laws.

In addition to his performances, Dieudonne makes his views known outside the context of his supposed comedy, including running for the European Parliament in 2009 with the Parti Anti Sioniste (the Anti-Zionist Party), which received 1.3% of the vote. According to the party’s website, its primary goals are to remove the “Zionist intervention” from the public affairs of France, denounce all politicians who advocate for Zionism, and to eradicate all forms of Zionism from France.

In April 2010, Dieudonne was interviewed on Iran’s English-language propaganda television station Press TV, where he claimed that Zionism has organized “all the wars and disorders on the planet.” He also argued that the stock market and the unemployment that resulted from its crash are part of the “Zionist project” and that Zionists manipulate the film industry using movies as Jewish propaganda.

Dieudonne, the son of a French mother and a Cameroonian father, is also notorious for a grotesque provocation in 2008 in which he had his assistant, dressed as a Jew in a concentration camp, present an award to Robert Faurisson, a serially convicted Holocaust denier, at a show at the Zenith Theater in Paris. Dieudonne was fined €10,000 for the incident, which was considered a “public insult of people of Jewish faith or origin.”

Saudi TV Launches Program Hosted By Anti-Semite



Salah Sultan on Masra Al Habeeb

Al-Risala, a Saudi-owned television channel with a history of promoting Islamist views, began airing a new weekly program last week hosted by anti-Semitic media personality Dr. Salah Sultan. The program, Masra Al Habeeb, was created to “provide practical steps on how to liberate Al-Aqsa,” according to Sultan.

During the first episode, which aired on May 9, Sultan commented about recent visits to Jerusalem by Muslim scholars. “We want to go as liberators and not as visitors under the shadow of occupation.” He further explained that those who want to support or visit Jerusalem should “announce that he is a supporter of fighting, Jihad and resistance... support the case for holy Jihad to liberate the prisoners, Al Aqsa and Palestine.”

The program also featured live call-ins from viewers, including several who used the platform to make anti-Semitic remarks. One caller from Egypt said:

“It will be impossible for the Jews, those sons of apes and pigs, no way... no way... that they can achieve their goal in building their alleged temple. Inshallah and God’s willing this will never happen. We will raise our young children, the seven year old ones, the five year old ones, and the four years old to fight the Jews and have war with the Jews.”

Sultan responded, “God willing.”

Later in the program, Sultan, head of the Jerusalem committee of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), tried to reinterpret the Islamic texts which refer to the historical existence of the Jewish nation in Jerusalem, arguing that this was a short period that didn’t exceed 400 years.

In a promotional video for the program, Sultan is shown reciting a poem that says he shall return to Jerusalem with his rocket launcher. On the program’s Facebook page, Sultan posted a comment indicating that historically when the sons of Israel invade a city they burn it and kill its inhabitants, unlike the Egyptians who would not attack the city’s people.

During a session of the IUMS conference in Cairo on February 1, Sultan described the recent civil unrest and church bombings in Egypt as the “acts of Jews.” He also said, “God exposed [the Jews’] inner wickedness, exposed their secrets and they were made an example of to future nations.” Prior to Sultan’s speech at Al Azhar Islamic University, where the event is taking place, the crowd chanted: “To Jerusalem we are going as martyrs in millions.”

Iranian Organizations Publishing Anti-Semitic Islamic School Textbooks

The Alavi Foundation, a New York-based Iranian organization that also operates as the Mostazafan Foundation, and Al Balagh, an Iran-based publishing house, have been publishing English-language religious books for children that promote anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories, according to a recent Canadian news report.

The books contain passages contrasting Islam with “the Jews and the Nazis,” as well as descriptions of Jews as a “racist,” “treacherous” and “crafty” people.

The books, A Glance at the life of the Holy Prophet of Islam and Prophet Muhammad: A Brief Biography, justify engagement in violent acts of jihad “whenever the time comes for it,” and claim that the Jews of Medina “conspired to kill Prophet Muhammad” after signing covenants with Muhammad and his early followers.

One of the books even highlights to the reader that the very name “Jew” has become “synonymous for treachery” and “the slaying of prophets.”

The Alavi Foundation describes itself as a non-governmental organization that promotes Iranian and Islamic culture in the U.S. Prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Alavi Foundation was named the Pahlavi Foundation, after the Shah of Iran, and provided scholastic scholarships to young Iranians wishing to study in the U.S. Upon seizing power, Ayatollah Khomeini renamed the foundation to the Mostazafan Foundation (Farsi for “the downtrodden”), and is now called the Alavi Foundation. The names of the foundation are often used interchangeably. The organization claims that it is not an organ of the Iranian regime, but U.S. prosecutors seized the foundation’s assets and arrested its president in 2008.

