Blackwell’s removes antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion after implying in the book’s synopsis that it may not be a fiction

The leading booksellers, Blackwell’s, has removed an edition of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion from sale after outrage arising not only from the sale of the antisemitic tract but the synopsis on the website that suggested that the fraudulent work might not be fictional.

The synopsis suggested that the book – which purports to be the minutes of a meeting of Jewish leaders, at which they discussed their plans for global domination – might be genuine, and that the website “neither supports nor denies the message” of the book.

The synopsis questioned whether “the issue has already been settled conclusively — that it is clearly 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. Others maintain that it was and is absolutely genuine.” It continued: “If The Protocols are a forgery, they still form an interesting book which deserves to be studied. If, however. The Protocols are genuine (which can never be proven conclusively), it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs. We neither support nor deny its message, we simply make it available for those who wish a copy.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism reacted to the listing, saying: “It is bad enough that Blackwell’s is selling the notorious fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Worse, the reputable bookseller has demonstrated grotesque ignorance in providing a synopsis that implies that the forgery may in fact be genuine. Blackwell’s must not only remove this antisemitic tract from sale but must apologise for publishing such a dangerous description and explain how on earth it came to appear online.”

After hundreds of complaints online and outrage from Campaign Against Antisemitism and other groups, Blackwell’s published a statement saying: “We have refrained from commenting publicly because we did not wish to give the oxygen of publicity to this title, but given the volume of comments on this situation, we feel that we must now comment.” The statement added that “the description that appeared for this book was an automatic feed from the publisher. It was neither written nor endorsed by us.”

The bookseller explained that it is standard practice in online bookselling to use synopses provided by publishers, and that, given that there are eighteen million books on the website, it is not possible to review each entry manually. “However, as soon as this was brought to our attention, we replaced the description with one which expressed our complete and utter condemnation of the contents.”