B’nai B’rith International has sent a letter to Apple Chief Executive Officer Timothy Cook asking for the anti-Semitic app “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” to be removed from Apple’s iTunes App Store.
In the letter B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin write: “‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,’ a proven forgery, purports to show a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. This anti-Semitic tract has been used over the past century to incite violence against Jews.”
Apple is known for its stringent guidelines applications must meet before being approved for sale in the App Store. Apps deemed defamatory, offensive or likely to expose a targeted group to violence are normally rejected by Apple. We are appalled “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” made it through the review process, as this text is often used by Neo-Nazis and anti-Semitic Arab groups to drum up hatred toward Jews.
The letter also notes: “The distribution of ‘The Protocols’ in Arabic is meant to instill blind hatred of Jews in a part of the world were anti-Israel animus is already all-too-common. Technology can be used as a tool to better the world, but it also has the power to spread hate quickly and more widely.”
The publishing of this app condones the spreading of hateful actions that B’nai B’rith works to prevent.