Recently the two books were found to be in use at a Toronto-based Islamic school, the East End Madrassa. Following complaints the school removed the publications from its websites and course curricula.

Radical English Defence League Emerges in U.S.

The English Defence League (EDL), a UK-based right-wing, anti-Islamic and self-described “Counter Jihad movement,” has launched a chapter in the United States.

The newly created United States of America Defence League (USADL) claims to be “a human rights organization that was founded in the defense of our nation and to stand in unison with the EDL and other such organizations, to halt the spread of Sharia law.”

The organization, which officially launched its website on May 7, 2012, states that a central tenet of its mission is public education and the need to ensure that the public is provided with a “more realistic and less sanitized view of Islam…” While its mission statement warns against assuming that all Muslims are guilty of committing acts of terrorism, it goes on to say that “the Islamic book of worship calls for all Muslims to participate in Jihad, in one form or another.”

USADL’s National Director is Bill Turner, who is known for his anti-government and conspiratorial writings, which have been published on a number of right-wing websites and disseminated through his Twitter handle, “JihadiHunter.”

Bill Turner

While anti-Muslim bias has been a primary theme in his writings as well, Turner’s role in launching the USADL suggests that he is gearing up to advance a more conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda.

USADL’s website indicates that membership is open to all who “recognize the threat that Sharia Law poses to free people everywhere.” Although it is still too early to confirm the size and viability of the new organization, it already claims to have approximately 60 members.

Earlier this year, EDL announced plans to form a new political party in the UK.

Qaradawi Beats Drums Of War Against Israel in Friday Sermon

During his Friday sermon in the Qatari capital of Doha on April 27, radical Muslim Brotherhood cleric Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi denied Israel’s right to exist and called on Arabs and Muslims to fight the Israelis.

“Israel thinks it’s settled on the land. And we say, by God, you Israelis shall never settle on our land. You will remain strangers, you will remain immigrants,” Qaradawi said. “They must…they must return to their countries, we believe in that, they cannot settle here….The Israelis will definitely disappear and get out of this country, and we are waiting for this day, we must prepare ourselves, and prepare our youth. We shall not surrender.”

After saying that the Palestinians “cannot fight alone” because “the Israelis have weapons enough to fight the entire Arabs,” he asked, “Why the Arabs are not fighting?...We call upon all to unite, to tell the Palestinians we are with you, the least to do is to say to the Palestinians we are behind you”

Qaradawi also expressed regret that while Muslims fail to support their Palestinian brothers, Jews from around the world strongly support Israel with money and weapons, and in politics and the media. “The Jews in the entire world, all of them, with the exception of a small group, support Israel.”

Qaradawi ended his sermon, which was broadcast live on Qatar’s official television station, by praying that God destroys the Israelis and enables the Palestinians to achieve victory “over the enemies of God and [the Palestinian’s] enemies.”

Muslim Brotherhood Electoral Rally Marked By Call To Restore Caliphate in Jerusalem

During a large electoral rally in support of Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohamed Mursi on May 1, Dr. Safawat Hijazi, a prominent Islamist figure in Egypt, predicted that under Musri’s leadership a new Islamic Caliphate will emerge with Jerusalem as its capital.

“We realized our dream of the Caliphate is being fulfilled by Dr. Mursi, his group and his party,” Hijazi told the crowd at the football stadium in El-Mahalla El-Kubra. “With his efforts, the united Arabs states will come true and its capital will be holy Jerusalem.”

These remarks were followed by a chant: “I am Egyptian with pride… tomorrow Mursi will liberate Gaza.” Hijazi responded by inciting the crowd with his own chant: “Come on, lovers of martyrdom…all of you are Hamas…Come on lovers of martyrs, all of you are Hamas.”

Hijazi, a member in the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), also told the crowd, “We will not accept from Dr. Mursi and the group anything less than the application of God’s Sharia’ in the land of Egypt.” He concluded by issuing a fatwa on election participation. “The one who does not go to vote in the elections is a sinner.”

Other prominent members of the Brotherhood attended the rally and gave speeches focusing on Mursi’s Islamic agenda.

