From liberals to Islamists, one of the only ideas that binds Egyptians is anti-Semitism. Where did it come from? Why is Egyptian culture so drenched in this toxic ideology? And what does it mean for the world and for Egypt’s future?
Published on April 21, 2014
“Sisi is Jewish and Egypt is now under Zionist occupation.” Thus screamed aSeptember 21, 2013 headline on Rassd, the news outlet created and backed by the Muslim Brotherhood. The story beneath the headline uses as its source the anti-Semitic conspiracy website Veterans Today, which is based in the U.S., lending it credibility in the eyes of Egyptian readers. The article explains that General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s Minister of Defense and de facto ruler is “Jewish by nationality” as his mother is a Moroccan Jew by the name of Malika Titani. Sisi’s maternal uncle is named Youri Sabbagh and is described as an important Zionist who served in Ben Gurion’s party. The story’s information has been quoted thousands of times to the extent that if you Google Sisi’s name in Arabic the first search option comes up as “Sisi Jewish.”
Two months earlier, as Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour was being sworn in, Ikhwanonline.com, the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood, published an articlethat proclaimed him Jewish. As proof for its claim, the article, which has since been taken down, states that Mansour is a Seventh Day Adventist, which of course as all Egyptian conspiracy experts know is a Jewish sect.
Not to be outdone, anti-Muslim Brotherhood forces in Egypt have proven themselves just as adept in creating elaborate anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Brotherhood, in both its past and present forms. According to a columnist in Egypt’s leading independent newspaper, Al Masry Al Youm, President Obama secretly gave the Muslim Brotherhood $8 billion in exchange for the Brotherhood’s giving 40 percent of Sinai to Hamas in an elaborate scheme whereby Hamas would take over Sinai and Israel would re-assert control over the Gaza Strip. The United States was allegedly so shocked by President Morsi’s ouster that Congress is currently impeaching President Obama for squandering so much U.S. money: That “fact” was repeated in hundreds of articles in Egyptian newspapers and on Egyptian television. The former deputy head of Egypt’s Intelligence Service further confirmed on live television that in fact President Obama had given the Brotherhood not $8 billion but $25 billion. That amount included $10 billion in exchange for giving Israel southern Sinai. The Brotherhood, the former intelligence officer explained, was part of U.S.-hatched plots to divide the region. Those plots of course were designed by none other than Middle East historian Bernard Lewis, as attested by Egypt’s governmental newspaper Al Ahram.
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