The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" ("Protocols of the wise men of Zion", Library of Congress's Uniform Title; _ru. "Протоколы сионских мудрецов", or "Сионские протоколы" ; see also other titles) is an antisemitic tract alleging a Jewish and Masonic plot to achieve world domination. It has been proven to be a plagiarism, [http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/protzion/DelaCruzProtocolsMain.htm "The protocols plagiarized the work of Maurice Joly's "Dialogues in Hell.""] literary forgery, [ [http://skepdic.com/protocols.html Protocols of the Elders of Zion ] ] [ [http://www.h-net.org/~antis/doc/graves/graves.a.html The Truth about the Protocols: 1 of 6 ] ] [ [http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/protzion/DelaCruzLinksBib.htm The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion Reviews ] ] fraud [ [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060911-zion.html Anti-Semitic "Protocols of Zion" Endure, Despite Debunking ] ] [ [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007058 Protocols of the Elders of Zion ] ] and a hoax. [ [http://ddickerson.igc.org/protocols.html The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ] ] [ [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1797/whats-the-story-with-the-protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion The Straight Dope: What's the story with the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"? ] ] [ [http://www.publiceye.org/tooclose/protocol.html PublicEye.org - Apocalyptic Dualism & Conspiracism ] ] It was first published in 1903 in Russian, in "Znamya" ("The Banner," a newspaper). The text has failed to pass any scholarly standards of authentication as an alleged historical document or record. A version of it was published in 1905, as a final "Chapter XII" in a second edition of a book by Serge Nilus on the subject of the coming of the Antichrist. Accordingly, "The Protocols" are originally intertwined with this author's Russian Orthodox dogma. ["Warrant for Genocide", Norman Cohn (London: Serif, 1967, 1996).]

The original manuscript is not extant. No submissions to direct forensic study have ever been made. Rather, scholars and researchers have been forced to rely primarily on textual analysis and reports from alleged witnesses who claimed to have seen the original. Nevertheless, it has been shown that associated with the alleged original are the elements of a false document. ["The Non-Existent Manuscript", Cesare G. De Michelis, (Lincoln and London: University on Nebraska Press, 1998, 2004).] It is also one of the best-known and most-discussed examples of literary forgery. [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/hoax.html A Hoax of Hate ] ]

"The Protocols" (the briefest title by which the text is known) is an early example of contemporary conspiracy theory literature.Svetlana Boym, "Conspiracy theories and literary ethics: Umberto Eco, Danilo Kis and The Protocols of Zion": "Comparative Literature", Spring 1999.] Written in the first person singular, the text embodies generalizations, truisms and platitudes on how to take over the world: take control of the media and the financial institutions, change the traditional social order, etc. It is not a how-to handbook by any means. Although it has never been authenticated, the text is always published by those who subscribe to its authenticity as a revelation of the activities, practices, and policies of Jews. ["The Protocols and World Revolution", anonymous, (Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1920).]

Its 105 year circulation and publishing history shows it to have been distributed substantially in four physical forms - manuscript or typescript form; periodical, both in a journal and a newspaper form; pamphlet or booklet or softcover form; and as a book or hardback; - as well as digitally, online by means of the world wide web and other forms of the internet. From the standpoint of book design, it often consists of 24 or 27 or more paragraphs or sections named or titled protocols, but the diverse editions, imprints, or compilations differ slightly or substantially, but significantly, as to their front matter and back matter. It is known to have commenced such circulation in typescript form, translated from the Russian language, among the diplomats and officials involved in the negotiation and execution of the peace settlement which brought a formal end to World War I.

The text was popularized by those opposed to the Russian revolution, and was first disseminated by the instigator of the Kishinev pogrom, Pavel Krushevan, its first editor (and owner of "Znamya"), in 1903. It was similarly used in opposition to the Russian Revolution of 1905, the October Revolution (1917), and the peace negotiations at the end of World War I which resulted in the Treaty of Versailles (1919), becoming known worldwide during the 1919-1920 period when it was widely circulated in the West, and thereafter. It was also published in 1906 and 1907 in Russian, for the first time in pamphlet form, ed. by G. Butmi, after the pogroms, and in partial response to the Russian defeat in the Sino-Japanese war. These imprints, published by the Union of the Russian People, bore the title, "Enemies of the Human Race" (translated from the Russian).

It was first published (printed) in the English language in 1919 as two newspaper articles in the Philadelphia Public Ledger by the famous journalist and subsequent Columbia University professor and dean of the journalism department, Carl W. Ackerman, but all references to Jews were replaced by references to Bolsheviks and Bolshevism. ["An Appraisal of the "Protocols of Zion", John S. Curtiss (New York: Columbia University Press, 1942).] The Great Depression and the rise of Nazism were important developments in the history of the "Protocols", and the hoax continued to be published and circulated despite its debunking.

Title

The text is alternatively known in English as:
* "Protocols of the wise men of Zion"
* "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion"
* "Protocols of the meetings of the learned elders of Zion"
* "Protocols of the Meetings of the Zionist Men of Wisdom"
* "The Illuminati Protocols"
* "Protocols of the Sages of Zion"
* "Protocols of Zion"
* "The Jewish Peril"
* "The Protocols and World Revolution"
* "Praemonitus Praemunitus"
* "The War Against the Kingship of Christ".

The variation in title derives partly from the fact that the book has two titles in Russian - _ru. "Сионские протоколы" ("Sionskiye protokoly", lit. "Protocols of Zion") and _ru. "Протоколы сионских мудрецов" ("Protokoly sionskih mudretsov", lit. "Protocols of the Sages of Zion") - and partly due to the different translations of the Russian word _ru. мудрец ("mudrets", a wise man or a sage).

The variation in title also derives from the fact that various (often anonymous) compilers or editors give it a different main title (as distinct from a subtitle), as well as the interest of these to advertise or suit their particular antisemitic agenda, and the fact that the text, which consists roughly of no more than 2 or 3 dozen paragraphs is only sufficient for a pamphlet, and it becomes a book by expansion with prefaces, introductions, addenda, etc.

For example, the first American English language edition, published in Boston in 1920 by Small, Maynard & Company, has the following full title: "The Protocols and World Revolution Including a Translation and Analysis of the "Protocols of the Meetings of the Zionist Men of Wisdom". Only pages 11 through 73 contain the so-called "Protocols". The word "Zion" in this edition has not been used; rather, the word "Zionist" is used. This contrasts to a similar practice of the prior Russian editions. For example, in 1905 Sergei Nilus's book on the imminent arrival of the anti-Christ "The Big within the Small", the "Protocols" constituted the final twelfth chapter.

Origins and content

Maurice Joly

Elements of the text in the "Protocols" were plagiarizations from the 1864 book, "Dialogue aux enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu" ("Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu"), written by the French satirist Maurice Joly. Joly's work attacks the political ambitions of Napoleon III using Machiavelli as a diabolical plotter in Hell as a stand-in for Napoleon's views. Joly himself appears to have borrowed material from a popular novel by Eugène Sue, "The Mysteries of the People," in which the plotters were Jesuits. Jews do not appear in either work. Since it was illegal to criticize the monarchy, Joly had the pamphlet printed in Belgium, then tried to smuggle it back into France. The police confiscated as many copies as they could, and it was banned. After it was traced to Joly, he was tried on April 25, 1865, and sentenced to 15 months in prison at Sainte-Pelagie. Joly committed suicide in 1878.

Hermann Goedsche

Hermann Goedsche's 1868 novel, "Biarritz" (in English as "To Sedan") contributed another idea that may have inspired the scribe behind the "Protocols". In the chapter, “The Jewish Cemetery in Prague and the Council of Representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel”, Goedsche wrote about a nocturnal meeting between members of a mysterious rabbinical cabal, describing how at midnight, the Devil appears before those who have gathered on behalf of the Twelve Tribes of Israel to plan a “Jewish conspiracy”. His depiction is also similar to the scene in Alexandre Dumas, père's "Joseph Balsamo", where Cagliostro and company plot the affair of the diamond necklace. With "Biarritz" appearing at about the same time as "The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu," it is possible that Goedsche was inspired by the ideas in Joly's pamphlet, especially in detailing the outcome of the cabal's secret meeting.This material was originally exposed by Philip Graves in “The Source of "The Protocols of Zion"” published in "The Times", August 16-18, 1921, and the exposure has since been expanded in many sources.]

