In 1903 a Russian newspaper, Znamya (Banner) published a plan for Jewish world domination. Notes of an alleged 1897 meeting coinciding with the first Zionist conference detailed a plot to overthrow Christianity and erect a new world state, sabotaging world capitals in the event of failure. Widely translated, "The Protocols of The Elders of Zion" were repeatedly cited by antisemites, notably Adolf Hitler, as evidence of an international Jewish conspiracy.
Research eventually revealed that the "Protocols" were authored not by Jews but by the Russian czarist secret police. Today they are widely considered to be fakes--except, apparently, on Amazon.com.
Amazon lists two editions of the "Protocols." Click on either and you will get an "editorial review" of the book by one of the publishers, Book Tree Press, and a small disclaimer by Amazon. The review summarizes the book's contents. It also questions whether the book is really a forgery: "Although there may be final evidence to this effect, we have not seen a clear and convincing version of it produced by those making the claim." An argument follows, a parody of evenhandedness, citing some of the contrary evidence. It notes that "the famed industrialist, Henry Ford" once considered the "Protocols" genuine but omits the fact that Ford was a notorious antisemite. The publisher concludes that if the "Protocols" are genuine, "it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs."
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Amazon and my own research didn't provide any more information about Book Tree Press. A search for the second publisher, Noontide Press, revealed a Web site listing "revisionist" titles, such as "Innocent at Dachau," "My Awakening" by David Duke, and the bigotry bellwether, "The Turner Diaries." There's also a link for the Institute for Historical Review, an organization that the Simon Wiesenthal Center has identified as among the foremost Holocaust revisionist groups in America. A spokesperson for the center confirmed that Noontime Press is owned by the Institute for Historical Review.
So, what is the review doing on Amazon? Bill Curry, Amazon's director of public relations, argues that Amazon is a bookseller, not a censor. But choosing what to sell is not the same as censorship; booksellers do one; government does the other. Does Amazon sell everything? Does it sell porn? Moreover, if Amazon chooses to sell a classic work of antisemitism such as the "Protocols," shouldn't it at least say what the book is?
Originally Amazon chose not to do that. Last December, Amazon listed the book without clearly identifying its true nature. Since then, the bookseller has beaten a modest retreat. In mid-March, as it was receiving press queries, Amazon added information that identifies the publisher as the author of the review. After I had a phone conversation late last week with Curry, Amazon posted a disclaimer before the review--it doesn't endorse the views of either the book or its publisher. This week, an editorial review from the Anti-Defamation League has been added, calling the book "simply a plagiarized forgery."
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Abraham Foxman, the national director of the ADL, stresses Amazon's cooperation and says his group has approached the bookseller about developing a policy for hate literature, one that will respect principles of free speech. "We're not challenging their right to sell [the book]," says Foxman. But, he says, people have a right to know what they're buying.
Alexander Cohen is a writer in New York and a research associate at Vanity Fair.
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