Calling the widespread anti-Semitism in the Arab press “an affront to democracy and human rights,” the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) urged members of Congress to raise the issue at every opportunity, and at every level of diplomacy.

“The United States must make clear to Arab leaders that their silence in the face of anti-Semitism in their media makes them complicit in this perpetuation of incitement,” said Kenneth Jacobson, ADL Deputy National Director, in testimony on Capitol Hill to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

“Incitement can have dangerous consequences,” said Mr. Jacobson, a leading expert on the history and current manifestations of anti-Semitism.  “When Jews and Israelis are demonized, it takes no great leap of the imagination to see why public support for or rationalization of terrorism against Jews and Israelis is so prevalent.  We have also seen that where Jews are scapegoated and demonized, incendiary anti-American rhetoric flourishes as well, inviting extremists to step in with violent action.”

ADL documents and exposes the widespread use of anti-Semitic caricatures and themes in the media in the Arab and Muslim world and disseminates reports on the subject.  As part of its testimony to the House Subcommittee, the League submitted dozens of recent examples of virulently anti-Semitic caricatures and editorial cartoons appearing in newspapers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian Authority, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and elsewhere.

For many years League analysts found the Egyptian press to be a leading propagator of anti-Semitic images.  But more recently, though anti-Semitic depictions continue to be featured in Egyptian opinion pages, other newspapers in the region — particularly in the Gulf States — have featured the most heinous images of Jews, according to ADL’s testimony.

“The Gulf states are more removed from day-to-day developments in the Mideast conflict, and their depictions of Jews relate more generally to classical anti-Semitic canards and stereotypes,” said Mr. Jacobson.  “In Bahrain, the papers demonize the Jew, using images of a devil seeking control over the world and creating conflict between nations.  In Oman and Qatar, Jews are portrayed as the embodiment of evil in their facial expressions, in traditional Jewish garb, with big noses and marked with the Star of David.”