Goedsche, a reactionary to the revolutions of 1848, lost his job in the Prussian postal service after forging evidence to implicate democratic leader Benedict Waldeck of conspiring against the king. Following his dismissal, Goedsche began a career as a conservative columnist, while also producing literary work under the pen name Sir John Retcliffe.Norman Cohn, "Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World-Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elder of Zion" (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1966) 32–36.] Goedsche was allegedly a spy for the Prussian Secret Police. [ [http://ddickerson.igc.org/The_Protocols_of_the_Learned_Elders_of_Zion.pdf The Protocols of the Elders of Zion] ]

In 1871, the story was being presented in France as serious history. In 1872, “The Jewish Cemetery in Prague”, translated into Russian, appeared in St. Petersburg as a separate pamphlet of purported non-fiction. François Bournand, in his "Les Juifs et nos contemporains" (1896), reproduced a speech from the chapter as that of a Chief Rabbi “John Readcliff” [sic] .

tructure and themes

The 24 Protocols are posited as instructions to a new Elder, outlining how the group will control the world. The Elders want to trick all "gentile nations", whom they call "goyim", into doing their will. Their preferred methods include:

In addition to mentioning Vishnu, improbable in the Jewish religious literature, and the lack of Talmudic citations that would be expected in it, textual references to the "King of the Jews", the semi-messianic idea that carries strong connotations of Jesus, further suggest the author was not well-versed in Jewish culture, as this term has been avoided in the Judaic tradition since the between Judaism and Christianity.See INRI, Jewish Messiah, Judaism's view of Jesus.]

Once Philip Graves' "Times" article showed the extent of the similarity between the two texts, it became clear that the "Protocols" was not an authentic document.

Conspiracy references

The idea that the Freemasons formed part of an anti-Christian conspiracy, either separate from or in association with Jews, long predated the spreading of "The Protocols". In the late 18th-early 19th centuries, Freemasonry was popular (as were many fraternal organizations), and its most significant opponent, the Roman Catholic Church, opposed its open support for freedom of religion and enlightenment ideals.

After some interaction with masons, a Scottish natural philosopher John Robison became an enthusiastic conspiracy theorist and expanded on his impressions in his 1797 pamphlet "Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati and Reading Societies." He did not take into account that French masons were members of several mutually hostile factions and that many of them were executed by their rivals. Robison's work does not mention Jews.

Jesuit priest Augustin Barruél had some contact with Robison, but extended the notion to include JewsFact|date=May 2008. He had accused the Jews of founding the Bavarian IlluminatiFact|date=May 2008.

According to Daniel Pipes,

"The great importance of the "Protocols" lies in its permitting antisemites to reach beyond their traditional circles and find a large international audience, a process that continues to this day. The forgery poisoned public life wherever it appeared; it was "self-generating; a blueprint that migrated from one conspiracy to another." [Umberto Eco, "Foucault's Pendulum" (London: Picador, 1990), p.490] The book's vagueness — almost no names, dates, or issues are specified — has been one key to this wide-ranging success. The purportedly Jewish authorship also helps to make the book more convincing. Its embrace of contradiction — that to advance, Jews use all tools available, including capitalism and communism, philo-Semitism and antisemitism, democracy and tyranny — made it possible for the "Protocols" to reach out to all: rich and poor, Right and Left, Christian and Muslim, American and Japanese." [Daniel Pipes (1997): "Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From" (The Free Press - Simon & Schuster) p.85. ISBN 0-684-83131-7]

Pipes notes that the "Protocols" emphasizes recurring themes of conspiratorial antisemitism: "Jews always scheme", "Jews are everywhere", "Jews are behind every institution", "Jews obey a central authority, the shadowy 'Elders'", and "Jews are close to success." [Daniel Pipes (1997): "Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From" (The Free Press - Simon & Schuster) p.86–87. ISBN 0-684-83131-7]

The Protocols is widely considered influential in the development of other conspiracy theories, and reappears repeatedly in contemporary conspiracy literature, such as Jim Marrs' "Rule by Secrecy." Some recent editions proclaim that the "Jews" depicted in the Protocols are a cover identity for other conspirators such as the Illuminati, Freemasons, the Priory of Sion, or even, in the opinion of David Icke, "extra-dimensional entities." Other groups that believe in the authenticity of the Protocols have claimed that the book does not depict the way that Jews think and act, but only those belonging to an alleged secret elite group of Zionists, and that the "Elders" were not Rabbis, but secular Zionist leaders. Many conspiracy theorists believe the "Jewish conspiracy" to be disinformation.

Historical publications, usage, and investigations

Emergence in Russia

The chapter "In the Jewish Cemetery in Prague" from Goedsche's "Biarritz", with its strong antisemitic theme containing the alleged rabbinical plot against the European civilization, was translated into Russian as a separate pamphlet in 1872. [Segel, Binjamin W. "A Lie and a Libel: The History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (translated and edited by Levy, Richard S.),p. 97 (1996, originally published in 1926), University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-9245-7.]

In 1921 Princess Catherine Radziwill gave a private lecture in New York. She claimed that the Protocols were a forgery compiled in 1904-1905 by Russian journalists Matvei Golovinski and Manasevich-Manuilov at the direction of Pyotr Rachkovsky, Chief of the Russian secret service in Paris. [cite news
author=
title=PRINCESS RADZIWILL QUIZZED AT LECTURE; Stranger Questions Her Title After She Had Told of Forgery of "Jewish Protocols." CREATES STIR AT ASTOR Leaves Without Giving His Name-- Mrs. Huribut Corroborates the Princess. Stranger Quizzes Princess. Corroborates Mme. Radziwill. Never Reached Alexander III. The Corroboration. Says Orgewsky Was Proud of Work.
date=
work=New York Times
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9800EFDD133CE533A25757C0A9659C946095D6CF
accessdate=2008-08-05] Golovinski worked together with Charles Joly (son of Maurice Joly) at "Le Figaro" in Paris. This account, however, contradicts basic chronology of "Protocols" publication, as they were already published in 1903 in the newspaper "Znamya". Catherine Radziwill was previously convicted of forging Cecil Rhodes' signature on a promissory note. She also authored numerous gossip and propaganda books. In 1935 Radziwill repeated her statement as a witness at the Berne Trial.

In 1944 German writer Konrad Heiden identified Golovinski as an author of the "Protocols". [http://www.reason.com/news/show/27585.html Forging Protocols] by Charles Paul Freund. "Reason Magazine," February 2000]

Radziwill's account was supported by Russian historian Mikhail Lepekhine, who published his findings in November 1999 in the French newsweekly "L'Express". [fr icon [http://www.phdn.org/antisem/protocoles/origines.html Éric Conan. Les secrets d'une manipulation antisémite] L’Express, 16/11/1999.] Lepekhine considers the "Protocols" a part of a scheme to persuade Tsar Nicholas II that the modernization of Russia was really a Jewish plot to control the world.

Ukrainian scholar Vadim Skuratovsky offers extensive literary, historical and linguistic analysis of the original text of the "Protocols" and traces the influences of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's prose (in particular, "The Grand Inquisitor" and "The Possessed") on Golovinski's writings, including the "Protocols".Vadim Skuratovsky: "The Question of the Authorship of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". (Judaica Institute, Kiev, 2001) ISBN 966-7273-12-1]

In his book "The Non-Existent Manuscript", Italian scholar Cesare G. De Michelis studies early Russian publications of the "Protocols".

