Should we boycott Amazon.com for selling the "Protocols of
Zion"?
or, another urban legend debunked....
To everyone from Rabbi Gershom:
Starting in April 2000, emails have been circulating that call for a boycott of Amazon.com because they sell copies of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, & the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic forgery claiming to explain a bogus "Jewish conspiracy" to take over the world. Many people have expressed concern that I am selling through Amazon.com, and want to know whether I think they should boycott.
First of all, I have owned both these books for research purposes, so I can hardly fault the sale of them to the public. And I imagine there must be others who need them for legitimate studies. If I were to need a new copy now, I would rather buy from Amazon than have to go to some fascist bookstore and support them, heaven forbid -- which is what will happen if only fascists have the books for sale.
Consider this scenario: A student of World War II history is working on a term paper about Hitler, and keeps coming across references to something called "The Protocols of Zion." It seems to have been an important influence on Hitler, and our student wonders what, exactly, is in it? So, s/he logs onto Amazon.com, does a quick search, and --- Presto! It pops right up there on the screen, along with a bunch of negative reviews saying how bogus it is. The student may still buy one for research, but at least s/he has been alerted to the nature of the contents.
Now, what happens if it is not on Amazon or any of the other regular bookstores? If our hypthetical term paper writer is persistent and wants to get an A for effort, s/he will search the Net further -- and eventually find it for sale on a White Power-something-or-other site. Of course, those guys do not provide a space for negative feedback. And, when s/he buys it there, not only is s/he supporting a racist site, but s/he also gets onto a neo-Nazi mailing list and starts getting spammed with ads for other racist materials. Is this what we want? Of course not!
So no, I do not think boycotting Amazon is the answer.
On April 6, 2000, in answer to these boycott letters, Amazon.com posted a long statement on the Protocols pages which clearly explains that the book is antisemitic, and that they do not endorse the content of the book. They have also posted a statement to the same effect from the Anti-Defamation League.
Actually, Amazon never did post a "positive review" of the Protocols as the boycott emails inaccurately claimed. It is unfortunate that this aspect of the story has already become an "urban legend"--- read more about that, including samples of the email letters circulating around the Net, on the Urban Legends site at:
http://snopes.simplenet.com/inboxer/outrage/zion.htm
What might have been mistaken for an Amazon review were one or more reviews by READERS (who also rate the book from one to five stars) or the PUBLISHERS (there are more than one offering this book). Of course, every publisher always praises their own editions of their books!
Also, we should note that every author or publisher has the right on Amazon to post their own promo materials, which are clearly labeled as being from the publisher or author, and these are not censored for content on any book on Amazon. (I posted my own promo materials for my own books, I should know. They were posted 100% as is by Amazon, complete with my typos!)
The Book Tree, one of the publishers offering reprints of the Protocols being sold on Amazon.com, has admitted to unwittingly contributing to this problem of "positive reviews." in recently posted (as of April 9) publisher's material for their book's listing on Amazon.com, they state:
A number of these books (The Protocols) are being used in college
classrooms, and it seems clear that professors are using it as an
educational tool -- they are not preaching hate with it. Nor are we
trying to preach hate by offering it. We at The Book Tree were
unaware of the evidence that proves conclusively that The Protocols
is a hoax, and had taken a neutral stand in the Introduction to a
previous edition, saying people should read the book and decide for
themselves. We extend our apologies for being unaware of this
evidence, and now support those who claim it to be a hoax.
(From The Book Tree's material posted on the
Amazon site selling the Protocols. When you get there,
scroll down a ways to find it.)
That "neutral stand" referred to by Book Tree, and which was at one point quoted on the Amazon site (posted there by Book Tree, not by Amazon!) is probably the source of the urban legend. It's gone now, and replaced by the apology quoted above. Both Book Tree and Amazon continue to sell the book, however, in the interests of upholding freedom of the press.
I think that the Amazon approach is fair. Sell the book for the sake of freedom of speech, but publicly state that they do not endorse the contents. After all, Amazon.com also has multiple books about how the Protocols are proven forgeries, and tons of anti-Nazi books, books on the Holocaust, etc. (Do a search for "Protocols of Zion" and "antisemitism" and you will see what I mean.) The disclaimer by Amazon even has a link to buy A Lie and a Libel: The History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which clearly exposes the Protocols as a forgery.
(Sept. 17, 2000: Since publication of this letter, numerous Jews have asked me if Amazon also has negative books about other minorities, or just about the Jews. Answer: They have lots of controversial books about lots of different groups -- browse their controversial books section and you will see that Jews are not being singled out!)
What positive action can you take against the Protocols book?
My suggestion is to go to the sites of the offending books and write a negative one-star review. Reviews which address specific points in the content of the book or the history of the book itself are better than blanket negative statements, which tend to get deleted after a while. Use this URL to go there, read the Amazon disclaimer I mentioned above, then give it your own one-star review:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0685175073/yonassangershoms
And while you're at it, pick up whatever other book, CD, toy,
software, garden tool or other gadget you've been hankering for,
because the link contains my Amazon Associates code (represented
by my name at the end), and so does this Amazon ad, so EVERYTHING
you buy on that visit will pay a 5% commission to the Reb Gershom
website. Can you appreciate the delicious irony in this -- that
one-starring the "Protocols" is also helping to generate business
to help support a JEWISH website?
What better way to thumb our noses at the neo-Nazis?
Of course, if you decide to boycott and not order things through me and Amazon.com. that is your choice. But I would ask you to consider that doing so will hurt my business, which in turn will hurt me and my family and bring the Net work I do to a grinding halt, because as is well-known, I have no paying position for any of my ministry. The Amazon Associates income is what helps keep my resources on the Net. So unless you know of another source of money to support me and my work, please think very, very carefully before boycotting me. Do you really want an antisemitic book to be the means to put a rabbi's website out of business?
Shalom -- peace,
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom
homepage:
http://www.pinenet.com/~rooster/index.html
P.S. Feel free to link to this page. Here's the URL:
http://www.pinenet.com/~rooster/protocol.html
Read all my reviews on Amazon.com