New York, NY, April 2, 2001 … In response to the resurrection of a blood libel charge in an Egyptian newspaper, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on administration officials meeting today with President Hosni Mubarak in Washington to hold the leader, "personally accountable for the persistent use of anti-Semitism in the media."

The League’s statement came in response to reports of continued anti-Semitic incitement in the Egyptian press. On March 25, a government-backed newspaper published a blood libel charge in an article coinciding with a meeting of Arab leaders in Amman, Jordan.

"Once again, the government-backed media in Egypt has issued a spurious attack against Jews and Israel with the centuries old charge of blood libel," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "These accusations have been used to incite hatred against Jews, especially during the Passover season, for hundreds of years. Jews have died as a result of these ugly depictions.

"It is ludicrous that Egypt’s leaders, while holding out an olive branch to Israel and the United States, continue to permit such ugly and hateful stereotypes of Jews and Judaism," said Mr. Foxman. "Egypt’s tolerance of anti-Semitism belies its claim that it wants to continue to be a partner for peace."

ADL has launched a campaign to raise awareness of anti-Semitism in the Egyptian media, including advertisements in major U.S. newspapers calling on Egypt’s president to "stop the anti-Semitic hate in Egypt." ADL has provided copies of its new report, Anti-Semitic Images in the Egyptian Media, to the White House, State Department and members of the House and Senate.

Adding to the dozens of anti-Semitic cartoons that have appeared in the last 14 months, the government-backed daily newspaper Al Akhbar published an article on March 25 resurrecting the Jewish blood libel. According to the Middle East Media and Research Institute, the article repeated details of the infamous 1840 Damascus blood libel. The author, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Said Al-Kurdi, wrote the article to coincide with the Arab League Summit in Amman, Jordan, "so Arab Foreign Ministers can review it when they devise the final picture of the unified Arab strategy." Similar accusations appeared in Egypt’s leading daily newspaper, Al-Ahram, last October.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.