The "Protocols" were first mentioned in the Russian press in April 1902, by the Saint Petersburg newspaper, "Novoye Vremya" ( _ru. Новое Время - "The New Times"). The article was written by a famous conservative publicist Mikhail Menshikov as a part of his regular series "Letters to Neighbors" ( _ru. "Письма к ближним") and was entitled "Plots against Humanity." The author described his meeting with a lady (Yuliana Glinka, as it is known now) who, after telling him about her mystical revelations, implored him to get familiar with the documents later known as the "Protocols"; but after reading some excerpts Menshikov became quite skeptical about their origin and did not publish them.ru icon [http://www.vehi.net/asion/kon/08.html#_ftnref14 T. Karasova and D. Chernyakhovsky. Afterword to the Russian translation of Norman Cohn's "Warrant for Genocide"] ]

First printing and Nilus editions

The "Protocols" are claimed to have been published at the earliest, in serialized form, from August 28 to September 7 (O.S.) 1903, in "Znamya" ( _ru. Знамя - "The Banner"), a Saint Petersburg daily newspaper, under Pavel Krushevan. Krushevan had initiated the Kishinev pogrom four months earlier.cite web |url=http://www.newtimes.ru/eng/detail.asp?art_id=470 |title= "The Fraud of a Century, or a book born in hell" |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051217032523/http://www.newtimes.ru/eng/detail.asp?art_id=470 |archivedate=2005-12-17, by Valery Kadzhaya (Retrieved September 2005)]

The "Protocols" enjoyed another wave of popularity in Russia after 1905, when progressive political elements in Russia succeeded in creating a constitution and a parliament, the Duma. The reactionary Union of the Russian People, known as the Black Hundreds, together with the Okhrana, the Tsarist secret police, blamed this liberalization on the "International Jewish conspiracy," and began a program of disseminating the "Protocols"Fact|date=July 2008 as propaganda to support the wave of pogroms that swept Russia in 1903–1906 and as a tool to deflect attention from social activism. It also was of interest to Tsar Nicholas II, who was fearful of modernization and protective of his monarchy, and he presented the growing revolutionary movement as part of a powerful world conspiracy and blamed the Jews for Russia's problemsFact|date=July 2008.

In 1905, self-proclaimed mystic Sergei Nilus gained fame by publishing the full text of the "Protocols" in "Chapter XII", the final chapter (pages 305–417), of the second edition (or third, according to some sources) of his book, "Velikoe v malom i antikhrist", which translates as "The Great within the Small: The Coming of the Anti-Christ and the Rule of Satan on Earth". He claimed it was the work of the First Zionist Congress, held in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. When it was pointed out that the First Zionist Congress had been open to the public and was attended by many non-Jews, Nilus changed his story, saying the Protocols were the work of the 1902–1903 meetings of the Elders, but contradicting his own prior statement that he had received his copy in 1901:

"In 1901, I succeeded through an acquaintance of mine (the late Court Marshal Alexei Nikolayevich Sukotin of Chernigov) in getting a manuscript that exposed with unusual perfection and clarity the course and development of the secret Jewish Freemasonic conspiracy, which would bring this wicked world to its inevitable end. The person who gave me this manuscript guaranteed it to be a faithful translation of the original documents that were stolen by a woman from one of the highest and most influential leaders of the Freemasons at a secret meeting somewhere in France — the beloved nest of Freemasonic conspiracy."Morris Kominsky, "The Hoaxers", 1970. p. 209 ISBN 0-8283-1288-5]

Nilus also may have had personal motivations for publishing them. Some have alleged that at this time he was trying to gain influence with the Royal Family. This was, it is claimed, part of a faction fight against Papus and Nizier Anthelme Philippe at the Tsarist court (Indeed, Papus was accused in 1920 of having forged the "Protocols" to discredit Philippe).

tolypin's fraud investigation, 1905

A subsequent secret investigation ordered by the newly appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers Pyotr Stolypin came to the conclusion that the "Protocols" first appeared in Paris in antisemitic circles around 1897–1898. [ru icon [http://www.fedorov.ru/stolypin.html P. Stolypin's attempt to resolve the Jewish question] by Boris Fyodorov] When Nicholas II learned of the results of this investigation, he requested: "The Protocols should be confiscated, a good cause cannot be defended by dirty means."ru icon [http://www.jewniverse.ru/RED/Burtsev/BPSM-1-4.htm The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Proved Forgery] by Vladimir Burtsev (Paris, 1938) p.106 (Ch.4)] Despite the order, or because of the "good cause", numerous reprints proliferated.

The Russian Revolution and the spread of the Protocols, 1920s

After the Russian Revolution, factions connected to the White movement used the "Protocols" to perpetrate hatred and violence against the Jews. The idea that the Bolshevik movement was a Jewish conspiracy for world domination, plus the fact that some top Bolsheviks, particularly Leon Trotsky, were Jews, sparked worldwide interest in the "Protocols".

German language publications

The first and "by far the most important" [Daniel Pipes (1997): "Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From" (The Free Press - Simon & Schuster) p.94. ISBN 0-684-83131-7] German translation was by Gottfried Zur Beck (pseudonym of Ludwig Müller von Hausen). It appeared in January 1920 as a part of a larger antisemitic tract ["Geheimnisse der Weisen von Zion" (Charlottesburg: Auf Vorposten, 1919).] dated 1919. After "The Times" of London discussed the book respectfully in May 1920 it became a bestseller. "The Hohenzollern family helped defray the publication costs, and Kaiser Wilhelm II had portions of the book read out aloud to dinner guests".Daniel Pipes (1997): "Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From" ("The Free Press" - Simon & Shuster) p.95. ISBN 0-684-83131-7]

Alfred Rosenberg's 1923 edition [Alfred Rosenberg: "Die Protokolle der Weisen von Zion und die jüdische Weltpolitik" (Munich: Deutscher Volksverlag, 1923).] "gave a forgery a huge boost".

English language publication

On October 27 and 28, 1919, the Philadelphia "Public Ledger" published excerpts of an English language translation as the "Red Bible," deleting all references to the purported Jewish authorship and re-casting the document as a Bolshevist manifesto.cite book
last = Jenkins
first = Philip
title = Hoods and Shirts: The Extreme Right in Pennsylvania, 1925-1950
publisher = UNC Press
year=1997
pages = 114
isbn = 0807823163 ] The author of the articles was the paper's correspondent at the time, Carl W. Ackerman, who later became the head of the journalism department at Columbia University.

On May 8, 1920, an article [Henry Wickham Steed, "A Disturbing Pamphlet: A Call for Enquiry", "The Times", May 8, 1920.] in "The Times" followed German translation and appealed for an inquiry into what it called "uncanny note of prophecy".

The first English language edition of the "Protocols" was published in 1920 in London. The full title was "The Jewish Peril. Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion"; the translator has been subsequently discovered to be George Shanks.

The most widespread English translation of the "Protocols" is credited (by its anonymous editor(s)) to a British correspondent for "The Morning Post" in Russia, Victor E. Marsden. That anonymous source further claims that Marsden was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks in the Peter and Paul Fortress, subsequently released, and returned to England. Marsden, prior to his death on October 28, 1920, had allegedly translated Chapter XII of Nilus' 1905 book on the coming of the Anti-Christ, a copy of which was at hand in the British Museum. His name does not appear in the first British imprint, issued by Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd., nor in the second, issued by The Britons. It only first pops up in the edition issued one or two years later, in the imprint issued by the Britons Publishing Society.

In a single year 1920, five editions sold out in England. That same year in the United States, Henry Ford sponsored the printing of 500,000 copies, and from 1920 to 1922 published a series of antisemitic articles, entitled , in "The Dearborn Independent", a newspaper he owned. In 1921 Ford cited it as evidence of a Jewish threat: "The only statement I care to make about the "Protocols" is that they fit in with what is going on. They are 16 years old, and they have fitted the world situation up to this time."Max Wallace, "The American Axis" St. Martin's Press, 2003] In 1927, however, the courts ordered Ford to retract his publication and apologize; he complied, claiming his assistants had duped him. Moreover, he later expressed his admiration for Nazi Germany." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm Ford and GM Scrutinized for Alleged Nazi Collaboration] " by Michael Dobbs. "The Washington Post" 1998-11-30; Page A01. URL accessed March 20, 2006.]

