Rotten Apple? Rabbis Want Apple To Stop Selling Notorious Antisemitic Forgery

The Conference of European Rabbis wants Apple to remove an Arabic language version of the notorious antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, from the iTunes store. Apple failed to respond to the request or to repeated calls from media seeking comment.

Rotten Apple?
Rabbis want Apple to stop selling an Arabic language version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion on iTunes, but Apple won’t respond to their request.
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Apple sells an Arabic language app version of the notorious antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in its iTunes store, and the Conference of European Rabbis wants Apple to stop doing it, the AP reports.

But Apple hasn't responded to the rabbis' request, which was also echoed by Yuli Edelsrein, Israel's Minister of Information. And Apple reportedly hasn't responded to numerous requests for comment from the Associated Press, either.

"'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' can and should be available for academics to study in its proper context, (but) to disseminate such hateful invective as a [99 cent] mobile app is dangerous and inexcusable," conference president Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, a Conference of European Rabbis, said in a statement quoted by the AP.

Comments

[David]

Apple as a private company that exercises quality control over all its apps should remove this. Apple certifies and approves each and every app that it sells so this was presumably an oversight or they had no Arabic speakers. In Arab countries this and other antisemitic forgeries and other propaganda are everywhere, made all the more worse that Arabs are among the most gullible people in the world and their culture thrives on rumors.

[ah-pee-chorus]

'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' can and should be available for academics to study in its proper context, (but) to disseminate such hateful invective as a [99 cent] mobile app is dangerous and inexcusable," conference president Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, a Conference of European Rabbis, said

i agree. and apple uses it prerogative to deny distribution to many apps it doesnt approve of.

"A clause in the iPhone SDK agreement states that "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind." The next month, Apple also pulled "Me So Holy," an application that attracted protests over its supposed religious insensitivity."

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Puritanical-Apple-Bans-Certain-Apps-From-iPhone-676595/

[Mimi]

That would be censorship. China tried the same excuse with the Bible.

[Marvin]

My only problem with Apple is why they do not respond with their official position on this matter.

[MarkfromShortHills]

Seems to me that readers who use Apple products and who have Apple user addresses could post the relevant material on Apple-relevant websites.

Apple would undoubtedly pay attention.

[seymour]

Posted by: ah-pee-chorus | August 14, 2012 at 08:12 PM

you are agreeing with Rabbis,you are entering dangerous territory. and you know what they say about the slippery slop

[jancsibacsi]

David- made all the more worse that Arabs are among the most gullible people in the world and their
Right you are they actually have the gullibility of a golem:).

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

http://techcrunch.com/2009/11/06/app-store-hypocrisy-update-mein-kampf-complete-with-nazi-logo-approved/

http://adtmag.com/articles/2010/08/19/android-market-deletes-nazi-apps.aspx

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nazi-zombies/id356935268?mt=8

[ah-pee-chorus]

That would be censorship. China tried the same excuse with the Bible.

Posted by: Mimi

dont confuse government censorship with a decision by a corporation as to what info they wish to disseminate. is it censorship if newsweek wont print ads with pictures of sex acts?

you are agreeing with Rabbis,you are entering dangerous territory. and you know what they say about the slippery slop(e)

Posted by: seymour |

i know its out of character. haha, i think i'll be able to halt the slide as soon as the next idiotic comment from a rabbi is reported. it wont take long im sure.

[PrettyBoyFloyd]

And why should this bother Shmarya? FM is the electronic version of the protocols.

[Rebitzman]

@ah-pee-chorus

Dead on. Apple may SEEM to be a government unto itself, but they are a company that is supposed to be profit driven. Cannot see how leaving this in iTunes is going to do that.

I suspect it will go away quietly - and without fanfare.

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

Report on The Failed Messiah Asifa 2012

Dateline: Bronx, NY August 12, 2012

(Note: Failed Messiah is not affiliated with FailedMessiah.)

