(Cairo) In the aftermath of Israel’s war with Hizballah, it’s becoming apparent that a rising tide of anti-Semitism is sweeping the Egyptian airwaves and press.
Opposition Member of Parliament, Hamdeen Sabahi recently told a reporter with the Egyptian Mail that young Egyptians should be prevented from traveling to Israel because too many of them are marrying Israeli girls. He says the children are then raised “inside the Zionist state fed on hatred and enmity” toward the Arabs. Hamdeen believes Egyptian/Israeli intermarriage is a threat to Egyptian security and will erode the culture. At least 15,000 young Egyptian men have married Israelis after immigrating to Israel to seek employment. Hamdeen also wants to prevent the children of Israeli mothers and Egyptian fathers from getting Egyptian citizenship. That action would violate the Egyptian constitution and international conventions.
Last month during the war, an anti-Israel music video hit Egyptian airwaves. It was called, “All For Only Two Soldiers.” The song and video were performed by the popular Egyptian singer Shaaban Abdel Rehim. He is probably best known for his song, “I Hate Israel.” Is he an anti-Semite? Rehim told the Mail, “I ‘m an anti-Israeli Egyptian. I call on any Arab, any Muslim and anybody…to hate Israel and say this in public.”
AFP reported that as the war raged, Egyptian cleric Safwat al-Higazi issued an edict calling on worshippers to kill "any Zionist anywhere in wartime".
He reportedly was quoted as saying the use of "fire arms, knives and poison" should be preferred to suicide bombings "in order to spare innocents" and the Cairo imam said, "I myself am ready to slash the throat of any Israeli I meet."
Should Americans be concerned? You bet. The Mubarak government needs to do more to discourage Egyptian anti-Semitism. This is the type of sentiment we’d expect to be voiced by the nuclear bomb obsessed President of Iran, not prominent members of Egyptian society—not a nation that has a peace treaty with Israel and receives $2-billion annually from U.S. taxpayers. We deserve a better return on our investment.
