Adalah Urges AG to Open Criminal Investigation into Ultra-Orthodox Newspaper Publication of Virulently Racist Article against Arabs

On 23 August 2006, Adalah sent an urgent letter to the Israeli Attorney General (AG) demanding that he immediately open a criminal investigation into the publication of article in Issue 160 of the ultra-Orthodox “Hassidic World” magazine. Adalah argued that the article contains racist statements and opinions which constitute incitement against Arabs in general and Muslims in particular.

The article, written by Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and entitled “All Arabs' Intentions are Bad,” states that Arabs are an inferior people full of hatred, that all of their intentions are bad, that they are deceitful savages similar to donkeys and take delight in killing. The author also describes Arabs as more cruel than the Nazis, and writes that Christians are pigs and Muslims are camels because they live in the past, just as a camel chews over food many times. He also calls the Prophet Muhammad a false prophet.

The author attempted to base his racist expressions on religious sources and rabbis' statements, as if he was expressing their words. For example, the author calls on statements made by one rabbi who, in his opinion, asserted that the hatred and aggression of Arabs towards the Jews greatly exceeds that of the Nazis.

The article was first brought to public attention by the Arabic language newspaper “Kol al-Arab,” which asked for Adalah's legal intervention.

In the letter, Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker demanded that the AG immediately launch a criminal investigation into the publication of the article for offenses such as racist incitement (Article 144b(a) of the Penal Law (1977)), and with harming religious sensitivities (Article 179 of the Penal Law (1977)) and Article 6 of the Anti-Defamation Law (1965).

Attorney Baker argued that criminal law prevents the publication of material aimed at incitement, including the use excerpts from the Torah or the statements of religious leaders if the intention of quoting them is incitement. The enormous number of racist and insulting statements made in the article against Arabs purely on the basis of their national and religious belonging demonstrates that the author's goal is incitement and to convince the readers of the accuracy of his racist views, argued Adalah.