The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has provided a translation of one of the more egregious recent examples of Egyptian government-supported anti-Semitic ranting, as it was published in the religious weekly Aqidati. The author of the October 14th screed, entitled “Treason and Deception are in Their Blood”, is Sheikh Mansour Al-Rifa’i ‘Ubeid, a former Under Secretary for Religious Affairs in the Egyptian government. Furthermore, Aqidati, reports MEMRI, is put out under the auspices of the official Egyptian daily al-Gomhouriya.
“The Jews lived their whole lives in a nest of corruption, propagating vile and fighting virtue,” the former Egyptian government official explains, “Therefore, Allah - through the Prophets - cursed them throughout time because they constantly propagated treason, be it their way of life and their way of dealing with people... They worship and venerate money, using it to breed depravity and to raze values. Because of this Allah, be He praised, said : ‘The heretics among the Israelites were cursed by David and by Jesus the son of Mary because they rebelled and acted violently. They did not counsel each other from committing evil, but [indeed] did it and therefore their deeds are sinful.’”
But ‘Ubeid is not one to make generalizations, apparently, and he continues, “Allah be He praised, did not curse all the Jews, since there is a group amongst them that has known Allah and believed in Him... Some of the Jews, though a minority, have decency and conscience.”
As an Egyptian religious authority, ‘Ubeid proposes to expound on Jewish religious law, as well, but his description is reminiscent of distortions easily found in neo-Nazi literature today: “Among the [Jews’] foolhardy acts and false claims is their saying: ‘We have no obligation towards the gentiles.’ Meaning, anyone who is not Jewish... has no rights and his money is fair game. [So] a Jew will not be condemned nor punished if he attacks a gentile. [And] if a gentile entrusts a Jew with money, and the Jew appropriates it - it is [considered] his right. Furthermore, according to them [i.e. the Jews], they [even] thank him for his deed, because the Jews are used to disavow the gentiles’ deposits.”
‘Ubeid explains Jewish behavior by reference to a fundamental Islamic belief regarding Judaism: “They know that the Torah instructed them to deal [honestly] with deposits but their deplorable nature and their selfishness make them twist the words of the Torah according to their wishes.”
The Jewish character, according to Islam, as described by the Egyptian religious functionary in his article, is essentially corrupt: “Therefore, Ibn Katheer’s commentaries on the Koran say: ‘...When one of the Israelites was asked to sit in judgment, he took bribes. He was asked: How can you accept [a] bribe in judgment? And he answered: I shall be forgiven. Other Israelites condemned his deeds, but if he died or was removed from his position and was replaced by one of those who condemned him, that one [too] took bribes.’”
And in case his readers did not comprehend the essential message he was pushing by use of Koranic exegesis and quotation, ‘Ubeid wrote explicitly, “Indeed, trickery is in the nature of the Jews, and they will never [be able to] get rid of it, therefore we have to be wary of them when we deal with them in commerce or anything else. There is venom in the serpent's son [i.e. the Jew] and he spits it on friend and foe alike. No Jew knows a beautiful friendship, but only his own interest. That is why they abrogated agreements and covenants and did not honor a friend's right. They are what was said about them ‘They do not honor a pledge or a covenant that they gave to a believer [Muslim].’”
“The Jews lived their whole lives in a nest of corruption, propagating vile and fighting virtue,” the former Egyptian government official explains, “Therefore, Allah - through the Prophets - cursed them throughout time because they constantly propagated treason, be it their way of life and their way of dealing with people... They worship and venerate money, using it to breed depravity and to raze values. Because of this Allah, be He praised, said : ‘The heretics among the Israelites were cursed by David and by Jesus the son of Mary because they rebelled and acted violently. They did not counsel each other from committing evil, but [indeed] did it and therefore their deeds are sinful.’”
But ‘Ubeid is not one to make generalizations, apparently, and he continues, “Allah be He praised, did not curse all the Jews, since there is a group amongst them that has known Allah and believed in Him... Some of the Jews, though a minority, have decency and conscience.”
As an Egyptian religious authority, ‘Ubeid proposes to expound on Jewish religious law, as well, but his description is reminiscent of distortions easily found in neo-Nazi literature today: “Among the [Jews’] foolhardy acts and false claims is their saying: ‘We have no obligation towards the gentiles.’ Meaning, anyone who is not Jewish... has no rights and his money is fair game. [So] a Jew will not be condemned nor punished if he attacks a gentile. [And] if a gentile entrusts a Jew with money, and the Jew appropriates it - it is [considered] his right. Furthermore, according to them [i.e. the Jews], they [even] thank him for his deed, because the Jews are used to disavow the gentiles’ deposits.”
‘Ubeid explains Jewish behavior by reference to a fundamental Islamic belief regarding Judaism: “They know that the Torah instructed them to deal [honestly] with deposits but their deplorable nature and their selfishness make them twist the words of the Torah according to their wishes.”
The Jewish character, according to Islam, as described by the Egyptian religious functionary in his article, is essentially corrupt: “Therefore, Ibn Katheer’s commentaries on the Koran say: ‘...When one of the Israelites was asked to sit in judgment, he took bribes. He was asked: How can you accept [a] bribe in judgment? And he answered: I shall be forgiven. Other Israelites condemned his deeds, but if he died or was removed from his position and was replaced by one of those who condemned him, that one [too] took bribes.’”
And in case his readers did not comprehend the essential message he was pushing by use of Koranic exegesis and quotation, ‘Ubeid wrote explicitly, “Indeed, trickery is in the nature of the Jews, and they will never [be able to] get rid of it, therefore we have to be wary of them when we deal with them in commerce or anything else. There is venom in the serpent's son [i.e. the Jew] and he spits it on friend and foe alike. No Jew knows a beautiful friendship, but only his own interest. That is why they abrogated agreements and covenants and did not honor a friend's right. They are what was said about them ‘They do not honor a pledge or a covenant that they gave to a believer [Muslim].’”