Last Word on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

[George Robinson <GRComm...>]

Khaverim --

Here is, I think, a suitable closing to the Protocols controversy.

George Robinson

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Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2000 06:27:45 EDT
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Dear Chevra,

 Rabbi Eric A. Silver, who initiated the whole
discussion of the presence of 
the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in on-line
bookstores, has also given 
what should be closure to that matter with the
following statement. I hope 
this will preclude further anxiety . -- Shalom,
Arthur 

************
>     This will be (I hope) my final
statement on the Barnes and Noble issue,
> and because of its content, I would ask
that it be given the widest possible
> distribution.  (I probably don't need to
say that.  My e-mail box, my fax
> lines and my telephone have been jammed for
days.
> As many of you know, some weeks ago I
contacted Barnes and Noble over the
> fact that they were carrying "The Protocols
of the Learned Elders of Zion"
> under the rubric of "Judaica" (yes and
no-depending upon how and where one
> looked on the net and in the retail
stores,) and that their web site
> contained a review by a person purporting
to be a university professor,
> attesting to the historicity of the book
and claiming that many of the dire
> predictions and plots in the book were
already coming to fruition.  Barnes
> and Noble told me that they saw it as their
mission to carry every title in
> print, cited the First Amendment, and you
can guess the rest, so I wrote an
> e-mail describing the situation,  sending
it out to the various lists on
> which I am a subscriber.
> Friday afternoon I received a phone call
from Gus Carlson who heads up the
> Communications and Customer Relations
Department at Barnes and Noble, and
> Laura Dawson who manages the company's data
base for the on-line and retail
> stores.  That call  was followed by a phone
call from Tom Simon, Vice
> President of Content Development at the
company.  They deeply regretted the
> earlier response I had received, and both
wanted to assure me that at no 
time
> did any anti-Semitic intent color Barnes
and Noble's actions in this matter.
>  I think they are to be absolutely believed
on this score.  This company
> carries many books, and each book has its
adherents and its detractors.  The
> company's initial response to me was to
cite First Amendment freedoms, and
> indicate that they would carry even
controversial books.  I would be the
> first to agree with that position.
"Protocols," however, is in a different
> category altogether, and the three B&N
executives with whom I spoke all 
agree
> with that.  They made plain to me that the
company was not aware of the
> book's true nature at the outset of all
this brouhaha, and that had they
> been, the book would have been classified
differently.  They also assured me
> that new company policy would ensure that
reviews would be carefully 
screened
> to ensure that a spurious review does not
pop up on their web site.
> A bit of clarification is in order: very
often a book will be classified by
> its distributor, and Barnes and Noble will
accept the classification.  An 
out
> of print version of "Protocols" that
carries the label "Judaica" will be
> classified that way on the Internet site
because no one at B&N knows any
> different.  That's a far cry from malice.
Similarly, if it finds its way
> onto a shelf in a retail store, there are
obvious reasons why the manager
> would place it in the Judaica area.  The
title itself is misleading, and 
pity
> the poor store manager who obviously
doesn't have the time to read every
> single book in the store.
> I think we're done with this issue, and in
the best possible way.
> Please-don't boycott Barnes and Noble.
They don't deserve it.  They are
> honest book merchants who go out of their
way to provide the reading public
> with the best in books and service.  At no
time in any of this was there 
even
> a scintilla of malicious intent.
Occasionally even a good company will slip
> up, but once B&N became aware of the book's
true nature, they acted with
> alacrity.  The fake review was pulled, and
the book is being appropriately
> identified.  They have taken steps to
ensure that spurious reviews don't pop
> up on any book that might be controversial,
and they have also taken steps t
o
> prevent a vendor from classifying a book
under a particular heading (i.e.,
> Judaica,) without that classification
coming under B&N's scrutiny.  
Moreover,
> Mr. Simon has asked me to prepare a review
of "Protocols" and he will post 
it
> on the web site as the first review.  He
also proposed that I include URL's
> to sites that would advise readers about
the nature of propaganda, hate
> literature, and so forth.  Lastly, he
advised me that the company is
> considering setting up a new classification
called "propaganda," "hate
> literature," or something like that.  That
would ensure that hate literature
> (sic!) doesn't inadvertently pop up in the
wrong section.
> I want to commend Barnes and Noble for
cleaning up their own act, and I also
> want to commend the many of you out there
who have taken the time to let B&N
> know of your concern.  More than anything
else, it proves that this is a
> company that listens to its customers, and
that's what good business is all
> about.
>
>
> Rabbi Eric A. Silver
> Temple Beth David
> 3 Main Street
> Cheshire, CT 06410-2404
> Office:     (203) 272-0037
> Fax:    (203) 272-6562
> EricSilver (at) aol(dot)com
>

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