With blue sunny skies beaming down upon them, a capacity throng of 48,242 exuberant participants and readers of FailedMessiah came to Yankee Stadium this afternoon to attend the very first Failed Messiah Asifa.

Immediately noticeable was that all the FM men are handsome, powerfully built, and erudite. All the FM women are beautiful and brilliant. I personally was having a great hair day, and I was resplendent in my new white Borsalino fedora, but enough about me for now.

A hush fell upon the crowd as the stadium lights dimmed, and the cast of Broadway’s Kiss Me Kate performed a parody of the Cole Porter classic, Another Op’nin’, Another Show:

Another asifah, comin’ to New Yo’
From Willie, Crown Heights, and Curious Jo’
A chance for Yidden folk to say hello
Another asifah, comin’ to New Yo’

Another blog and you hope that at last
It’ll make Shmarya forget his frum past
Another thread where the insults we’ll throw
Another asifah, comin’ to New Yo’

Four weeks and we plan and we plan
Three weeks and we can’t get one man
One week, will you cancel your flight?
Then out of the black hat it’s this Sunday night!

The appetizers are about to start
You say your brocha and hold your fart
It’s supper time and away we go
Another asifah-
Just another asifah- comin’ to New Yo’!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-GnPGN3RTM&playnext=1&list=PL71D27622E881BEE9&
feature=results_video

After thunderous applause and a curtain call, we then proceeded with the Hamotzi, thanking evolution and nature for the bread brought forth from the earth.

Lots of good stories and personal anecdotes followed, as we were served a sumptuous meal catered by Knot Kosher Caterers, under strict rabbinical supervision of the Alzheimer Rebbe. The ham wrapped in bacon and served on dairy plates was particularly geshmak. Mountain Dew and bottom-shelf vodka helped wash it all down.

I found myself talking about things I hadn't thought about in many years. Personal stories from the others touched me deeply. However, just when it seemed like the conversations had taken too serious a turn, HaRav HaGoan Seymour, shlita, regaled us with anecdotes and jokes about life in the Satmar world. Rav Seymour is quite the raconteur!

A motion was raised, then seconded, discussed and passed, expressing regret that 'Deremes' never formally asked to join us. It would have been good to have some competing viewpoints, and his is one of the only opposing voices that isn't rude and crude. A proclamation was issued praising Deremes for his decency and menschlichkeit on FailedMessiah. [Deremes, if you are reading this, I am not kidding.]

At this point, a group of FM trolls was seen gathering on E. 161st Street, but they fled as the loudspeakers played music with a woman singing, and a neighborhood child came by walking his Chihuahua. The trolls retreated to the Macombs Dam Bridge underpass.

We then had a presentation from various gods, all making a pitch for us to believe in them.

First up was the Christian god, who was in the neighborhood to attend an ethnic religious street festival. He was quite modest and limited in what he could promise. If we believed in Tim Tebow, the Christian god said it was possible for the Jets to have a winning season and maybe a wild card playoff berth. He was honest about not being able to overtake the Jewish-owned New England Patriots, whose quarterback, Tom Brady, was God’s other son. A lukewarm smattering of applause gave indication that there were no takers.

The Jewish god was scheduled next, but could not appear because He is in a long term care facility in Connecticut, rehab’ing from a recent hip fracture. A mi-shebairach was offered, although we weren’t sure as to what God’s Jewish name was or what his mother’s name was. I suggested God sham-God, but that name was already taken:

http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/god-shammgod-whatever-happened-that-guy-166131

Appearing on behalf of the Jewish God was none other than The Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson, live from Montefiore Cemetery via hologram in center field, by the George Steinbrenner monument. He acknowledged that mistakes were made and he was indeed a failed messiah, although also not affiliated with FailedMessiah. If given a second chance to return from yenner velt, he promised policy changes aimed at providing more transparency and accountability. He then handed out honey cake and shots of vodka to everyone. The Christian god became upset, checked his WWJD bracelet, and decided to submit a formal protest, which was then faxed to the Office of the Chief Rabbi for further review.
As of yesterday, the OCR was still examining the video and audio, and no decision has been handed down as of yet.

