An independent Arab news source based in Judea and Samaria, funded by the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN), has been exposed publishing an anti-Semitic article that regurgitates the slanderous lies of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

Ma'an News Agency released an op-ed in Arabic on February 11, which picks up where the 1903 Russian anti-Semitic "Protocols" left off, in its shrill accusations of a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world. The document was exposed as false in 1921, but remains popular particularly in the Arabic-speaking world.

The Arabic article, translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), claims the Jews "are planning means to take over the reins of world politics, by spreading organized destruction throughout the countries." It goes on to blame the Jews for the French and Russian revolutions, among other things.

"The Jewish Masons...have gained world domination through their monopoly of the banking system, their control of the gold (trade), natural and industrial resources, water and food, as well as by destroying the economies of countries (to ensure) that they remain under their control," claims the article.

The screed goes further in blaming Jews for "creating new states at the expense of stable ones, by partitioning and drawing new international borders, through armed military invasion, the theft of native lands and the expulsion of their residents - as in the case of Palestine and its residents."

While the article is appalling enough for its anti-Semitism and historical revisionism, it takes on new dimensions when one notes the source of funding for the news agency, which is a part of the Ma'an Network.

The European Commission, UNDP (Development Program), UNESCO, the Governments of Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as the British UKaid and UK Department for International Development, are among those listed as "partners and donors" of the network.

Not Ma'an's first run-in with anti-Semitism

In January 2013, PMW caught Ma'an in a similar article describing Jews as "cursed" by Allah, who it claimed "has stricken fear in their hearts and decreed humiliation and degradation upon them until Judgment Day."

A mere three hours after the article was exposed by PMW, Ma'an removed it and posted and explanation claiming the article slipped through editing because of the conflict in Gaza.

At the time, the news source promised that "Ma'an will re-examine the policy of publishing readers' articles to avoid the occurrence of similar mistakes." An additional step implemented since the incident is the inclusion of a disclaimer before op-eds noting the contents are the opinions of the author and not the news agency.

The Ma'an article is by no means the first case of European and UN funded anti-Semitism among Arabs in Israel.

A broadcast on official Palestinian Authority (PA) TV last October dehumanized Jews as "crows" and "rats," further calling them "foreigners" in Jerusalem, the 3,000 year old Jewish capital. The broadcast was funded by the EU, as well as European governments including Denmark and the Netherlands.

The various cases of blatant anti-Semitism are part of a wider trend of rising PA incitement against Jews.