FBI tweets link to files on ‘Protocols of Elders of Zion,’ sparking anger

JTA — An official FBI Twitter account drew criticism for tweeting a link to a 139-page selection of the bureau’s files on “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the infamously anti-Semitic early 20th century text that accuses Jews of world domination.

The FBI Records Vault sent the tweet on Wednesday afternoon without context, and some Twitter users took it as a promotion of the message in the “Protocols.” However, the Twitter account regularly tweets declassified archival FBI documents.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment by publishing time.

The files in the link include different copies of the “Protocols” text, which claims it is “Proof that Communism is a Jewish world plot to enslave the gentiles and to seize power during the resulting chaos,” as well as letters to former FBI head J. Edgar Hoover about it.

https://twitter.com/FBIRecordsVault/status/1296144912497352705

There is also a 1964 report by the Senate Judiciary Committee calling the text “fabricated” and “crude and vicious nonsense.”

The tweet spurred thousands of responses: Some Twitter users cheered it, while others condemned it.

Bend the Arc, a progressive Jewish advocacy group, wrote on Twitter: “The @FBI is tweeting out the most famous, fabricated antisemitic text with absolutely zero context. This is the same anti-Jewish lie that inspired Hitler and the Nazi regime. Now it’s coming directly from a white nationalist administration.”

Others echoed the concern:

https://twitter.com/NoahHurowitz/status/1296155177943216130

An agency of the United States federal government just posted a copy of one of the most infamous pieces of antisemitic literature of all time, responsible for the persecution and murder of thousands, even millions. On behalf of all Americsn Jews, what the fuck are you doing @FBI? https://t.co/o3cAfiPdyL

— Rep. Noah Arbit????️ (@NoahArbit) August 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/mollycrabapple/status/1296159020470996992