By this time, the sun was beginning to set, and so we followed the Chabad minhag of davening shachris, mincha, and maariv in succession. Davening with intense kavonah, the 5 minutes just flew by.

Readers will be pleased to learn that there was no mixed dancing. Our energies were instead used to shout repeated choruses of "Yechi Adoneinu Shmarya L'olam Va'ed!".

And so, closing ceremonies were held, including fireworks and a performance by the Havdalah Spice Girls, and the first ever Failed Messiah Asifa was declared a resounding success, with plans for another already in the works, maybe next time featuring beach volleyball.

[Lubavitchers are Christians]

I don't understand how Apple censoring hatred of Jews is any different than Rabbis censoring the internet or censoring Shmarya's hatred of haredim.

Just as we can't stand when rabbis censor us, the Arabs can't stand when we censor them. And they're right.

(Which makes us hypocrites. It just proves that we love to use censorship when we're trying to censor the other side, but we can't stand when others use censorship to censor us.)

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

LaC, just because a company has the right to sell something doesn't mean it's a smart business move to do so.

They have every right to sell it and exercise free speech, and I have every right to write and protest and make enough of a stink so that they'll reconsider.

[Yoel Mechanic]

Apple execs should say "It is not in the best interests of our organization to sell this particular app"

That is just common sense, and the decision need not be based on protests. Of course, protests might be appropriate to assist Apple in coming to their senses.

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

Barry, here is the menu:

http://www.latourdargent.com/restaurant/menus/grand-menu-tour-d-argent

[Yoel Mechanic]

I don't understand how Apple censoring hatred of Jews is any different than Rabbis censoring the internet or censoring Shmarya's hatred of haredim.

Just as we can't stand when rabbis censor us, the Arabs can't stand when we censor them. And they're right.
------------------------------------

The Rabbis are telling their followers what to avoid. This is different from a government suppressing sale or distribution. And this is different from a private company deciding what they will sell and distribute as part of their money-making enterprise.

I hope one can now distinguish between these 3 situations.

The Protocols, in case you didn't notice, are a complete fraud. The words were never said by those who this document claims. The events and meetings never took place. And if you bother to read it, you can see the language, tone, and scenario is what an Irish cop would say "a likely story"

Why would anyone wish to make profit selling such a document?

[Andrew]

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it ironic/amusing that the group trying to get Apple to ban "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" app is ... The Conference of European Rabbis?

[Bob Guthrie]

There is already an iBook version of the "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" on the iTunes store, by iMinds.

But this version actually caused some extremist Christian Fundamentalists to lose their collective minds because of its inclusion in the Apple store. For, you see:

Instead of the infamous, complete 417 pages Anti-Semitic book published in Russian in 1903, and disseminated by Henry Ford in the 1920s, this iBook only contained 7 pages of cliff notes on "what" the book was about.

The bozos just lost it in the anti-extremist Christian Fundamentalists forums I follow!. ^.^ Loved some of their comments: "I just needed it for research purposes!", "I wanted to show my friends how hate is really, really bad!". Good times. =)

Now, as for this "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" iPhone/iPad app:

*It's an app, not an iBook/EBook.
*In Arabic only, no settings for Jewish or English viewing.
*You can find their web products page at http://goo.gl/ZCyWW
*For those without auto-translators, the app is the one with eye symbol.
*If you can't find it, it's the one six one above their "Awesome origami!. An effective way to learn basic origami techniques" app.
*It's 0.99 cents on the apple store (http://goo.gl/DHX1k)
*No review ratings on it yet.
*At the website's product page and in iTunes, there's a paragraph on the app's description that does note:

"According to many historians, these writings are considered a hoax, especially after a news investigation in 1921 about the writings' credibility done by the Times of London that concluded that the articles' were forgeries based from a French writer's book,..." (Writer Maurice Joly, by the way).

