The anniversary of the Anne Frank House - which opened in Amsterdam 50 years ago on Monday - will pass practically without notice in the Middle East. Although the diary of the Jewish girl who went into hiding in a house on an Amsterdam canal during World War Two has been translated into Arabic and Farsi, it cannot be sold everywhere in the region.
In the Arab world, Anne Frank is most definitely not a household name. Stop a Syrian, an Egyptian or an Iraqi on the street and ask them whether they know her and you'll be answered with a puzzled look. "Her story sounds like an interesting one, but I really have other priorities at the moment. As soon as we have peace and quiet in Lebanon," says Kamal Mouzawi, a car dealer in Southern Lebanon, "then perhaps I can take an interest in that sort of thing."
Anne's diary is not included in official education material. Directors of private schools advise their students against discussing it in their lesson because 'the subject is not relevant'. In Lebanon last year, pressure by Hizbollah forced the removal of passages about Anne Frank from schoolbooks owned by a chique Beirut school. The radical Shi'ite group, which was involved in a war with Israel in the summer of 2006, regards her story as one that 'promotes Zionism'.
Commotion
"What's dangerous," said a Hizbollah politician in an interview with the movement's satellite television station Al Manar, "is the dramatic and theatrical manner in which the diary tries to make her personal story emotional." Addressing the issue of the commotion about the passages in the schoolbook, he said, "We wonder how long Lebanon will keep opening itself up to this Zionist invasion of education."
"Anne Frank is taught nowhere in the Arabic-speaking world. A few private schools do use her diary in their syllabus, but nowhere does it constitute a formal part of the education programme," says Abe Radkin, director of the Aladdin Project, a French organisation that combats denial of the Holocaust. "We're trying to change that. In countries such as Morocco and Tunisia, there's considerable willingness to discuss the issue. In other countries in the region it's more complicated, due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Arabic paperback
As part of the Aladdin Project, Anne's diary was translated for the first time into Arabic and Farsi. Since last year, the Arabic version has been available online, and for free, at www.aladdinlibrary.org. "Since then, thousands of copies have been downloaded to every Arab country," says Radkin.
He says that there is also an Arabic paperback, but that until now it has only been available in bookshops in Europe. "Because the paperback costs 18 euros, it's not easy to market in Arab countries; it's simply too expensive for most people. Right now we're busy trying to find local partners in the Middle East to make the book cheaper." Radkin expects that students, historians, bloggers and other groups will be interested in the Arabic translation.
Librairie Antoine
" 'The Diary of a Young Girl' by Anne Frank? Let me have a look for you," says the assistant in Librairie Antoine, a renowned bookshop in Beirut. "No, we don't have it," she says in a friendly manner after she's looked in the computer. "I can order the English version for you, but that would take about month or maybe even longer."
Specialised bookshops in Jordan and some Gulf States have a few copies of the English translation in stock, but they don't sell many of them. Jarir Bookstores, with headquarters in the Saudi capital Riyadh and more than 20 branches in the region, doesn't sell the book because it is banned in Saudi Arabia.
"I think many Lebanese would find it interesting to visit her museum in Amsterdam," says Karine Haddad, a Lebanese student. She notes that until recently there were many Jewish communities in Arab countries. "I've never been to the Netherlands, but if I ever get the chance, I will definitely visit the Anne Frank House. And I would, of course, also read her diary."
Radio Netherland
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