A new Arabic-language bookstore on Edgware Road, Aafaq, has withdrawn a self-published edition of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf after Westminster Times found several copies on display and for sale, both in-store and via the store's website, where it had been listed under its Arabic title, Kifāḥī, for £11.99. The edition, produced by Aafaq's own publishing house and attributed to Mustafa Bin Rizq, featured a cover image of Hitler performing a Nazi salute and was marketed with a blurb describing the book as a "political manifesto" that had sold 5.2 million copies by 1939, and as "shedding light on... the betrayal that led to Germany's collapse in 1918," a reference to the antisemitic "stab-in-the-back myth" propagated by Hitler, which falsely blamed Germany's defeat in the First World War on Jews and socialists. The store is located a short walk from one of London's largest reform synagogues.
Cllr Elliot Keck, who represents Hyde Park ward, said he hoped the business would "fail quickly" for stocking the work, describing his reaction on finding it as disgust.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said businesses "should not be profiting from selling the most extreme anti-Jewish propaganda," adding that while there was a place for "understanding history through annotated versions of texts which give important context," this did not extend to books that "simply regurgitate hate and risk inciting violence," and called for the store to withdraw the title.
In a statement, Aafaq said the copies had been displayed on a table with history books near the back of the shop, and that "the presence of a controversial historical book in a bookshop does not constitute endorsement of its ideas," adding that it "unequivocally rejects Nazi ideology, antisemitism, racism and Islamophobia." The store is Aafaq's second location outside its native Kuwait, and its first in London.
New Arabic bookstore withdraws edition of Mein Kampf labelling Hitler’s work as ‘bible of national socialism’
Cllr Elliot Keck said
"Imagine my disgust upon going into this new Arabic bookstore on the Edgware Road last night only to find them selling multiple copies of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, apparently published themselves.
"I rarely wish ill on a new business, but I hope this one fails, and fails quickly."
Read Ryan Prosser's article for the Westminster Times in full on their website.