In 1934, an anonymous editor expanded the compilation with "Text and Commentary" (pages 136–141). The production of this uncredited compilation was a 300-page book, an inauthentic expanded edition of the twelfth chapter of Nilus's 1905 on the coming of the anti-Christ. It consists of substantial liftings of excerpts of articles from Ford's antisemitic periodical "The Dearborn Independent". This 1934 text circulates most widely in the English-speaking world, as well as on the internet.

The "Text and Commentary" concludes with a comment on Haim Weizman's October 6, 1920 remark at a banquet: "A beneficent protection which God has instituted in the life of the Jew is that He has dispersed him all over the world". Marsden, who was dead by then, is credited with the following assertion:

"It proves that the Learned Elders exist. It proves that Dr. Weizmann knows all about them. It proves that the desire for a "National Home" in Palestine is only camouflage and an infinitesimal part of the Jew's real object. It proves that the Jews of the world have no intention of settling in Palestine or any separate country, and that their annual prayer that they may all meet "Next Year in Jerusalem" is merely a piece of their characteristic make-believe. It also demonstrates that the Jews are now a world menace, and that the Aryan races will have to domicile them permanently out of Europe."Introduction to English edition by Victor E. Marsden]

This quote occurs on page 138. On the previous page, the nameless commentator has the following: "There has been recently published a volume of Theodor Herzl's "Diaries", a translation of some passages of which appeared in the "Jewish Chronicle" of July 14, 1922". Accordingly, the commentary must have been written at least two years after Marsden's death.

"The Times" exposes a forgery, 1921

In 1920-1921, the history of the concepts found in the "Protocols" was traced back to the works of Goedsche and Jacques Crétineau-Joly by Lucien Wolf (an English Jewish journalist), and published in London in August 1921. But a dramatic expose occurred in the series of articles in "The Times" by its Constantinople reporter, Philip Graves, who discovered the plagiarism from the work of Maurice Joly.

According to writer Peter Grose, Allen Dulles, who was in Constantinople developing relationships in post-Ottoman political structures, discovered 'the source' of the documentation ultimately provided to "The Times". Grose writes that "The Times" extended a loan to the source, a Russian émigré who refused to be identified, with the understanding the loan would not be repaid. [Peter Grose, in "Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles" (Houghton Mifflin 1994)] Colin Holmes, a lecturer in economic history of Sheffield University, identified the émigré as Michael Raslovleff, a self-identified antisemite, who gave the information to Graves so as not to "give a weapon of any kind to the Jews, whose friend I have never been." [Poliakov, Leon (1997). "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion". "Encyclopedia Judaica" (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. Cecil Roth. Keter Publishing House. ISBN 965-07-0665-8]

In the first article of Graves' series, entitled "A Literary Forgery", the editors of "The Times" wrote, "our Constantinople Correspondent presents for the first time conclusive proof that the document is in the main a clumsy plagiarism. He has forwarded us a copy of the French book from which the plagiarism is made."PDFlink| [http://emperor.vwh.net/antisem/first.pdf "Jewish World Plot": An Exposure. The Source of "The Protocols of Zion". Truth at Last] |1.08 MiB by Philip Graves published at "The Times", August 16–18, 1921] "The New York Times" reprinted the articles on September 4, 1921. ["The New York Times", September 4, 1921. Front page, Section 7] In the same year, an entire book [Gutenberg|no=19200|name=The History of a Lie] documenting the hoax was published in the United States by Herman Bernstein. Despite this widespread and extensive debunking, the "Protocols" continued to be regarded as important factual evidence by antisemites.Fact|date=March 2008

Arab lands, 1920s

In the 1920s, the "Protocols" occasionally appeared in the Arab polemics linking Zionism and Bolshevism. The first Arabic translations were made from the French by Arab Christians. The first translation was published in "Raqib Sahyun", a periodical of the Roman Catholic community of Jerusalem, in 1926. Another translation made by an Arab Christian appeared in Cairo in 1927 or 1928, this time as a book. The first translation by an Arab Muslim was also published in Cairo, but only in 1951.cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |authorlink=Bernard Lewis |title=Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice |edition=First edition |year=1986 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co. |isbn=0-393-02314-1]

The Berne Trial, 1934–1935

In 1934, Dr. Alfred Zander, a Swiss Nazi, published a series of articles accepting the "Protocols" as fact. He was sued in what has come to be known as the Berne Trial. The trial began in the "Amtsgericht" (district court) of Bern on October 29, 1934. The plaintiffs were Dr. J. Dreyfus-Brodsky, Dr. Marcus Cohen and Dr. Marcus Ehrenpreis, who were represented by Georges Brunschvig and Emil Raas.

On May 19, 1935, the defendants were convicted of violating a Bernese statute prohibiting the distribution of "immoral, obscene or brutalizing" texts.cite news|url=http://www.nzz.ch/2005/12/23/fe/articleDEYRW.html|title=Die Quelle allen Übels? Wie ein Berner Gericht 1935 gegen antisemitische Verschwörungsphantasien vorging|last=Hafner|first=Urs|date=23 December 2005|publisher=Neue Zürcher Zeitung|language=German|accessdate=2008-10-11] The court declared the "Protocols" to be forgeries, plagiarisms, and obscene literature. Judge Walter Meyer, a Christian who had not heard of the "Protocols" earlier, said in conclusion:

"I hope, the time will come when nobody will be able to understand how in 1935 nearly a dozen sane and responsible men were able for two weeks to mock the intellect of the Bern court discussing the authenticity of the so-called Protocols, the very Protocols that, harmful as they have been and will be, are nothing but laughable nonsense".

Vladimir Burtsev, a Russian emigré, anti-Bolshevik and anti-Fascist who exposed numerous Okhrana agents provocateurs in the early 1900s, served as a witness at the Berne Trial. In 1938 in Paris he published a book, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Proved Forgery", based on his testimony.

On November 1, 1937 the defendants appealed the verdict to the "Obergericht" (Cantonal Supreme Court) of Berne. A panel of threee judges acquitted them, holding that the "Protocols", while false, did not violate the statute at issue because they were used as a means of political propaganda. The presiding judge's opinion stated, though, that the forgery of the "Protocols" was not questionable and expressed regret that the law did not provide adequate protection for Jews from this sort of literature. The court imposed the fees for both trials on the defendants. [Hadassa Ben-Itto, "The Lie That Wouldn’t Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", Chapter 11.] This decision gave grounds for later allegations that the appeal court "confirmed authenticity of the Protocols" which is opposite to the facts.

A scholarly work on the trial is a 139 page monograph by Urs Lüthi.

outh Africa

In an August 1934 case in Grahamstown, South Africa, a court case took place in which Rev. A. Levy sued three Greyshirts leaders (Johannes von Strauss, von Moltke, David Hermanus Olivier) and Harry Victor Inch for defamation because they published a document said to have been stolen from the Western Road Synagogue in Port Elizabeth where Rev. Levy was Minister. The document, proven at the trial to be a forgery, alleged to set out the plans of the Jews to obtain world domination on the lines of the notorious "Protocols". The court awarded Rev. Levy damages totalling £1,775 (about $8,875 at the time or about $130,000 in 2005 dollars) - £1000 against Inch, £750 against Moltke and £25 against Olivier. Inch was also sentenced to six years in prison for perjury. Nahum Sokolow appeared as a witness at the trial. In what is believed to be a legal first, the "Protocols" was also declared to be a forgery during the trial.

The Protocols in Nazi propaganda, 1930s-1940s

The "Protocols" also became a part of the Nazi propaganda effort to justify persecution of the Jews. It was made required reading for German students. In "The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry 1933–1945", Nora Levin states that "Hitler used the "Protocols" as a manual in his war to exterminate the Jews":

Despite conclusive proof that the "Protocols" were a gross forgery, they had sensational popularity and large sales in the 1920s and 1930s. They were translated into every language of Europe and sold widely in Arab lands, the United States, and England. But it was in Germany after World War I that they had their greatest success. There they were used to explain all of the disasters that had befallen the country: the defeat in the war, the hunger, the destructive inflation.Nora Levin, "The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry 1933–1945". Quoting from [http://ddickerson.igc.org/hitler-protokollen.html] ]

Hitler refers to the "Protocols" in "Mein Kampf":

... To what extent the whole existence of this people is based on a continuous lie is shown incomparably by the "Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion", so infinitely hated by the Jews. They are based on a forgery, the "Frankfurter Zeitung" moans and screams once every week: the best proof that they are authentic. [...] the important thing is that with positively terrifying certainty they reveal the nature and activity of the Jewish people and expose their inner contexts as well as their ultimate final aims.Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf": Chapter XI: Nation and Race, Vol I, pp. 307–308.]

