1st Edition
The Global Impact of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion A Century-Old Myth
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion has attracted the interest of politicians and academicians, and generated extensive research, since the tract first appeared in the early twentieth century. Despite having repeatedly been discredited as a historical document, and in spite of the fact that it served as an inspiration for Hitler’s antisemitism and the Holocaust, it continues, even in our time, to be influential.
Exploring the Protocols’ successful dissemination and impact around the world, this volume attempts to understand their continuing popularity, one hundred years after their first appearance, in so many diverse societies and cultures. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, the book covers themes such as:
- Why have the Protocols survived to the present day and what are the sources from which they draw their strength?
- What significance do the Protocols have today in mainstream worldviews?
- Are they gaining in importance?
- Are they still today a warrant for genocide or merely a reflection of xenophobic nationalism?
- Can they be fought by logical argumentation?
This comprehensive volume which, for the first time, dwells also on the attraction of the Protocols in Arab and Muslim countries, will be of interest to specialists, teachers, and students working in the fields of antisemitism, the far right, Jewish studies, and modern history.
Part 1: Introduction 1. Hate and Absurdity: The Impact of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Esther Webman Part 2: Revisiting the Origins of the Protocols 2. Toward the Prehistory of the Protocols: Iustin’ia Dmitrievna Glinka and her Letter to Emperor Alexander III Lev Aronov, Henryk Baran and Dmitri Zubarev 3. The Enemy of Humanity: The Protocols’ Paradigm in Nineteenth-Century Russian Mentality Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern Part 3: The Impact of the Protocols since the 1920s until the End of World War II 4. Why the Jews? The Impact of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on Nazi Ideology and Policy Wolfram Meyer zu Uptrup 5. Philosemites Embracing the Protocols? American Fundamentalist Christians and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Yaakov Ariel 6. Hugo Wast and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Argentina Graciela Ben-Dror 7. Political Dissemination of the Judeo−Masonic Conspiracy Theory and the Outbreak of La Violencia in Colombia, 1920−1946 Thomas J. Williford Part 4: The Appeal of the Protocols after World War II 8. The Re-emergence of The Protocols of the Elders Of Zion in Łódź, 1968 Beate Kosmala 9. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on the Internet: How Radical Political Groups Are Networked via Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Juliane Wetzel 10. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Japan David G. Goodman 11. Adoption of the Protocols in the Arab Discourse on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Zionism, and the Jews Esther Webman 12. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Iranian Political and Cultural Discourse Orly R. Rahimiyan 13. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Turkey Rifat N. Bali 14. Rationalizing the Hidden Hand: ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Masiri’s Theory of the "Judaization of Society" Goetz Nordbruch Part 5: The Protocols on Trial 15. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Court: The Bern Trials, 1933−1937 Michael Hagemeister 16. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in South Africa: From Radical White Right to Radical Islamists Milton Shain 17. The Case of the Brazilian Revisionist S.E. Castan Luiz Nazario
Biography
Esther Webman is a senior research fellow at the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism and the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. She is also head of the Zeev Vered Desk for the Study of Tolerance and Intolerance in the Middle East in the Roth Institute.
