“The Lie that Wouldn’t Die”

Do you know what the book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is?

Don’t think you are ignorant if you don’t, because most people who believe in the dignity of people of every religion, nationality, ethnicity, or color aren’t familiar with it. But you can bet the worst bigots – the White Supremacists, members of the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation and the neo-Nazis, know it inside-out.

This Spanish-language edition declares that whether or not one believes the Protocols are authentic, history has demonstrated that Zionists intend to dominate the world. Such “logic” is a common response to the many exposures of the Protocols as fraudulent. Published in Mexico City, 2005. US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Protocols, one of the most inflammatory hate documents ever written, is a fraudulent creation from the close of the 19th century in Europe. It purports to be minutes of secret meetings among Jewish leaders and rabbis of each of the 12 Tribes of Israel, in which they plan to dominate and enslave all mankind and destroy Christianity.

Aside from the fact that the 12 Tribes have not existed for centuries, the document has been proven to be a literary forgery. It was first exposed as a hoax, incontrovertibly, over and over again, starting in 1921 with an investigation by the London Times, and was continuously debunked later in court cases from Switzerland to Russia. Nonetheless, it is still widespread, available in every language, and downloadable on the internet.

But even before the internet spurred easy proliferation of The Protocols, at a talk at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, Imam Abdullah T. Antepli related that he grew up reading comic-book versions of The Protocols in Turkey, and explained that translations in Arabic are distributed free in many Arab nations. Imam Antepli called himself a “recovering anti-Semite” following his participation in the CIU’s “Imams to Auschwitz” study tour for American Imams.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, “The Protocols is the most notorious and widely distributed anti-Semitic publication of modern times. Its lies about Jews, which have been repeatedly discredited, continue to circulate today, especially on the internet.” Elie Wiesel said, “If ever a piece of writing could produce mass hatred, it is this one…this book is about lies and slander.”

What can be done about the escalating spread of this slanderous work, especially now, when violent hate crimes against Jews increased 40% in 2018, an all-time high according to the FBI’s latest statistics?

The CIU, working with Croatian film producer Yakov Sedlar, is finishing a documentary on this fraud entitled “The Lie that Wouldn’t Die,” which will be distributed, along with a study guide, to educators world-wide and religious leaders who are united against hate-mongering.

Please support our efforts to reduce anti-Semitism, bigotry and intolerance, and include the CIU in your donations. Your gift will help us continue the programs that have been making a difference for the past 25 years, and our efforts to make religions the conscience of society and the voice of humanity.