Anti-Semitism is not merely a pervasive attitude in Egypt, but rather a fundamental element of the socio-political structure. While we are ethically compelled to condemn all forms anti-Semitism, the main reason why we choose to tackle this very sensitive issue is purely pragmatic. Anti-Semitism denies any possibility of a genuine transformation to Liberalism. The Egyptian people will not embrace Liberalism until it becomes clear to them that there never has been a Zionist conspiracy and that the failures of the past are to be blamed on none other than themselves and their leaders.

Anti-Semitism is not merely a pervasive attitude in Egypt, but rather a fundamental element of the socio-political structure. Commentators are divided over the explanation of this unfortunate fact into two main groups. The first argues that Islam is inherently anti-Semitic, and that the Egyptians, being predominantly Muslim, are no different in that respect. The second argues that the severity and longevity of the Arab-Israeli conflict planted hatred in the hearts of all Arabs for everything Jewish. We believe both are wrong.

Attributing anti-Semitism to Islam is based on two erroneous premises. First, it equates anti-Semitism, a strictly modern phenomenon, with the centuries-old religious hatred of the Jews. Anyone who has read Theodore Herzl's The Jewish State would know the difference. Second, it implies a vindication of the primary tenet of Islamism, what we call the Myth of Islamic Society, i.e. that Islamic teaching is the sole determinant of what all Muslims believe in and how they act. On the other hand, those who consider the creation of Israel to be the chief cause of Egyptian anti-Semitism fail to consider certain facts, such as the striking ties between nascent Egyptian Nationalism and Zionism until the late 1920s; various Egyptian Jews being both prominent Egyptian Nationalists and pioneering Zionists with no opposition from other Egyptians. As a matter of fact, we believe that it was the rising Arab Anti-Semitism that created, or at least exacerbated, the Arab-Israeli conflict, not the other way around. Proving this claim is one of the primary objectives of our historical revision program.

While we are ethically compelled to condemn all forms anti-Semitism, the main reason why we choose to tackle this very sensitive issue is purely pragmatic. Anti-Semitism denies any possibility of a genuine transformation to Liberalism, as the Jewish conspiracy theory makes it easier for individuals to surrender their responsibilities, and with them their freedoms, to totalitarian leaders who ruin their lives if they fail or perpetrate unspeakable atrocities if they succeed. The Egyptian people will not embrace Liberalism until it becomes clear to them that there never has been a Zionist conspiracy and that the failures of the past are to be blamed on none other than themselves and their leaders.

Therefore, rather than dwell on the superfluous distinction between Zionist and non-Zionist Jews as most Egyptian Liberals do, we seek to promote a coherent account of the origins of anti-Semitism, explain the philosophical and historical difficulties of the Jewish question and address the tension between Zionism and Liberalism. One major objective of the program is to establish the joint Arab-Jewish historical responsibility for the present Palestinian Problem in place of the traditional "blame-it-on-the-Jews" approach.