As Algeria Approaches Elections, Citizens are Warned of Zionist Interference

“Algerians must vote because it is about Algeria’s stability, and it is about preserving our country from any foreign interference,” a prominent Algerian cleric said in an interview with Reuters on April 25, adding that Zionists are among the conspirers that seek to meddle in domestic Arab affairs.

In case that wasn’t clear enough, Sheikh Chemseddine Bouroubi added in his widely circulated fatwa, or religious decree, that those who do not vote in May 10 elections will suffer divine retribution.

The North African nation-state has largely baffled Middle East experts for successfully riding out the waves of popular revolt that have become the symbol of the Arab Spring. Although the thirteen year authoritarian rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika did encounter a flash of popular protest as revolution swept across neighboring Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, Bouteflika responded by officially lifting the nation’s 19-year-old state of emergency and promises for gradual reforms.

Decrees demonizing Israel and Zionism, such as the one made by Sheikh Bouroubi, have historically been used by authoritarian Arab states as the preferred method of deflecting popular discontent away from themselves and onto the Jewish state.

In his fatwa, Bourbouri tried to justify his comments that Zionists intend to foment revolution in Algeria by pointing out that a Jewish French-Algerian played a role in persuading President Sarkozy to help overthrow Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. “Listen to what the Zionist Bernard-Henri Levy is saying: ‘Algeria is about to experience an Arab Spring very soon’… What he means by ‘Arab Spring’ is a repetition of the Libyan scenario: blood, killings, destruction.”

Algeria emerged from a bloody and prolonged civil war between the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) and the central government only when President Bouteflika assumed power.

Egyptian Television Re-Airs Anti-Semitic Miniseries “Horseman Without A Horse”

The anti-Semitic miniseries Horseman Without A Horse, is back on Egyptian television. The 41-part series, which first appeared on Egyptian state television and other networks across the Middle East during Ramadan in 2002, is scheduled to be broadcast on Al-Tahrir TV.

Al-Tahrir TV, established after the 2011 revolution, claims to be an independent voice of the “new Egypt” that supports “Tahrir Square’s revolutionary youth and their principles.”

The series features the virulently anti-Semitic forgery “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” which has been used through the last century as an excuse to scapegoat and persecute Jews, as a major plot device.

The program, replete with gross anti-Semitic accusations and depictions, tells the story of scheming Jews, who in a bid to dominate Israel, the Middle East and the world, make efforts to hide the existence of the “book” [The Protocols], which would reveal their conspiracy.

Following the original broadcast of the miniseries, governments around the world spoke out to condemn it. While the Egyptian government did not officially comment on the program, its broadcast did provoke a discussion in the Egyptian media on the line between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel. Most notably, Osama El-Baz, a top political advisor to then-President Hosni Mubarak, condemned Egyptian anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial (while still vehemently criticizing Israel) in a series of articles in Egypt’s leading newspaper Al-Ahram.

Will government, political, religious and social leaders in post-revolutionary Egypt stand up and condemn the age-old demonization of Jews now appearing on Al-Tahrir TV?

Egyptian Presidential Candidate Promotes Anti-Semitism

Egyptian presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who wants to abolish Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, has a history of promoting anti-Semitic narratives in his statements against Israel.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in February 2012, Ismail said, “There’s no such thing as the state of Israel. Palestine is from the river to the sea, as it’s said… The Jews are not here on Earth to be rulers.”

In an electoral rally a month before, Ismail attacked the Zionists’ efforts to organize trips to Israel from around the world. The crowds chanted in response: “Oh Jews of Khaibar, the army of Muhammad is here… Oh Jews of Khaibar, Hazem Abu Ismail is here,” evoking the Qur’an’s account of a battle between the prophet Muhammad and the Jews of the town of Khaibar that resulted in the subjugation of the Jews of Arabia.

During a 2011 appearance on the talk show on the Islamic Television channel Mureed Al Janna, Ismail described stories from Torah as sarcastic and scandalous and said that even Jews doubt their religion.

Ismail, who is backed by the Salafists, describes the Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel as “scandalous and shameful” in his “Message to the Honorable Egyptian People who Bow to none but Allah,” which outlines his presidential program.

The detailed program, which is available on his campaign’s official website, also includes the following foreign policy note:

“We believe that Israel is illegitimate. Israel has no right in Palestine, but we will not collide with them now; we must stand up on our feet first before we think about standing on the confrontation line. Taking into account the interests of our country is above all other considerations, but this would not be at the expense of our pride and our dignity and our Arabic and Islamic relations.”

