Wiesenthal Centre Denounces “Adolf Hitler - Mein Kampf” on Jordanian Stand of Doha International Book Fair

January 17, 2022

PARIS - Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that “this is the 8th year of our monitoring antisemitic publications at seven Arab Book Fairs. Most, this year, were clean in the spirit of the Abraham Accords."

 

Qatar is hardly one of those countries. Its array of antisemitic books has even been displayed on its Governmental stand at the Frankfurt Buchmesse. This year, it contained the most notorious classic of Jew-hatred, Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” on the Jordanian Al Ahlia publisher stand.

The Fair opened on 13 January and will close on the 23rd. Ten Embassies are participating: the United States, Russia, Italy, France, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, South Korea, Syria and Palestine.

 

Qatar and the US are celebrating 50 years of bilateral relations and the US Embassy is this year’s “Guest of Honour.”

 

The official catalogue claims that “the Doha International Book Fair is a showcase... that reflects human creative and reflective knowledge... spreading the light!”

 

The darkness, however, can be found at the stand of Al Ahlia for Publishing and Distribution - Jordan / Al Dar Al Ahlia Bookstore.

 

“We call on Qatar’s Minister of Culture, H.E. Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, to remove “Mein Kampf” and make a sweep of recidivist stands from the Fair, and to inform the US Guest of Honour accordingly,” concluded Samuels.

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).