When it comes to the treatment of Jews, the Moroccans - and notably their king - tend to get a very good press (see previous post). This is why the blatant display of books encouraging Jew-hatred at the Casablanca book fair alarmed the Simon Wiesenthal Centre (which monitors antisemitism) enough to send a letter to the Moroccan Minister of Culture (with thanks: Ralph):
In a letter addressed to Mohammed Amine Sbihi, Moroccan Minister of Culture, Shimon Samuels, director of International Relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, presented the results of his fourth annual investigation into incitement to antisemitism on the bookstands of the SIEL book fair.
The fair, which took place from 29 March to 7 April, is the largest in the Arab world, with 150 Moroccan stands, 30 Lebanese, 20 Syrian, 10 Egyptian, five Saudi, two Palestinian and one Libyan.
Mr Samuels declared:"It is frightening to note that ... in spite of the Arab Spring, Jew-hatred remains an implacable constant of the Arab literature on display at the last three book fairs, leaving an indelible stain on the SIEL event."
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