The May 19 Jerusalem Post reports that the Palestinian Authority pulled a link to the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," the notorious 19th-century anti-Semitic forgery, from one of its Web sites. The link reportedly appeared on the site of the PA's State Information Service in a list of historical sources about Zionism. The removal of the link came after protests from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to the PA. The story also noted that PA Information Minister Nabil Sha'ath said that he had ordered the suspension of Sheik Ibrahim Mdaires, a Gaza Strip imam who told his congregation last week that "Jews are a virus resembling AIDS." Mdaires, whose statements were carried live on Palestine Television, also said Jews exaggerated the number of people killed in the Holocaust.

The story did not actually give the URL for the site. The only site that emerges for the Palestinian Authority on a Google search is www.pna.gov.ps, which says only "under construction." The ADL website links to an Reuters story on the controversy, but that doesn't link to the website in question either.

The ADL site's front page also features a screed against the academic boycott of Israel, and other pro-Israel propaganda, and even a statement in defense of Israel's regional strategic partner Turkey. It predictably has nothing about Israel's newly announced plans to (illegally) extend the "separation barrier" around the West Bank's largest settlement bloc Maaleh Adumim by month's end, a de facto extension of Jerusalem's borders which would cut off Palestinians from the city. (AP, May 16)

So this is the usual dilemma, which causes many to perceive that groups such as the ADL (increasingly derided as a "Holocaust Industry") have actually become counter-productive to combatting Jew-hatred. They take absolutely no responsibility for legitimate criticism of Israel, which is morally mandated for exactly the same reasons that criticism of Jew-hatred is morally mandated. This double standard actually enables the dangerous and increasingly prevalent conflation of legitimate critcism and Jew-hatred. Worse, each time ADL pressures a website or media outlet to remove anti-Semitic material, it merely confirms the perception that "the Jews control the media."

The Holocaust remembrance website Nizkor Project has a good overview of the history of the Protocols, which purport to expose the Jewish conspiracy for world domination. The actual text of the Protocols (with updated material on how The Conspiracy is advancing in the modern world) is online at Bible Believers, a creepy millennialist Christian website. It is also online at The Winds, another creepy millennialist Christian website. Have fun.