See AAF press release

Unquestionably, the mere mention of "Protocols of Zion" entails mortal charges of anti-Semitism against anyone who mentions its existence or lack thereof. Though no historical evidence has been provided for the presence of such protocols, it remains dubious and indeed a mystery to me why pro-Israel pundits so frequently resurface the already doubted "Protocols." It is not news that Jews have had a tumultuous history and that there are people who hate Jews. However, why is this obsession with the uniqueness of hate targeted against Jews? Even the very abuse of the word "Semitism" deliberately excludes other Semitic people such as Arabs, who comprise more than 95 percent of the world's Semitic people.

Hatred and discrimination is a sad commentary about the human condition. However, to always imply that only hatred aimed at Jews is worth exposing does great disservice to the core mission of Levin's movie. Why is not Levin as concerned about stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims. The Arabs and Muslims have had their share of discrimination, hate-mongering, personal attacks and even countless movies, which defile their religion, question their humanity and, yes, even legitimize attacks against their person or property. I would argue further that known Jewish producers have financed many of these movies.

Levin's documentary has not helped the cause of mutual understanding between Arabs and Jews.

By conspiring to get Arab-Americans to merely appear in the documentary, he has given a boost to the volatile charge that Arabs and Jews are in a perpetual vicious cycle of hatred and bloodletting. What is most needed is a grand scale effort to highlight the works that many Arabs and Jews have accomplished to bring the two communities together.

Aref Assaf, president, |American Arab Forum, Paterson