The same program calls for building a stronger relationship with Iran in order to both pressure the U.S. and gain economic aid from it at the same time.

During a lecture in February 2012, Ismael called Osama Bin Laden a martyr, saying that “I ask God to accept him among the martyr saints and the righteous ones…. We ask God to enable Muslims to revenge for his death.”

Jihadists Pay Tribute to French Shooter Mohammed Merah

Members of several online jihadist forums have praised Mohammed Merah for his attacks on French Jews and soldiers. Comments on these forums include calls for similar lone-wolf attacks and describe Merah’s shootings as Allah’s revenge on France for its foreign policy and attitude toward Muslims.

Over the weekend, a video tribute to Merah entitled “The Lone Lion” also began circulating on the forums. The video begins with text commending Merah for killing “three French soldiers returning from Afghanistan” and “a Jewish rabbi and his children.” It also applauds him for fighting “the French special forces with courage until he was killed as a martyr.”

Funeral footage of Merah’s victims in France and Israel is juxtaposed with images of bleeding Palestinians and videos of Israeli airstrikes carried out by “the enemies of Allah, the Jews.” This section suggests the type of moral equivalence that Merah claimed prompted him to undertake his attacks. 

The video also includes recordings of Osama bin Laden speaking about a promised war “between us and the Jews” and of current Al Qaeda leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, describing England and the U.S. as legitimate targets because of the civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza. 

The video concludes with a warning, apparently directed at French President Nicolas Sarkozy, that Merah’s wave of terror “is the beginning.”

Radical English Defence League To Form Political Party

The English Defence League (EDL), a UK-based right-wing, anti-Islamic and self-described “Counter Jihad movement,” announced plans to form a new political party in the coming months. EDL’s foray into politics is influenced by the success of other similar political parties in Europe, most notably the Dutch Freedom Party, the political party led by radical Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders.

An EDL spokesman stated that the organization’s party will be named the Freedom Party, and its official launch will take place in May at the EDL Luton demonstration, an annual protest that began with the organization’s founding in 2009. In the past, EDL demonstrations have been marked by violence, with some bordering on full riots resulting in numerous arrests, property damage and injuries to law enforcement.

Members of the Welsh Defense League raising their hands in a Nazi salute

The group has also been accused of being a haven for right-wing racists, a charge the group denies. However, EDL has been linked to various racist English groups, such as the Welsh Defence League, an EDL division that has many local white supremacists in its ranks.

According to the organization’s mission statement, EDL’s mission is “to oppose what it considers to be the spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England.” Stephen Lennon, head of the EDL, said that the Freedom Party will be an anti-Islamist political party “that gives everyone an option in a non-racist way.”

American “Global March to Jerusalem” Activist Interviewed by Hezbollah

During an interview last week with Hezbollah’s satellite television station Al-Manar, Sarah Ann Marusek, an American organizer of the upcoming “Global March to Jerusalem” (GMJ), discussed the goals of the campaign.    

Marusek told Al-Manar that her participation in the GMJ is intended to “not only to provoke the American government, but to provoke those Americans who claim to support the Palestinians while at the same time support a solution that eliminates the right of refugees to return.”

Marusek added, “Decision makers in the U.S. are living in fear because of the Zionist lobby; if they made a decision that supports the Palestinians, they will be condemned and lose their jobs and the support they have.”

The interview with Al-Manar followed a press conference at the Journalists Union in Beirut, Lebanon, which was attended by various Palestinian militant factions in Lebanon. Hassan Zaidan, head of the Committee to Support the Resistance in Palestine, a group closely associated with Hezbollah, spoke before Marusek, stating that “to count on Western and American intentions in order to free Jerusalem and achieve the return of refugees is pathetic.”  

Marusek is currently a PhD candidate Syracuse University and a political analyst for Iran’s English-language propaganda television station Press TV. She maintains a website that offers English translation of Hassan Nasrallah speeches.

Marusek also works with the Right to Return Committee in Lebanon, which co-organized a July 2011 rally with Hezbollah in Mar Ilias refugee camp in Lebanon to honor wounded Palestinians who participated in the May 2011 “Nakba day” march. The march was organized in part on social networking sites calling for a “Third Palestinian Intifada,” or violent uprising against the State of Israel.

Revealing Images of “Global March to Jerusalem” in Tehran

The Union of Islamic World Students, an international Iranian government sponsored student group, released pictures on its website of the Asian delegation of the Global March to Jerusalem’s (GMJ) visit to Tehran last week.

