As a book read by nearly every child in Britain at some point, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is one of the most important ways in which children can be introduced to the horror of the Holocaust. And, given many Arab and Middle Eastern countries’ horrific levels of Antisemitism, it was great news when Paris-based Aladdin Project announced that they were distributing Farsi and Arabic translations of this profoundly influential book.
Naim al-Qalaani from Hezbollah’s Committee for the Boycott of Zionist Goods in Lebanon told the TV the book’s distribution was a flagrant violation and a move toward normalization with Lebanon’s archenemy, Israel.
The diary of Anne Frank has been sold in Lebanon for years, both in English and in earlier translations into Arabic, and it was not clear why Hezbollah’s TV chose to highlight its existence in the country now.