Hitler endorsed it in his speeches from August 1921 on, and it was studied in German classrooms after the Nazis came to power. At the height of World War II, the Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels proclaimed: "The Zionist Protocols are as up-to-date today as they were the day they were first published." In Norman Cohn's words, it served as the Nazis' "warrant for genocide".

Fascist Italy

While the first edition of the Protocols (1921) did not have much success,in the wake of the growing alliance between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, the "Protocols" were re-published in Italy in 1937 by Giovanni Preziosi with an introduction by Julius Evola.

Contemporary usage and popularity

While there is continued popularity of "The Protocols" in nations from South America to Asia, since the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy in WWII governments or political leaders in most parts of the world have generally avoided claims that "The Protocols" represent factual evidence of a real Jewish conspiracy. The exception to this is the Middle East, where a large number of Arab and Muslim regimes and leaders have endorsed them as authentic.

Past endorsements of "The Protocols" from Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat of Egypt, one of the President Arifs of Iraq, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya, among other political and intellectual leaders of the Arab world, are echoed by 21st century endorsements from the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Ekrima Sa'id Sabri and Hamas to the education ministry of Saudi Arabia.PDFlink| [http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/arab/Arab_Anti-Semitism.pdf Islamic Antisemitism in Historical Perspective] |276 KiB at Anti-Defamation League]

Middle East

As popular opposition to Israel spread across the Middle East in the years following its creation in 1948, many Arab governments funded new printings of the "Protocols", and taught them in their schools as historical fact. They have been accepted as such by many Islamist organizations, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Reportedly, Arabic editions issued in the Middle East were found on sale as far away as London. [http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/eng_n/pro_10_05_e.htm Exporting Arabic antisemitic publications issued in the Middle East to Britain] Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (ITC CSS). October 10, 2005] There are at least nine different Arabic translations of the "Protocols" and more editions than in any other language including German. The "Protocols" also figure prominently in the antisemitic propaganda distributed internationally by the Arab countries and have spread to other Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

yria

and to conspire, dominate, be arrogant and exploit other countries". [ [http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/3_05/prot_sy_e.htm ITC CSS] ] Dead link|url=http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/3_05/prot_sy_e.htm|date=September 2008]

The "Protocols" is a best-seller in Syria [http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/4_05/bashar.htm "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a Syrian best-seller] Dead link|url=http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/4_05/bashar.htm|date=September 2008at ITC CSS. April 20, 2005] and, together with other antisemitic materials published there, is distributed throughout the Arab world. [http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/85255db800470aa485255d8b004e349a/3911b1e58df0bb7485256e4d0057a10c!OpenDocument UNISPAL. Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination] . Question of Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Any Part of the World. Written statement submitted by the Association for World Education. 10 February 2004] In 1997, the two-volume 8th edition of the "Protocols", translated and edited by 'Ajaj Nuwayhid, was published by Mustafa Tlass's publishing house and exhibited and sold at the Damascus International Book Fair (IBF) and at the Cairo IBF. At the 2005 Cairo IBF a stand of the Syrian publisher displayed a new, 2005 edition of the "Protocols" authorized by the Syrian Ministry of Information. [http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/3_05/prot_sy_e.htm A new 2005 Syrian edition of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion] Dead link|url=http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/3_05/prot_sy_e.htm|date=September 2008at ITC CSS. February 28, 2005] [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43210 Syria unveils updated antisemitic work. Damascus releases updated 'Protocols' book filled with canards about 'treacherous' Zionists] by Aaron Klein at WorldNetDaily. March 9, 2005] In Syria government-controlled television channels occasionally broadcast mini-series concerning the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", along with several other anti-semitic themes. [http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP62703 Al-Shatat: The Syrian-Produced Ramadan 2003 TV Special] ]

Egypt

During the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt was the main source of internationally distributed antisemitic propaganda. In 1960, the "Protocols" were featured in an article published by Salah Dasuqi, military governor of Cairo, in "al-Majallaaa", the official cultural journal. In 1965, the Egyptian government released an English-language pamphlet titled "Israel, the Enemy of Africa" and distributed it throughout the English-speaking countries of Africa. The pamphlet used the "Protocols" and "The International Jew" as its sources and concluded that all the Jews were cheats, thieves, and murderers.

In a foreword to a translation of Shimon Peres' book "The New Middle East", the Egyptian state-owned publisher al-Ahram editorialized in 1995:

'When "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were discovered, some 200 years ago, and translated in various languages, including Arabic, the World Zionist Organization attempted to deny the existence of the plot, and claimed forgery. The Zionists even endeavoured to purchase all the existing copies, in order to prevent their circulation. But today, Shimon Peres proves unequivocally that the "Protocols" are authentic, and that they tell the truth.'

An article in the Egyptian state-owned newspaper "al-Akhbar" on February 3, 2002 stated:

All the evils that currently affect the world are the doings of Zionism. This is not surprising, because the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", which were established by their wise men more than a century ago, are proceeding according to a meticulous and precise plan and time schedule, and they are proof that even though they are a minority, their goal is to rule the world and the entire human race."

In October 2002, a private Egyptian television company Dream TV produced a 41-part "historical drama" "A Knight Without a Horse" ("Fars Bela Gewad"), largely based on the "Protocols", [http://www.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_plot2.asp Plot summary] at the Anti-Defamation League] which ran on 17 Arabic-language satellite television channels, including government-owned Egypt Television (ETV), for a month, causing concerns in the West. [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2002/14834.htm Egypt: U.S. Concerns Regarding Proposed Antisemitic Mini-Series] Office of the Spokesman at the U.S. State Department] Egypt's Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif announced that the series "contains no antisemitic material". [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/611/eg7.htm Protocols, politics and Palestine] at "al-Ahram Weekly"]

On November 17, 2003, an Egyptian weekly "al-Usbu‘" reported that the manuscript museum at the Alexandria Library, displayed the first Arabic translation of the "Protocols" at the section of the holy books of Judaism, next to a Torah scroll. The museum's director Dr. Youssef Ziedan was quoted as saying in an interview:

"...it has become one of the sacred [texts] of the Jews, next to their first constitution, their religious law ... more important to the Zionist Jews of the world than the Torah, because they conduct Zionist life according to it ... It is only natural to place the book in the framework of an exhibit of Torah." [http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=egypt&ID=SP61903 Jewish Holy Books On Display at the Alexandria Library: The Torah & the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'] December 3, 2003]

It also quoted him as saying that no more than one million Jews were killed by the Nazis, but Zionists manipulated the "knowledge that has reached the world". See also:- Holocaust denial.

