ZAHI HAWASS UPDATE: Further to my comments on Dr. Hawass's unfortunate statement about Jewish history in an Egyptian TV interview, he has now posted a clarification on his website (noted by Joe Lauer as alerted by Jim West):

Clarification of Remarks on Jewish History

I am concerned that a statement that I made recently about Jewish history is being widely misrepresented in the media. In a February interview with Mahmoud Saad of the television show El-Beit Beitek,I discussed the Arab-Israeli conflict in its historical context. I contrasted the relative unity of the international Jewish community with the political fragmentation that we see among the Arabs.

Unfortunately, many people seem to have taken this comment to mean that I believe in a sinister Jewish conspiracy to control the world. This is simply not true. I do not believe at all in such a conspiracy. In the interview, I was using rhetoric to make a point about disunity and infighting in the Arab world, which I feel is the cause of much suffering in this region - I never meant to imply that I put any stock in the myth of a universal “Zionist conspiracy.” I hope that my actions, including my ongoing advocacy for the preservation of Egypt’s Jewish monuments, will dispel any doubts about my position in this matter. I hope for a peaceful, equitable settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict, for the good of all of the innocent people who have suffered because of it.

It is fair for him to appeal to his record and I think he deserves on the grounds of it to be cut some slack, although I think his summary of his own comments that he is clarifying is rather incomplete. Still, what he says now is unobjectionable and encouraging. That said, he still isn't off the hook. Joe Lauer, alerted by Israel Finkelstein, points to another MEMRI report, on "Antisemitic Statements and Cartoons in Wake of Gaza War" (published on 30 March) which quotes Dr. Hawass in an Arabic piece written in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 22, 2009, as follows:

Zahi Hawwas, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Council, wrote in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the "Jews of Palestine" are murderous by nature: "The concept of killing women, children and elderly people... seems to run in the blood of the Jews of Palestine. [In fact,] it seems to have become part of the false faith of this people, who is tormenting us in our [own] homeland.

"When I speak of the Jewish faith, I do not mean their [original] faith, but the faith that they forged and contaminated with their poison, which is aimed against all of mankind... The only thing that the Jews have learned from history is methods of tyranny and torment - so much so that they have become artists in this field. They have done to the Palestinians what Pharaoh and Sargon [of Akkad] did to the Jews..."

Dr. Hawass needs to rein in his "rhetoric" if he does not wish to give the impression that he is sending one message to speakers of English and a very different and corrosive message to speakers of Arabic. As I said before, such comments do his otherwise positive and constructive international reputation no good.