editorial from Al Akhbar

Subject: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: Tedham Porterhouse
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 04:27 PM

Al Akhbar is a newspaper that is funded by the government of Egypt and read widely throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

On April 18, 2001, while we debated Yom HaShoah at Mudcat, Al Akhbar published the following editorial comment:

"Thank you, Hitler, of blessed memory, who on behalf of the Palestinians revenged in advance against the most vile criminals on the face of the Earth. Although we do have a complaint against him for his revenge on them was not enough."

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: gnu
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 04:48 PM

Believe half of what you see....

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: GUEST,Gern
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 05:01 PM

Not surprising to see that Al Akhbar has irresponsible, racist readers who post offensive, inflammatory statements like this. After all, every American newspaper and most chat rooms feature occasional hideous comments like this. Mudcat too has its share of bigotry, and I expect that this thread will unearth the usual, unjustified anti-Islamic bilge that has often appeared here. Let's not go there. Be assured that most Arabic-speaking readers dismiss this crap.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: Tedham Porterhouse
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 05:28 PM

Guest Gern,

I can assure that I am not racist or anti-Islamic. It is not racist to expose racism. Furthermore, I am not an Al Akhbar reader. My post was based on a report that I saw today in a mainstream, American newspaper.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: Hollowfox
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 05:29 PM

Thanks for the reassurance about most Arabic-speaking readers, Gern. I hadn't noticed any anti-Islamic stuff here, so if you could link up some of those other threads to this one, I'd like to know about them. If you were a member, I'd ask you to PM them to me, but that's not an option. I don't like to be blind to such things. Thanks, Mary (in love with Turkey)

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: GUEST,Irwin in Israel
Date: 26 Apr 01 - 09:05 PM

These types of editorials are nothing new in Al-Akhbar. They appear with great regularity in that publication.

Here are two others that I found when I was doing a research project a couple of years ago:

Al-Akhbar, September 25, 1998: "The Jews invented the myth of mass extermination and the fabrication that 6 million Jews were put to death in Nazi ovens. This was done with the aim of motivating the Jews to emigrate to Israel and to blackmail the Germans for money as well as to achieve world support for the Jews. Similarly, Zionism based itself on this myth to establish the State of Israel. The Holocaust is an Israeli myth which was invented to blackmail the world."

Al-Akhbar, July 14, 1998: "Zionism has elevated the Holocaust to a sacred level and uses it for the purposes of blackmail. Even if the ovens at Buchenwald and Auschwitz were working day and night, it would have taken dozens of years to kill six million people, and not just the three years which the Nazis had."

Thank you Tedham for bringing this forward.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: Gary T
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 02:11 AM

If I may paraphrase:

"We're thankful they were killed."
"They lie when they say they were killed."

Gotta love it! Just an example that sleaze can be found under various rocks all over the world. I'm sure there are some publications here in the U.S. that are no better.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: GUEST, M. Gonff
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 03:11 AM

This is reprehensible. We know that feelings run high in that part of the world, but there are some lines which just should not be crossed. This has clearly crossed the line.

Please, out of curiosity, what sort of publication is Al Akhbar? Is this a respected newspaper, like the London Times or HaAretz (forgive if I spelled this incorrectly), or is it more of a rag like the tabloids of Fleet Street, or the American checkout-counter tabloids?

M.G.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 08:32 AM

M. Gonff,

Al-Akhbar is published in Egypt. As Tedham noted, it is published with funding from the Egyptian government and is distributed throughout the Arabic-spaking world.

You ask about whether it is a respected newspaper like the London Times or of the tabloid variety. Please understand that you are asking the question based on the Western, democratic standards of a free press. Such standards do not exist in non-democratic societies.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: GUEST,Irwin in Israel
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 08:38 AM

Sorry, I didn't want the above post to seem like it came from an anonymous ghost. It was from me, Irwin Goldenberg.

By the way, I am forced to post as a guest because the computers in my department are set to high Internet security and thus do not allow for the acceptance of cookies.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 03:55 PM

It is sad that in this day and age the world must put up with bigotry, ignorance and racism. Admittedly tensions are high over there but any government sponsoring that sort of crap is reprehensible. That is not the sentiments of the Islamic people that I have met. Kindest reguards, Neil

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 04:56 PM

Enough with the jews already.

Subject: RE: editorial from Al Akhbar
From: Peter T.
Date: 27 Apr 01 - 07:05 PM

"Enough with the jews already", as the Lord said to Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Lot, Joshua, David, Samuel, Saul, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Job, Ruth, Esther, Hosea, etc., etc....

The conversation then continues:

"Hey, You chose us, remember. Moses has it somewhere. In writing!"

"Yes, Yes, I know."

"So? We put up with a lot from You, You know."

"Alright, alright, you made your point. What I want to know is why I made you so good at arguing with me?"

"Probably you get lonely winning arguments with yourself, Lord. Anyway, about what happened to Job, it seems to a number of Rabbis that..."

"(Cosmic sigh) Here we go again."