Dr. Ziedan strongly denies these quotes, accusing "al-Usbu‘" of attributing "fabricated, groundless lies" to him and stating that "the Protocols is a racist, silly, fabricated book":

: "The story began with an article in an Egyptian newspaper, "al-Usbu‘", two weeks ago (on November 17, 2003), which alleged quoting from me utterly senseless statements intertwining facts with fancies. A month before, a journalist from the aforementioned newspaper interviewed me concerning the recent refurbishment of the manuscript and rare book museum. I handed her a written statement, as was the case with other journalists who covered the same news. Although, she concluded her article with my exact words, she started it with fabricated, groundless lies. She falsely reported me saying that I placed an edition of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion at the center of the museum alongside the Jewish Torah and divine books. Moreover, she claimed that I told her that this book is more significant then the Torah... On my part, I would like to maintain to the visitors of ziedan.com that the Protocols is a racist, silly, fabricated book. Perhaps, I should consider more thoroughly the Jewish issue on the academic level and furnish my vision of the interaction of religions. As civilized people, we totally renounce racism and call for tolerance and constructive interaction between people." [http://www.ziedan.com/English/zion/1.asp First Statement: Necessary Explanation] at ziedan.com. (March 11, 2006)]

After the publication, director of the Library Dr. Ismail Serageldin issued a statement:

"Preliminary investigation determined that the book was briefly displayed in a showcase devoted to rotating samples of curiosities and unusual items in our collection. ... The book is a well-known 19th century fabrication to foment anti-Jewish feelings. The book was promptly withdrawn from public display, but its very inclusion showed bad judgment and insensitivity..." [http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/000311.php Public Statement by the Director of the Library of Alexandria] ]

Iran

The first Iranian edition of the "Protocols" was issued during the summer of 1978 before the Iranian Revolution after which the "Protocols" were widely publicized by the Iranian government. A publication called "Imam", published by the Iranian embassy in London, quoted extensively from the "Protocols" in its issues of 1984 and 1985. In 1985 a new edition of the "Protocols" was printed and widely distributed by the Islamic Propagation Organization, International Relations Department, in Tehran. The Astan Quds Razavi Foundation in Mashhad, Iran, one of the wealthiest institutions in Iran, financed publication of the "Protocols" in 1994. Parts of the "Protocols" were published by the daily Jomhouri-ye Eslami in 1994, under the heading "The Smell of Blood, Zionist Schemes". Sobh, a far right monthly newspaper, published excerpts from the "Protocols" under the heading "The text of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for establishing the Jewish global rule" in its December 1998–January 1999 issue, illustrated with a caricature of the Jewish snake swallowing the globe.

Iranian writer and researcher Ali Baqeri, who researched the "Protocols", finds their plan for world domination to be merely part of an even more grandiose scheme, saying in Sobh in 1999::"The ultimate goal of the Jews... after conquering the globe... is to extract from the hands of the Lord many stars and galaxies".

In April 2004, the Iranian television station Al-Alam broadcast "Al-Sameri wa Al-Saher", a series that reported as fact several conspiracy theories about the Holocaust, Jewish control of Hollywood, and the "Protocols". [http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP70504 Iranian TV Series Based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the Jewish Control of Hollywood] . MEMRI. April 30, 2004] The Iran Pavilion of the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair had the "Protocols", as well as "The International Jew" available. [http://www.matthiaskuentzel.de/contents/the-booksellers-of-tehran The Booksellers of Tehran] ,” "The Wall Street Journal Online", October 28, 2005] In 2008 "The Secret of Armageddon" - An Iranian TV "Documentary" Claiming That "a Jewish Plan for the Genocide of Humanity," includes a conspiracy for the takeover of Iran by local Jewish and Bahá'í communities was based on the Protocols. [ [http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1802.htm "The Secret of Armageddon" on memri] ]

On the other hand, Iranian author Abdollah Shahbazi, known for his historical reports of several important events of Iran's history, has denied the authenticity of the "Protocols" officially on his website and has referred to several international investigations as the basis of his claim. [http://www.shahbazi.org/Articles/Protocols.pdf His article about Protocols on the 'Official Site of Abdollah Shahbazi'] ]

audi Arabia

Saudi Arabian schoolbooks contain explicit summaries of the Protocols as factual:

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion":These are secret resolutions, most probably of the aforementioned Basel congress. They were discovered in the nineteenth century. The Jews tried to deny them, but there was ample evidence proving their authenticity and that they were issued by the elders of Zion. The Protocols can be summarized in the following points:
#Upsetting the foundations of the world's present society and its systems, in order to enable Zionism to have a monopoly of world government.
#Eliminating nationalities and religions, especially the Christian nations.
#Striving to increase corruption among the present regimes in Europe, as Zionism believes in their corruption and [eventual] collapse.
#Controlling the media of publication, propaganda and the press, using gold for stirring up disturbances, seducing people by means of lust and spreading wantonness.The cogent proof of the authenticity of these resolutions, as well as of the hellish Jewish schemes included therein, is the [actual] carrying out of many of those schemes, intrigues and conspiracies that are found in them. Anyone who reads them — and they were published in the nineteenth century — grasps today to what extent much of what is found there has been realized. [http://www.edume.org/reports/10/38.htm CMIP report: The Jews in World History according to the Saudi textbooks] Dead link|url=http://www.edume.org/reports/10/38.htm|date=September 2008. "The Danger of World Jewry", by Abdullah al-Tall, pp. 140–141 (Arabic). "Hadith and Islamic Culture", Grade 10, (2001) pp. 103–104.]

According to Freedom House 2006 report, Saudi "textbook for boys for Tenth Grade on Hadith and Islamic Culture contains a lesson on the "Zionist Movement." It is a curious blend of wild conspiracy theories about Masonic Lodges, Rotary Clubs, and Lions Clubs with antisemitic invective. It asserts that the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is an authentic document and teaches students that it reveals what Jews really believe. It blames many of the world’s wars and discord on the Jews." [PDFlink|cite web |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/pdfdocs/KSAtextbooks06.pdf |title= 2006 Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060823125127/http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/pdfdocs/KSAtextbooks06.pdf |archivedate=2006-08-23 Report by Center for Religious Freedom of Freedom House. 2006]

Lebanon and Hezbollah

In March 1970, the "Protocols" were reported to be the top 'nonfiction' bestseller in Lebanon.Efraim Karsh, "Rethinking the Middle East", Routledge, 2003. p. 101] The "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004" by the US Department of State states that "the television series, Ash-Shatat ("The Diaspora"), which centred on the alleged conspiracy of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" to dominate the world, was aired in October and November 2003 by the Lebanon-based satellite television network "Al-Manar", owned by Hezbollah." [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41726.htm Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004] Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the US State Department February 28, 2005]

Hamas

The Charter of Hamas explicitly refers to the "Protocols," accepting them as factual and makes several references to Freemasons as one of the "secret societies" controlled by "Zionists". The Article 32 of the "" states::The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying. [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS)] August 18, 1988 (The Avalon Project at Yale Law School) retrieved October 2005]

Palestinian National Authority

The PNA frequently used the "Protocols" in the media and education under their control and some Palestinian academics presented the forgery as a plot upon which Zionism is based. For example, on January 25, 2001, the official PNA daily "Al-Hayat al-Jadida" cited the "Protocols" on its "Political National Education" page to explain Israel's policies:

Disinformation has been one of the bases of moral and psychological manipulation among the Israelis ... The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" did not ignore the importance of using propaganda to promote the Zionist goals. The second protocol reads: 'Through the newspapers we will have the means to propel and to influence'. In the twelfth protocol: 'Our governments will hold the reins of most of the newspapers, and through this plan we will possess the primary power to turn to public opinion.'

Later that year the same newspaper wrote: "The purpose of the military policy is to impose this situation on the residents and force them to leave their homes, and this is done in the framework of the "Protocols of Zion"..." [http://www.pmw.org.il/Protocols.htm "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in official PA ideology, 2001–2002] a Bulletin by Itamar Marcus at Palestinian Media Watch. (Retrieved January 2006)]

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Ekrima Sa'id Sabri appeared on the Saudi satellite channel Al-Majd on February 20, 2005, commenting on the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "Anyone who studies "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and specifically the Talmud," he said, "will discover that one of the goals of these Protocols is to cause confusion in the world and to undermine security throughout the world." [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-7-1506190,00.html "The anti-Jewish lie that refuses to die"] by Steve Boggan, "The Times", March 2, 2005]

In 2005, it was reported that the Palestinian Authority was teaching the "Protocols" in schools. After media exposure, the PA promised to stop. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/patext2.html Palestinian Authority Promises to Remove Protocols References from Textbooks] . Jewish Virtual Library. URL accessed March 18, 2006.] On May 19, 2005, "The New York Times" reported that Palestinian Authority Minister of Information Nabil Shaath removed from his ministry's web site an Arabic translation of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/19/international/middleeast/19protocols.html? PNA Minister of Information removes the Protocols from their website] New York Times, 2005-05-19]

Other contemporary appearances

To a great degree, the text is still accepted as truthful in large parts of South America and Asia, especially in Japan where variations on the "Protocols" have frequently made the bestseller lists.Antisemitism Worldwide 1995–6 (Project for the Study of Antisemitism, Tel Aviv University), pp. 265–6. For more information on the popularity of the "Protocols" in Japan, see:
* [http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=4114 First Things Review] of "Jews and the Japanese Mind"
* by David G. Goodman at HUJI
* Article Fugu Plan.]

