December 7, 2016
Letters to the Editor
Huffington Post Arabic
Dear Editors:
On November 29, the Arabic version of The Huffington Post, HuffPost Arabi, published an anti-Semitic blog that promotes a preposterous claim of a Jewish responsibility for the death of Islam’s prophet, Mohammed which parallels the Jewish deicide. We decried the article from our @ADLArabi Twitter account as poisoned with religious bigotry.
The article, “‘Arsenic’ The poison, which a Jewish woman put in the food of the Prophet, peace be upon him,” by Mohammed Fathi Abd Al-Al, cites unverified claims about a story which appears in some Islamic resources of a Jewish woman who tried to poison Prophet Mohammed. It also cites confusing scientific information to prove that Jews used Arsenic to fulfill their plot against Islam’s prophet which led to his death. Many mainstream Muslim scholars dismiss such stories as unverified and counter to clear Quranic evidence.
Freedom of expression is a universal value. However, religious bigotry including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia is dangerous and irresponsible. To allow your platform to serve as a vehicle for anti-Semitic messages of unscrupulous writers undermines the reputation of The Huffington Post as a safe and welcoming space for all individuals and groups.
We urge you to remove this piece and denounce its message as anti-Semitic and hope that the necessary measures to ensure that similar articles - which incite hate - will not be tolerated on your platform in the future.
Sincerely,
The Anti-Defamation League