AJN probe prompts pulling of books
THREE of Australia’s biggest book retailers this week agreed to pull a number of virulently anti-Semitic titles from their websites, following an investigation by The AJN.
Among the poisonous works that could be purchased on the Borders and Angus & Robertson websites were The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which alleges that Jews are plotting to take over the world, and The International Jew by Henry Ford, which states: “Whichever way you turn to trace the harmful streams of influence that flow through society, you come upon a group of Jews.”
Visitors to the stores’ websites could also purchase Martin Luther’s The Jews and their Lies, in which the medieval theologian describes Jews as “base, whoring people ‚Ķ full of the devil’s feces … which they wallow in like swine.”
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, meanwhile, was also available online from Dymocks.
The AJN undertook the investigation into the sale of hate literature on the net as part of the paper’s ongoing coverage of, and campaign against, cyber-racism.
After alerting the retailers to the pernicious nature of the books they were selling via their websites, on Tuesday all three agreed to withdraw them.
Dymocks buying manager Sophie Groom said: “We have taken the decision to remove the title from our website and this will be completed within the next two business days.”
Briony Lewis, general counsel for Redgroup Retail — the parent company of Borders and Angus & Robertson — also confirmed that the publications were being pulled.
The swift action taken by the retailers was welcomed by community leaders.
Expressing his disappointment that “such vehemently anti-Semitic and racist literature can be so easily obtained”, John Searle, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), said: “Nevertheless, I’m pleased the bookstores concerned have immediately agreed and acknowledged that it’s inappropriate for such books to be available. It is precisely the dissemination of this kind of material that leads to ongoing problems of vilification and racism within our community, which the JCCV, together with other organisations, is working to eradicate.”
The sentiment was echoed by Vic Alhadeff, CEO of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies.
“Given the disturbing ease with which the internet is abused and pernicious and racist material disseminated, it places an onus on all disseminators of information to exercise care and diligence over what they put out there,” he said. “We therefore applaud these bookstores for their responsible approach and The AJN for raising the issue.”
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