In Turkey, particularly by ultra-nationalist and Islamist circles. "The Protocols" was first published in the magazine "Millî İnkılâb" ("National Revolution") in 1934 and triggered the Thracian pogroms ("Trakya Olayları") the same year. It ran through over 100 editions from 1943 to 2004 and remains a best-seller."Kavgam ve Siyon Protokolleri", Ayşe Hür, Radikal 2, 13.03.2005 For more information on popularity of antisemitic literature in Turkey, see:
* [http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?P...tism&ID=SP90005#_edn3 Antisemitism in the Turkish Media: Part 1] of Middle East Media Research Institute]

In the United Kingdom, "The Protocols" have been endorsed by excommunicated Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X.

In Romania "The Protocols" was published in the early 90's by nationalist writers and neo-legionar groups as , and was widely read in urban areas and mentioned by the people who was disappointed by the new economic roules and inflation.

In February 2003, an Australian new age publication "Hard Evidence" presented the "Protocols" as factual and claimed that Jews were responsible for 2002 Bali bombing. [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-jones-f04.htm Confronting Reality: Antisemitism in Australia Today] by Jeremy Jones. Fall 2004]

The New Zealand National Front sells copies published by their former national secretary, Kerry Bolton. Bolton also publishes (and the NZNF sells) a book entitled "The Protocols of Zion in Context" that seeks to refute the idea that the "Protocols" are a forgery.

Idi Amin, the President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979, cited the book as evidence of a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world, and as justification for his self-proclaimed plans to destroy Israel. He reveals this in an interview during the 1974 documentary "Idi Amin Dada".

In Indonesia a translation of the "Protocols" is available in Indonesian in a bundle with "The International Jew". The books were translated and published in 2006 by the Hikmah division of the publisher Mizan. The front cover of "The International Jew" shows a quote by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "The big question is how can the American government support this despicable Zionist regime".

United States

The "Protocols" have had a tumultuous history in the United States ever since influential people such as Henry Ford began publishing them under the title of "The International Jew". The "Protocols" were republished as fact in 1991 in Milton William Cooper's conspiracy book "Behold a Pale Horse", though Cooper himself holds the Illuminati and not the Jews at fault.

"The Plot", the final graphic novel by famed writer/artist Will Eisner, was about the history of the "Protocols" and the fact that they had been proven to be false numerous times.

The American retail chain Wal-Mart, was criticized for selling "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" on its website with a description that suggested it might be genuine. [Walmart description (excerpt): "If, however, The Protocols are genuine (which can never be proven conclusively), it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs." [http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1070 Walmart rolls back Ant-Semitic book] at the Southern Poverty Law Center website] It was withdrawn from sale in September 2004, as 'a business decision'. It is distributed in the United States by Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.Arthur Hertzberg, "Jews: The Essence and Character of a People" Harper Collins, 1999. p 34.]

In 2002, the Paterson, New Jersey-based Arabic language newspaper "The Arab Voice" published excerpts from the "Protocols" as true. [http://www.danielpipes.org/article/499 The Paterson 'Protocols'] by Daniel Pipes. "New York Post". November 5, 2002] The paper's editor and publisher Walid Rabah defended himself from criticism with the protestation that "some major writers in the Arab nation accept the truth of the book."A documentary film, "Protocols of Zion" (2005) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436686/] , connects the "Protocols" to a resurgence of antisemitism following the September 11 World Trade Center attacks.]

During his October 2003 presentation at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, Samir Makhlouf of the Presbyterian Peacemakers organization stated that the "Protocols" was a factual text that explains how Zionists have been taking over the world's politics, economics and communications. After the controversy became public, the group's sponsors "agreed that they had made a grave mistake, and ... that antisemitism is anti-Christianity." [http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2004/02/05/news/local/bhate0206.txt Message of hate brought to Wooster campus] ] [http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2004/04/28/news/local/college0430.txt College of Wooster begins bridge building] published in "Cleveland Jewish News" (retrieved February 19, 2006)]

Abraham H. Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League has said "The non-Jewish world to a large extent believes in the myth of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and to some extent we in the Jewish community have not disabused them. Look. I know every time I meet with a world leader who comes to see me, he's not coming to see me because I'm Abe Foxman, the national director of the ADL. I know he's coming because he's been told, or someone sold him on the concept, that the Jewish community is very strong and powerful. You know it because ... they want to know what you can do for them in the media, what you can do for them in the Congress, and so on. That's why the Prime Minister of Bosnia comes ... Nicaragua, you name it. You've got to ask yourself, what is this about. The answer is, it's because they believe a little of that." [cite book
author=Jonathan Jeremy Goldberg
title="Jewish Power: Inside the American Jewish Establishment."
publisher=Basic Books
year=1996
page=p.17]

oviet Union and post-Soviet states

The Soviet Union

Howard Sachar describes the allegations of global Jewish conspiracy resurrected during the Soviet "anti-Zionist" campaign in the wake of the Six-Day War:

"In late July 1967, Moscow launched an unprecedented propaganda campaign against Zionism as a "world threat." Defeat was attributed not to tiny Israel alone, but to an "all-powerful international force" ... In its flagrant vulgarity, the new propaganda assault soon achieved Nazi-era characteristics. The Soviet public was saturated with racist canards. Extracts from Trofim Kichko's notorious 1963 volume, "", were extensively republished in the Soviet media. Yuri Ivanov's "Beware: Zionism", a book essentially replicated "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", was given nationwide coverage."Howard Sachar, "A History of the Jews in the Modern World" (Knopf, NY. 2005) p.722]

A similar picture is drawn by Paul Johnson:

(the mass media) "all over the Soviet Union portrayed the Zionists and Israeli leaders as engaged in a world-wide conspiracy along the lines of the old "Protocols of Zion". It was, "Sovietskaya Latvia" wrote 5 August 1967, an 'international Cosa Nostra with a common centre, common programme and common funds'".Paul Johnson, "A History of the Jews" (1987) p.575–576]

The Russian Federation

Despite stipulations against fomenting hatred based on ethnic or religious grounds (Article 282 of Russia Penal Code), the "Protocols" have enjoyed numerous reprints in the nationalist press after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2003, one century after the first publication of the "Protocols", an article"cite web |url=http://www.aif.ru/online/aif/1194/12_02 |title= Protocols of contention |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051105160755/http://www.aif.ru/online/aif/1194/12_02 |archivedate=2005-11-05", "Argumenty i fakty", September 10, 2003] in the most popular Russian weekly "Argumenty i fakty" referred to it as a "peculiar bible of Zionism" and showed a photo of the First Zionist Congress of 1897. The co-president of the National-Patriot Union of Russia Alexander Prokhanov wrote: "It does not matter whether the "Protocols" are a forgery or a factual conspiracy document." The article also contained refutation of the allegations by the president of the Russian Jewish congress Yevgeny Satanovsky.

As recently as 2005, the "Protocols" was "a frequent feature in Patriarchate churches".cite web |url=http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050412-023331-8874r.htm |title= Eye on Eurasia: Believing the "Protocols" |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051126203547/http://washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050412-023331-8874r.htm |archivedate=2005-11-26 By Paul Goble UPI, April 13, 2005] [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-7.htm Antisemitism in the Post-Soviet States] by Betsy Gidwitz. (JCPA) (April 2003)] On January 27, 2006, members of the Public Chamber of Russia and human rights activists proposed to establish a list of extremist literature whose dissemination should be formally banned for uses other than scientific research.

