Sunday, February 20, 2005
Elder of ZiyonTelevision show aired in Persian Gulf country replete with anti-Israel sentiments, Holocaust denial
TEL AVIV - A Qatari television show currently airing in the Persian Gulf state features virulent anti-Israel sentiments and Holocaust denial.
The show, which is based on a book by late Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani, was slated to air in Syria and on Hizbullah's television channel, but in light of international pressure aimed at the terror group's TV station the show only airs in Qatar for the time being.
In one scene, a holocaust survivor who appears in the show, and later resorts to prostitution, claims the Nazis did no wrong.
"I didn't see any gas chambers," she is seen saying.
The show, which includes scenes in Hebrew, also depicts supposed massacres of Arabs by Jews, and claims the Zionist plan was to push Arabs into the sea.
At one point, an actor depicting former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin calls on Jews to murder Arab civilians.
"We should kill civilians during the war for the establishment of Israel…in order to scare them," he says.
The show represents the common Arab narrative regarding events surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948, says Yotam Feldner from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which has been following the show.
"Nothing is surprising about the show's content," he told Ynet. "The same themes of Holocaust denial and massacres of Arabs."
