Res. No. 2117 Title Resolution condemning in the strongest manner possible the anti-Semitism expressed in the Egyptian newspapers Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhuriya and asserting that such conduct is part of the problem in creating a climate where terrorism can exist and flourish. Body By Council Members Moskowitz, Michels and Nelson; also Council Members Eisland, Miller, O'Donovan, Povman and Abel Whereas, On September 11, 2001, two passenger jets en route to Los Angeles were hijacked and deliberately flown into the Twin Towers located at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan; and Whereas, This action resulted in the complete destruction of the World Trade Center and the death of over 5,000 innocent people, including World Trade Center employees and members of the New York City Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, and other emergency workers; and Whereas, The United States Congress voted overwhelmingly on September 14, 2001 to give President George W. Bush the authority to use the full force of our nation's military power to fight a conclusive struggle against global terrorism; and Whereas, The President addressed the nation on September 21, 2001 and said that the terrorist organization responsible for this attack "are the heirs of all murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies;" and Whereas, Anti-Semitism has played a pivotal role in the philosophical development of these "murderous ideologies," especially in the development of fascism and Nazism; and Whereas, Anti-Semitism has again re-surfaced on the pages of newspapers throughout the Arab world, as documented in Jeffrey Goldberg's article in the October 8, 2001, edition of The New Yorker magazine; and Whereas, Egyptian newspaper Al-Akhbar has published several articles this year defending Adolph Hitler, including one by Ahmad Ragab who wrote in April of this year: "Thanks to Hitler, of blessed memory, who on behalf of the Palestinians took revenge in advance, against the most vile criminals on the face of the earth..Although we do have a complaint against him, for his revenge was not enough;" and Whereas, Lotfi Nasif, an editor at Al-Gomhuriya, has described the Holocaust as an "exaggeration" and as the product of the "Jewish imagination;" and Whereas, Such sentiments are representative of a broad range of conspiracy theories seeking to scapegoat the Jewish people that are being promulgated in every corner of the Arab world; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York condemns in the strongest manner possible the anti-Semitism expressed in the Egyptian newspapers Al-Akhabar and Al-Gomhuriya and asserts that they are part of the problem in creating a climate where terrorism can exist and flourish. LS # 4637 10/30/01