Antisemitic blood-libel novel a bestseller in Egypt

This is the cover of an Arabic novel called "Daughter of Zion", which just had its sixth printing.

Vetogate in Egypt wrote this:

Recently Kayan Publishing published the seventh (sic) edition of the novel “The Daughter of Zion”, by the author Sha’aban Sharif, after the enormous success of the novel after its first edition. The new edition is found in the bookshops of the publishing house.

From the novel:

“When the evening came, they called a Jewish barber named Suleiman. He was a thin-bodied man, and he had a light beard that showed the veins under his skin. They ordered him to slaughter the (Christian) priest. He took out a shaving razor from his suitcase/bag and began to sharpen it so it would be sharp and he would be able to slaughter him (i.e. the priest) easily, but he (i.e. Suleiman) looked at him (at the priest), who was tied and weakened from all the beatings and torture, and he (i.e. Suleiman) hesitated a little, and the razor trembled in his hand. Daoud screamed in his (Suleiman’s) face: “He is a gentile, his blood is halal (permitted) for us” and he took a sharp knife and fell upon him (i.e. upon the priest) with all his brutality everywhere, he cut off his limbs and pierced his torso. All the priest’s screams and pleas fell on deaf ears. Then his brother Haroun Harari came and completed the slaughter. Then they collected his blood in a large and transparent vial and hurried to take it to Rabbi Basha Yaaqub Al-‘Antabi – who gave them the order to slaughter (the priest) -in the Jews' temple.

(Rabbi Basha Yaaqub Al-‘Antabi) was sitting in a dark room on a large wooden chair that had a soft/smooth cushion, and a large Star of David engraved on it. (Rabbi Basha Yaaqub Al-‘Antabi) wore a large black turban, embroidered with Arab ornaments and a wide and black robe, embroidered with golden fiber thread, and a red silk belt. His long white beard hung down to the middle of his chest. He was sitting and impatiently waiting for the two of them (Daoud and Haroun) with his sunken eyes, because of his need for the blood of the sacrificial victim in order to prepare the fatira of the Purim festival from gentile blood.”

Fatira almost always refers to matzoh, so this author is even more ignorant than usual by saying it is eaten on Purim.

This is the beginning of the book itself. For seven pages it describes in detail the supposed blood libel story of Damascus in 1840. The rest of the book is a political novel that starts in Israel in 2003. It is unclear what this section has to do with the rest of the novel.

Oh, who am I kidding? We all know why this is part of the novel - because the author needs to first set the stage of how evil Jews are.

The author works at the Egyptian Department of Antiquities.

Here is a promotional photo of another edition of the book.

(h/t Shawarma News and Ibn Boutros)

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