Egyptian tabloid mocks U.S. ambassador as ‘rabbi

WASHINGTON, March 10 (JTA) — This time the notoriously anti-Semitic Egyptian press went too far. A government-supported tabloid magazine accused the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Daniel Kurtzer, of masquerading as a “Jewish rabbi disguised as a diplomat.” Kurtzer, an Orthodox Jew who took up his post in mid-January, had flown a rabbi in from Washington to kosher the embassy’s kitchen. The Ros el-Yusuf magazine based its article on a Washington Jewish Week story on the rabbi, Moshe Schreiber. The Egyptian magazine, known for its anti-Israel bias, published a caricature of Kurtzer as a Chasidic Jew alongside an article titled, “Jewish Purification of the American Ambassador’s Kitchen.” In letters to the editor published in Tuesday editions of Egyptian newspapers, Kurtzer wrote that he is “appalled and hurt.” “This is no way to treat a friend, a guest in your country, a foreign ambassador, and one who has dedicated his entire life to improving U.S.-Egyptian relations,” the letter said. “It is also no way to treat a human being who tries to observe his faith with the same dignity and respect that Muslims and Christians observe in practicing their religions.” The State Department amplified Kurtzer’s criticism. “It’s an outrageous characterization and is something that not only the United States finds abhorrent, but we would assume that our friends in Egypt find abhorrent,” James Foley, a State Department spokesman, told reporters Tuesday. “Undoubtedly this is something that would be discussed,” he said. The Kurtzer article is the latest of a growing number of anti-Semitic articles and cartoons printed in the government-supported Egyptian press. The flap could not come at a worse time for Egyptian interests in Washington. Many members of Congress are expressing increasing frustration with Egypt’s policies in the Middle East, including its refusal to back the United States during its recent confrontation with Iraq. It also comes as U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has called on Egypt to offer a cut in its $2.1 billion U.S. foreign aid package. When asked whether the sentiments of the government-sponsored publication represented the government’s views, spokesman for the Egyptian Embassy in Washington condemned the article. “I wouldn’t take anything written by Ros el-Yusuf seriously. It’s scuzzy, almost like the National Enquirer,” said Abdul Aleem el Abyad, press counselor at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington. “Kurtzer is absolutely right. I’m offended,” he said. El Abyad said the editor of the magazine, Adel Hammouda, was transferred to another publication within the last two weeks “because he has gone too far in trashing people’s reputations.” Many observers believe Hammouda’s transfer is proof that the government runs the magazine, a charge that Cairo denies. Meanwhile, longtime critics of the Egyptian press want to hear directly from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “This is a continuous pattern. Nothing short of denunciation by Mubarak is acceptable,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. Last year, the ADL presented its study of anti-Semitism in the Egyptian press to Mubarak at a meeting in Washington. At a Cairo meeting, Mubarak privately denounced the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel writing in the Egyptian press, Foxman said. In a letter to Mubarak this week, Foxman called on the Egyptian leader to go public. “We urge you to unequivocally denounce the promulgation of such hatred and anti-Semitism in Egypt and to work to disseminate a realistic and fair image of Jews and the State of Israel,” he wrote.