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: David
"(M)ade all the more worse that Arabs are among the most gullible people in the world and their culture thrives on rumors."

Wow, really?. Where did you hear this gullible rumor?.

Try facts, it makes you more believable, David (..now, to just wait for his "your a anti Semite Muslim terrorist loverr!!1!. Durhr!" response,...).

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: Mimi
"That would be censorship. China tried the same excuse with the Bible."

Actually, no. There’s a difference in the actions and why.

One entity is a company that could remove "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" app, a widely acknowledged forged historical artifact created for the sole purpose to incite hatred against another race an/or religion, on the basis to prevent its use as a tool for, at best ostracism, bodily injury at worst (i.e. such as its use by Adolf Hitler as one of the minor cornerstones for a "justification" that lead to the extermination of 6 million Jews,... the people targeted in the book/app).

The other is a totalitarian nation that views the Bible as an encroachment, or tool, that threatens their political way of life and/or as a device that would allow non-govermental controlled free thinking that could pull people away from the established party line mentality, and that's why they would ban it, confiscated, or destroy it.

One's Prevention, one is Censorship.

[WoolSilkCotton]

Bob, how ironic that the Chinese government thought the Bible would lead to free thinking. I guess the Chinese government doesn't read FailedMessiah.

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: Marvin
"My only problem with Apple is why they do not respond with their official position on this matter."

They will respond in one way or another. Either by just pulling it, talk about it not being suitable for iTunes store and then pulling it, or counter-argue that we are not pull it down for "X" reasons and leaving it up.

The news broke today. They don't jump right away because they are told so.

There's no "Mein Kampf" app on iTunes, It has been submitted several times (even making it inside once, before it was promptly discovered and terminated). Also:

*The submission app average is 1,182 per day.
*Objectionable apps slipping through: 13 per day.
*Total of those objectionable apps removed upon discovery: 100%.
*Time between discovery and removal of an app from iTunes: 2/3 days from initial discovery for review to determine if the app is objectionable, and if found so, 48 to 72 hours for total purge from Apple's World Wide servers.

You can't say "קח את זה עכשיו!", and expect the app to disappear.

So, relax.

[John Nagle, Silicon Valley, CA]

Amazon sells it, and has this to say:

Does Amazon.com sell this book? Of course we do, along with millions of other titles. The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is classified under "controversial knowledge" in our store, along with books about UFOs, demonic possession, and all manner of conspiracy theories. You can also find books in other sections of Amazon.com's online bookstore that analyze The Protocols' fraudulent origins and its tragic historical role in promoting anti-Semitism and Jewish persecution, including A Lie and a Libel: The History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Should Amazon.com sell The Protocols and other controversial works? As a bookseller, Amazon.com strongly believes that providing open access to written speech, no matter how hateful or ugly, is one of the most important things we do. It's a service that the United States Constitution protects, and one that follows a long tradition of booksellers serving as guardians of free expression in our society.

Not all countries view these issues the same way. And one of our greatest challenges is to work cooperatively with other governments to respect their laws without compromising our core values of free expression and free exchange of information--values that the Internet embodies on a global scale.

Nevertheless, Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain books because we believe their message repugnant, and we would be rightly criticized if we did so. Therefore, we will continue to make this book and other controversial works available in the United States and everywhere else, except where they are prohibited by law.

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: PrettyBoyFloyd
"And why should this bother Shmarya? FM is the electronic version of the protocols."

Haha!. You see!. Because FM=Protocols=Nazi=Anti-Sem... *sigh*

PrettyBoyFloyd, just... stay there and look stupid. Don't write and prove that you are. . Really, bubbeh.

