In a talk show that aired on the Al-Jazeera network recently, commentators claimed that the “Zionist lobby” influences Hollywood to demonize Arabs and Muslims.
The show aired on August 29 and the comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
The show featured Lebanese writer Sarkis Abu Zaid, who said that the “Jewish Zionist lobby” influences the Hollywood film industry, with a tradition of presenting the Arabs as deceitful, terrorist, murderous sheikhs.
Tunisian Professor Muhammad Hneid, of Sorbonne University, said that "the U.S. and Western powers that control the film industries are Zionist in orientation, and they play a constant role in the demonization of the Arabs and Muslims."
MEMRI has in the past published a clip of a report on Hezbollah’s television channel in which it was claimed that Hollywood was an invention meant to help Jews “take over” America.
The Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera has come under fire over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt has accused Al-Jazeera in general, and its Egypt affiliate, Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, in particular, of doing Doha's bidding by serving as Islamists' mouthpiece at a time of a ferocious crackdown on their ranks.
The station denies any bias, saying it is simply covering Islamist protests.
Saudi Arabia and Jordan recently shut down the network's operation in their countries as part of a larger campaign of regional Sunni Arab states against Qatar.
In Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pledged to work to remove the Qatari network from Israel due to its incitement.
The Government Press Office (GPO) subsequently announced it would revoke the license of Al-Jazeera journalist Elias Karam, after he declared that he used his work as a reporter to further the Arab “resistance” against the Jewish state.
Later, however, GPO Director Nitzan Chen reversed the decision to revoke Karam's license.