The delegation left Indonesia on March 10 and plans to cross Israel’s borders and enter Jerusalem on March 30. The Asian delegation met with the president of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, and the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during its visit.

The pictures were taken during the delegation’s visit to the former U.S. embassy building in Tehran, which was raided in 1979 by the Islamic revolution supporters. Below are two pictures:  

GMJ members use images of Israeli officials with crosshairs superimposed over their faces as dartboards. Officials included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres.



A child wearing a Hezbollah cap at a reception for the GMJ delegation at the former U.S. embassy building.



Turkish Ad Uses Footage of Hitler to Sell Shampoo

Adolf Hitler is the star of a Turkish commercial for men’s shampoo. The ad for Biomen, which is now appearing on Turkish television, features a video of Hitler angrily gesticulating, with a Turkish voiceover calling on men to purchase the shampoo. 

“If you’re not wearing women’s clothes, then you shouldn’t be wearing woman’s shampoo,” the voiceover says. “Here it is. A real man's shampoo, Biomen.”

The ad is yet another example of how Holocaust-era images are used in advertising around the world, which contribute to the trivialization of and desensitization to the unparalleled horrors of the Holocaust.

Earlier this year, photos of a Nazi concentration camp were used in a promotional campaign for a Dubai gym, including an image of the railroad leading to Auschwitz-Birkenau with the slogan, “Kiss your calories goodbye.” After receiving complaints, the founder of The Circuit Factory gym in Dubai, Phil Parkinson, apologized and removed the photo.

In a letter to the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, ADL called on the Turkish government to condemn the ad. The Turkish Jewish community has also released the following statement:

"We follow with sadness and regret the use of Hitler figure in the Biomen Men Shampoo advertisement, which was brought to the screen in recent days."

"Hitler, who massacred 6 Million Jews in gas chambers for the sole reason of being Jewish and also killed its mentally disabled citizens on the purpose of creating “a pure Arian race,” had created the darkest pages of the world history. Using him in an advertisement for whatever reason is an unacceptable situation and could not be accepted by us at all. This is beyond all ethics as well as a huge insult to human rights."

Toulouse Jewish Day School Shooter Linked to Banned Forsane Alizza

Update: French authorities have confirmed the death of Mohammed Merah after a 30-hour standoff at his home. A former spokesman for Forsane Alizza denied that Merah was ever a member.

French media is reporting that Mohammed Merah, the suspect behind Monday’s deadly shooting at a Jewish day school in Toulouse, France, has links to Forsane Alizza, a radical organization that was banned by the French government in January 2012 for supporting terrorism and preparing its members for “armed struggle.” 

During a standoff today between Merah and French authorities, Merah reportedly said he is a member of Al Qaeda and that he carried out the attacks as revenge for Palestinian children and as a reaction to French military intervention overseas. Merah, a French citizen of Algerian decent, has also been linked to two earlier attacks on French military.

Forsane Alizza (Arabic for "Knights of Honor"), which advocates a Salafist ideology that rejects democracy, sought to recruit members with martial arts training. “We are looking for all kinds of skills but soldiers above all,” read a statement on the group’s website. “So if you enjoy martial arts and are quick to respond when we call on you, then you are a good fit, inshallah [God willing]." The website, which featured videos of Anwar al-Awlaki, also expressed the group’s support for “mujhaideen wherever they are in the world.”

The group, which advocates for BDS on its website, organized several protests against Israel in France. In September 2011, its members disrupted the El Al counter at Roissy airport in Paris, shouting “Death to Israel!” and “Death to Jews!” In June 2010, they protested at a McDonald’s, telling customers that McDonald’s supports Israel.

Two members of the group were convicted by a French court on charges of “inciting racial hatred” and shouting anti-Semitic remarks at the restaurant. That same month, the group participated in a pro-flotilla rally in Paris.

Forsane Alizza seems to be currently operating with “Force de Défense Musulmane sur Internet.” Its stated goal is to remove online materials that they consider to be offensive to Muslims and Islam and to provide resources to those who are engaged in the same activity. Its activity is similar to that of Revolution Muslim, a fringe anti-Semitic Muslim organization that was based in New York and that attracted a radical following online.

French authorities indicated that Merah has been under surveillance for at least several years due to his radical beliefs. There have also been reports that he traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan for militant training, but French authorities say that they have no evidence that he had been in contact with terrorist groups.