PrettyBoyFloyd, the next Mel Brooks, everybody!. He will be opening new week at Caroline’s in New York city!. Other headliners include: fg, think for a change, ComeOnNow, Jonathan, put a square into a hole, Dave, Jack, Lazar, and Charlie Runkel!. Special guest, Deremes!.

Good night!, enjoy the buffet!.

(Putz).

[I can't think of a name yet]

I agree with LaC on this one. One man's hoax is another man's truth. You say it's a hoax, but they say it's the truth. Don't forget that frumma rabbis say that the secular claims of sex abuse by the frumma are a hoax. Does that give them the right to ban us? Even though they claim we're a hoax? I should hope not.

[Jeff]

And why should this bother Shmarya? FM is the electronic version of the protocols.

Posted by: PrettyBoyFloyd | August 14, 2012 at 09:01 PM

Shtick drek.

[Marvin]

Barry, here is the menu:

http://www.latourdargent.com/restaurant/menus/grand-menu-tour-d-argent

Posted by: WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar | August 14, 2012 at 10:30 PM

Who gives the hashgacha?

[jewjitsu]

@ david forgery? that would mean there is an original? right?......hmmmmmm thought so. oh arabs are gullible? hmm, should i dare mention eli weasel? engage your brain before you talk. you are not chosen by anyone but yourself.

[Barry]

Amazon has taken great care to ensure that they do not breach European laws prohibiting inciting racial hatred by explaining that this book is a hoax and its contents objectionable and evil. They cannot be accused on inciting people to believe the protocols are genuine. Of course the majority of purchasers of this book are racists and antisemites but their racism and antisemitism was not caused or incited by Amazons decision to sell the book to them.

If Apple are selling these protocols in Arabic within Europe without that warning, then they might well be guilty of inciting racial hatred.

[WoolSilkCotton, rock star and sports superstar]

++Marvin | August 15, 2012 at 05:47 AM++

A team of Chassidishe yungerleit worked in the kitchen to ensure the highest standards. Because so many women were present at the Asifa, the yungerleit had to wear extra-blurry glasses, although since it was for the purpose of doing a mitzvah, it did not affect their holy work.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe himself was there, as mentioned earlier, and he also ate with us. He remarked that the duck was particularly succulent.

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: Barry
"If Apple are selling these protocols in Arabic within Europe without that warning, then they might well be guilty of inciting racial hatred."

The warning is indeed there. On the app's website, and its iTune page (next to the app's description). Here's the repost of the paragraph:

"According to many historians, these writings are considered a hoax, especially after a news investigation in 1921 about the writings' credibility done by the Times of London that concluded that the articles were forgeries based from a French writer's book,..." (again, French writer Maurice Joly).

[Yoel Mechanic]

Calling the Protocols a "forgery" is misleading, and vague. This document is an outright fabrication.

[Yoel Mechanic]

Amazon sells books in the context of "We sell anything, and everything". Is their disclaimer or buyer beware context clear enough?

Is this the case of Apple iTunes? or do they sell mainly music, and just various books? Is the disclaimer clear enough? Is the disclaimer in Arabic too, and clearly associated with this book?

Is Apple operating by clear business ethics, and holding to their corporate policies, or are they just trying to make a quick buck, and who cares what happens?

I hope these questions will lend appropriate focus.

[Yoel Mechanic]

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it ironic/amusing that the group trying to get Apple to ban "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" app is ... The Conference of European Rabbis?

Posted by: Andrew | August 14, 2012 at 10:45 PM
=====================================
I find it neither ironic nor amusing.

Nor did they try to get Apple to "ban" it. They were trying to have Apple cease from selling it.

Like Apple is going to "ban" it and tell their customers "Do NOT NEVER read this book, and DO NOT check it from the library, and DO NOT own it"

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: Yoel Mechanic
"Amazon sells books in the context of "We sell anything, and everything".

