Egyptâs Library of Alexandria has removed a book perceived as anti-Jewish from its shelves, following protests and has opened an inquiry into the matter. The libraryâs director Ismail Siraj al-Din said on Saturday there was an error in displaying The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
| Changed their minds, huh? |
The book, which was the textâs first Arabic translation, completed in 1951, had been put on display âseveral days or several weeks agoâ in the manuscripts museum, which is part of the new library in Egyptâs second city, said Siraj al-Din. It was withdrawn from the museum after articles appeared in the Egyptian and Israeli press. The document was displayed âas a curiosityâ, Siraj al-Din said.
| What was that part about it being "more important than the Torah"? |
âThe book was never displayed alongside the Jewish Torah nor has it ever been stated that it is a holy book or the basis for a Jewish constitution,â he said.
The library director said the bookâs display showed âinsensitivityâ, adding the book was a forgery âto ferment anti-Jewish feelingsâ. The book, which dates to the beginning of the 20th century, tells of an alleged plot of Jews to take over the world and has been dismissed as a forgery.
The library, destined to be a new beacon of learning and a cultural bridge, succeeding the ancient library which disappeared nearly 16 centuries ago, was inaugurated in October 2002. In 640 AD the Moslems took the city of Alexandria. Upon learning of "a great library containing all the knowledge of the world" the conquering general supposedly asked Caliph Omar for instructions. The Caliph has been quoted as saying of the Library's holdings, "they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous." So, allegedly, all the texts were destroyed by using them as tinder for the bathhouses of the city. Even then it was said to have taken six months to burn all the documents. If we had a caliphate, of course, such things wouldn't happen... |
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