In a January 27, 2010 article on the liberal website Elaph, Saudi writer and journalist Hani Al-Naqshbandi wrote that the idea that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are authentic is an insult to human intelligence, and that a distinction must be made between the state of Israel – which deserves to perish – and the Jewish people, who are just a nation like any other. He stated that the Jews were oppressed throughout history because they were a minority, and that the myth of their control over the global economy and the media is an invention used by the Arabs to cover up for their own failures.
Following are excerpts from the article:[1]
"To Believe [in the Protocols] Is Self-Demeaning; It Is an Insult to One's Own Intelligence"
"A few days ago I leafed through the first book I wrote, titled The Jews under the Microscope, which I penned during my last year at the university. In it, I discussed the destruction that the Jews brought upon the world, based on [the document] called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which first appeared in the beginning of the previous century in Russia. Looking through [my] book today, I realize how wrong I was, in at least half the things [I wrote]. [Today] I have become convinced that the Protocols are nothing but a work of fiction, and that the myth of the Jews bringing destruction upon the world requires a meticulous [reexamination].
"These Protocols, which ostensibly [expose] the Jewish plans for taking over the world, are pure nonsense, and [the fact that many] accept them as authentic means... that people are like passive sheep with no will [of their own]. [Those who] believe in the Protocols [think that] every disaster that occurs in the world is caused by the Jews, so there is no choice but to blame them [even] for volcano eruption and earthquakes. To believe this is self-demeaning; it is an insult to one's own intelligence. It also means attributing to a small group of people much more power than it [actually] has. I have known some Jews, and they are in no way different from [people of] other religions or ethnicities. [The only thing] I discovered is that they have more self-discipline.
"I am not talking about Israel, which is another matter. I am talking about the Jews. In the course of their history they have faced many tragedies, and when I investigated the reason for these tragedies, I found that most of them stemmed from the fact that [the Jews] were a minority. [It is a well known fact] that minorities around the world face greater oppression [than others], and for this reason they become fearful but also more united."
"The Talk about the Jews Controlling the Global Economy and Media Is [Nothing but] an Intellectual Fallacy"̉
"The Koran tells us that Pharaoh oppressed [the Jews], but does not tell us the reason. All we know is that Joseph brought the Jews into Egypt and that Allah sent Moses to set them free. We also know that Hitler oppressed them and burned them, as he did to other minorities, [including] Arabs and blacks, yet we do not know why Germany oppressed them [either]. Some say it was because [the Jews] were traitors, but that is untrue. We have no knowledge of any treason against Pharaoh on their part that justified their oppression, nor do we have any knowledge of treason against Hitler that justified his similar oppression [of the Jews]. Moreover, most of the Jews were traders and scholars, and Einstein is only one example of this.
"I am not suggesting to shed tears or to show any [special] sympathy [for the Jews], but neither do I find any reason to curse them, as is done today in our mosques and schools. After all, they belong to the People of the Book. As for Israel, it is appropriate to pray for its demise and to ask Allah to take revenge on those who have turned our women into widows and our children into orphans. But if we are talking about people [whose only sin is that they] belong to a different religion than ours, then the invective against them only arouses unjustified hostility.
"Turning back to the issue of the Protocols, let me say that we must be more rational in discussing other nations or peoples... If some people say that the Protocols are true because everything said in them has come to pass, then I say that none of what is said in them has come to pass. The talk about the Jews controlling the global economy and media is [nothing but] an intellectual fallacy, because the economy is driven by the forces of supply and demand, and the media by political interests. The Jewish influence is nothing more than an Arab invention, which we use to conceal our own failures from ourselves and from the world."