"Is this the case of Apple iTunes? or do they sell mainly music, and just various books? Is the disclaimer clear enough? Is the disclaimer in Arabic too, and clearly associated with this book?."

Yes, apple sells books (iBooks) through its iTunes store. No, they do not sell an iBook version of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (or "Mein Kampf" for that matter). You will find iBooks about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but just as review booklets (http://goo.gl/oPo4e).

Now, the "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" app?. It's not an iBook, but a self-contained book within an application.

Does it have a "Buyers Beware" note displayed right next to the purchase button: Yes. Both displayed on the website that showcases the app (http://goo.gl/ZCyWW), and on the iTunes page it links to for purchase (http://goo.gl/DHX1k). Yes, the disclaimer is in Arabic. Here is the translated paragraph:

""According to many historians, these writings are considered a hoax, especially after a news investigation in 1921 about the writings' credibility done by the Times of London that concluded that the articles were forgeries based from a French writer's book,..."

"Is Apple operating by clear business ethics, and holding to their corporate policies, or are they just trying to make a quick buck, and who cares what happens?."

This last statement is overly broad. Condensed, are trying to say that Apple wishes to make a quick return on investment, even if the app is objectionable?. It's being only 24 hours since this news broke, and I'm not on Apple's board,...

So, any opinion I may offer on your last question on my part would be just that, and opinion, the same as your last question is just a conjecture, and both not facts to determine Apple's belief, motive or intent at present time.

[ad]

So what.

[mimi]

"Nor did they try to get Apple to "ban" it. They were trying to have Apple cease from selling it."

De Facto banning is banning. What's next, Mein Kampf? The Satanic Verses? Bad info is going to get out.

[Bob Guthrie]

Posted by: bob abooey
"BahbahBooooEY".

There is an App for that: http://goo.gl/Hv3gh >=)

[Yoel Mechanic]

Let's be aware of denotative and connotative meanings of words such as "ban". If Apple takes an app off their list of things they sell, then they have banned it in the sense they have banished it from the list. But the connotative sense is an insinuation that somehow Apple is "banning" the book in a global sense, and interfering with people's ability to access the book, or distribute it. Are to to understand that Apple is obliged to sell a particular app, else be accused of "banning" the app? This seems a puerile word game.

Apple is a private business, free to distribute or not distribute. I've given reasons why they should not, others say let it go. Either way, they may choose and there is no implication of "banning".

[Bob Guthrie]

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
""The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' can and should be available for academics to study in its proper context, (but) to disseminate such hateful invective as a [99 cent] mobile app is dangerous and inexcusable."

"(I)n its proper context" meaning to be paper. *Sigh* You old, old, old religious men with no knowledge on the matters of 21st century Science and Technology.

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" can be now displayed as an iBook, EBook, Mobi, EPUB, PDF, or a self-contained electronic book inside an App, readable by Macs, PC, or Linux computers...

Or carried around on smartphones or iDevices (i.e Galaxy Samsung S III/iPhone 5 or iPad 3/Google Nexus 7/Kindle Fire), readable in one's hands, just... like... a... paper book.

In short, paper does not diminish the "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" anti-Semite message, in the same way than an App version of it does not increase its hate coefficient. Paper or App, both can be a tool for learning, and a tool for hate.

And religious dictates regarding the use of electronic dissemination of knowledge (i.e. the net) should not put in the hands of old or fearful heads of religion. it leads to such asinine and self-contradicting statements like Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt.

Thank G-d for people like Rabbi Daniel Nevins, mindful of his religion's restrictions on Science and Technology, but aware of the propagation usefulness of them.

HTML5 can be Kosher, if you know how to compile it.

[Anti-kike]

With so many holocaust deniers, why would any Jew want "Protocols" banned. Protocols, International Jew, Mein Kampf, Jews and Their Lies, My Awakening, etc., all should be mandatory reading in Jewish day schools. Books such as these should be preserved for eternity before ant-Jewish groups start denying the books ever existed.