Malaysia

In 2006, Masterpiece Publications issued a version of the "Protocols" under the title "World Conquest Through World Jewish Government" (ISBN 983-3710-28-X). Copies of the book are held at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia. [ [http://ikim.gov.my:8080/ikim/FullDisplayRetriever.jsp?0000008546 Library of the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur] ]

References

Further reading

* Ben-Itto, Hadassa: "The Lie That Wouldn’t Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", 2005 (Vallentine Mitchell). Fictionalized account of the 'protocols' history: [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-7-1506190,00.html Review]

* Stephen Eric Bronner: "A Rumor About the Jews: Reflections on Antisemitism and the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 0-19-516956-5

* Cohn, Norman: "Warrant for Genocide", 1967 (Eyre & Spottiswoode), 1996 (Serif) ISBN 1-897959-25-7

* Eisner, Will: "The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion". ISBN 0-393-06045-4

* Hagemeister, Michael: "The 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion': Between History and Fiction," in: New German Critique 35, 2008, H. 1 (103), S. 83-95.

* Hagemeister, Michael: "The 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and the Myth of a Jewish Conspiracy in Post Soviet Russia," in: Brinks, Jan Herman; Rock, Stella; Timms, Edward (ed.): Nationalist Myths and Modern Media. Contested Identities in the Age of Globalization, London / New York 2006, S. 243-255.

* Jacobs, Steven Leonard and Weitzman, Mark: "Dismantling the Big Lie: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". (2003) ISBN 0-88125-785-0

* Luthi, Urs: "Der Mythos von der Weltverschwörung: die Hetze der Schweizer Frontisten gegen Juden und Freimaurer, am Beispiel des Berner Prozesses um die "Protokolle der Weisen von Zion" (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1992), ISBN 3719011976 9783719011970, OCLC: 30002662

* Katz, Steven; Landes, Richard (eds.): "Reconsidering 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion': 100 Years After the Forgery," New York 2008 (in print)

* Kis, Danilo: "The Book Of Kings And Fools" in "The Encyclopedia of the Dead", 1989 (Faber and Faber)

* De Michelis, Cesare G.: "The Non-Existent Manuscript. A Study of the Protocols of the Sages of Zion" (Translated by Richard Newhouse; University of Nebraska Press, 2004) ISBN 0-8032-1727-7

* Goldberg, Isaac: "The so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion": a Definitive Exposure of One of the Most Malicious Lies in History" (Girard, Kansas, Haldeman-Julius Publications, 1936).

* Singerman, Robert: "The American Career of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion", American Jewish History, Vol. 71 (1980), pp. 48–78

* Stauber, Roni; Webman, Esther (eds.): "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - The One-Hundred Year Myth and Its Impact," Tel Aviv 2008 (in print)

* Timmerman, Kenneth R.: "Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America" (2003), Crown Forum. ISBN 1-4000-4901-6

* Wolf, Lucien: [http://books.google.com/books?id=6_IHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA15&dq=The+Protocols+and+World+Revolution&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1#PPP7,M1 "The Myth of the Jewish Menace in World Affairs or, The Truth About the Forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion"] (New York, The Macmillan company, 1921).
* [http://www.archive.org/details/truthaboutthepro00londiala "The truth about "The Protocols" : a literary forgery (1921)"] The original Times articles exposing the book collected in a contemporary pamphlet.

* As page images at archive.org [http://www.archive.org/details/historyofliethep00berniala]

ee also

;Pertinent concepts
* Antisemitism
* Authentication
* Black propaganda
* Conspiracy theory
* Deception
* Fake
* False document
* Forensics
* Forgery
* Fraud
* Hoax
* Incitement
* Literary forgery
* Misrepresentation
* Plagiarism
* Psychological projection
* Scapegoating

; Individuals
* Boris Brasol
* Cesare G. De Michelis
* G. Butmi
* Hadassa Ben-Itto
* Henry Ford
* Heidegger and Nazism
* Pavel Krushevan
* Serge Nilus
* Urs Luthi
* Victor E. Marsden ; Related or similar texts
* A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century
* The permanent instruction of the Alta Vendita
* Tanaka Memorial
* The Report from Iron Mountain
* Priory of Sion
* Protocols of Zion (film)

; Miscellaneous relevant matter
* The Berne Trial

External links

* [http://www.shoaheducation.com/protocols.html The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion] - The document itself.

*"Dialogue aux enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu" [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13187] :by Maurice Joly, 1864, e-text supplied by Project Gutenberg:This is the book source from which the substantial plagiarism was made.

*"The Cause of World Unrest" [http://books.google.com/books?id=wnM4AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Jewish+Peril&lr=&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=0_2#PPP1,M1] :by Howell Arthur Gwynne, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1920, 264pp.:This is the greatly expanded commentary edition published in London and New York.

*"The Protocols and World Revolution" [http://books.google.com/books?id=_wYNAAAAIAAJ] :This is the first American edition, "Including a Translation and Analysis of "The Protocols of the Meetings of the Zionist Men of Wisdom,":Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1920.

*"Public Statement" by The American Jewish Committee, 4pp., December 1, 1920 [http://ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/F-45.PDF] :This is a disclaimer published as a result of a conference held in New York City on November 30, 1920.

*"The Myth of the Jewish Menace in World Affairs", by Lucien Wolf, 1920 [http://books.google.com/books?id=6_IHAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22lucien+wolf%22+protocols+zion#PPP1,M1] :This is an edited compilation of articles - published previously in various periodicals - denying the authenticity of "The Protocols."

*"About "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" [http://www.h-net.org/~antis/doc/graves/graves.a.html] :by Philip Graves, August 16, August 17, and August 18, 1921:This is the article in which the discovered plagiarism is first published and revealed to the world.

*"The History of a Lie: "The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion":(New York: J. S. Ogilvie Pub. Co., c 1921), by Herman Bernstein (at archive.org), The Online Books Page [http://www.archive.org/details/historyofliethep00berniala] :This is an early textual study.

*"The Protocols", The Patriotic Publishing Co., Chicago, 1934, 300pp. [http://www.archive.org/details/ProtocolsOfZion] :This greatly expanded compilation incorporates material from the "International Jew".

*"Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Fabricated "Historic" Document" (1964):by United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (PDF at ushmm.org) Online Books Page [http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/antisemitism/pdf/senate-protocols.pdf] :This is a report on the official investigation and findings of the United States Senate.
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/protocols.html The “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”] - Jewish Virtual Library
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/crc.english/protocols/ The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion]

* [http://www.e-mago.co.il/Editor/english-588.htm THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION : THE TRUTH STORY] - Eli Eshed, 13/12/2005

External links of notable current Web resources

* [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1797/whats-the-story-with-the-protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion "What's the story with the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"?"] , "The Straight Dope", June 30, 2000
* [http://www.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_intro.asp "A Hoax of Hate"] The Anti-Defamation League, 2002
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4483026-110738,00.html "The poisonous Protocols"] Umberto Eco, "The Guardian", August 17, 2002
* [http://www.religioustolerance.org/jud_blib4.htm "Antisemitic Propaganda: "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion", Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance] , September 29, 2004
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vinland/fakes.html "Famous Fakes"] at NOVA, WGBH, PBS, January, 2005
* [http://www.notes.co.il/eshed/13894.asp "Review" by Eli Eshed of "The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion"] (graphic novel) by Will Eisner, 2005
* [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10007058 "Holocaust Encyclopedia - "A Dangerous Lie"] , United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, April, 2006
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/21/arts/design/21holo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "Exhibition Review" of "The Antisemitic Hoax That Refuses to Die"] by Edward Rothstein, "The New York Times", April 21, 2006
* [http://www.skepdic.com/protocols.html "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion"] , Skeptic's Dictionary by Robert Todd Carroll, 2006
* [http://www.buworldofideas.org/shows/2006/08/20060813.asp Audio: Talk] by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel, August 13, 2006
* [http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/protocols.html History of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion] - official Freemasonry website
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/480269/Protocols-of-the-Learned-Elders-of-Zion Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion] - Encyclopaedia Britannica
*Protocols of Zion [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7169205203825782546] - is a documentary film by THINKFilm in association with HBO Cinemax ----