Arab media didn't have a problem with antisemitism before MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch started translating their articles into English. One of the earliest translations from MEMRI came from the official Palestinian Authority newspaper Al Hayat al Jadida, in 1998, during the Oslo process(!):
Corruption is a Jewish trait worldwide. So much so that one can seldom find corruption that was not masterminded by Jews or that Jews are not responsible for. They are well known for their intense love of money and its accumulation. The way in which they get hold of that money does not interest them in the least. On the contrary - they would use the most basic despicable ways, to realize their aim, so long as those who might be affected were non-Jews. A Jew would cross any line if it were in his interest....Since such is their behavior, they have exerted all their efforts into developing evil schemes. They believed that the secret to their survival lay in controlling the economies of the countries that had let them in and sheltered them from being refugees. [They further believed] that the secret lay in conspiracy and abatement of feuds [between non-Jews], so that the non-Jews would be engaged in internal conflict – paving the way for [a Jewish attack]. They concoct scandals that would haunt leaders, letting the Jews take a firm grip and tilting leaders in favor of their interests.A survey conducted by [Jewish] scholars, on the legacy and customs of non-Jewish nations, taught them that the latter were afraid of money and sex. These are exactly the two instruments Zionists use. First, they have propagated Freemasonry and Rotary clubs all over the world, in order to hunt for influential people, or such whom they can take advantage of. Zionists trap these [influential people] due to their circumstances, shortsightedness or greed. [Shortcomings] have pushed them to the lap [of Jews], so they can [still] reach the aims they had envisioned.
While one may find similarly antisemitic articles in Algerian or Iraqi or Islamic fundamentalist media, since the translations started getting media attention the more mainstream sites in Egypt and the PA have been trying to avoid explicit antisemitism and call it all "anti-Zionism."
Little has changed, except in Abraham Accords countries. But the explicit antisemitism is a bit more embarrassing so it is not as publicized in the media of most Arab states.
But not in Yemen.
It isn't surprising to see that Yemeni news sites associated with the Houthis remain explicitly antisemitic. After all, the Houthi motto includes "Curse the Jews."
This is from the Houthi Laa Media site called "The Cancer of the Jews" published yesterday:
Today we call the name “Jew” in general on every person who converted to the Jewish religion, while the reality is that many of these are not Semitic in terms of ethnic origin, as a large number of them are descendants of the Herodians or the Edomites of Turkish-Mongolian blood.The Jews of Khazaria were famous for their malice, extreme stinginess, decadent methods in financial matters, and their vile morals, so they spread economic and social corruption in Europe. .In 1306 AD, France expelled the Jews, followed by Saxony in 1348 AD, Hungary in 1360 AD, Belgium in 1370 AD, Slovakia in 1380 AD, Austria in 1430 AD, the Netherlands in 1444 AD, Spain in 1492 AD, Lithuania in 1495 AD, Portugal in 1498 AD, and Italy in 1540 AD, and Bavaria in general 1551 AD.Therefore, most historians say that Europe was not able to start the era of renaissance and prosperity until after it was able to expel the Jews from its lands and liberate itself from the clutches of Jewish economic control.Will we, the Arabs, succeed in expelling this malignant cancer from our region, so that we can enjoy the renaissance and prosperity as Europe did in the past?!Or is the axis of resistance the only one fighting this cancer in order to expel it from the region, while the rest of the Arabs do not care about the evil of this malignant disease?
It is a direct call for genocide.
If the larger Arab world was as repulsed by antisemitism as they claim, they would attack the Houthis as being bigots, and defend the remaining Jews in Muslim lands. But they never do, not when Yemenis say these things and not when other Arabs manage to publish similar articles.
Shaming is a terrific weapon, and one that the West needs to use more. Even if antisemitic Arabs are forced to hide their hate, that still is an accomplishment - hiding it makes it harder to spread to newer generations. MEMRI and PMW has managed to shame large swaths of the Arab world to eschew explicit antisemitism, knowing that they will look bad when exposed to the West.
The Houthis cannot be shamed by Westerners - but if their fellow Muslim Arabs would call out their hate, they would be put on the defensive. And if we are going to successfully fight Arab antisemitism, then we need the Arabs who claim to distinguish between Jews and Zionists to prove it by openly defending Jews from attacks like these.
