The Arab propaganda drive in Britain has moved into the smart illustrated weekly field with the publication of “The Middle East,” a magazine styled on Newsweek, It is reportedly funded by Kuwaiti money and its publisher is Afif Ben Yedder, He is not known in publishing but the editor of the new magazine, Richard Purdy is a notorious pro-Arab journalist.
In its introduction, the magazine said “The Middle East is the first international publication to be written specifically to satisfy the interests and the information needs of the top men in business and industry, government and finance throughout the 26 nations of the Middle East.” Not unexpectedly, the “twenty-five nations” do not include Israel.
The magazine’s message is much more sophisticated than past Arab propaganda material. However, the message comes through with such items as “Whitehall has come to recognize that Britain’s economic stability is widely dependent at present on Arab goodwill.” This plush magazine contains large advertisements from big companies. There is a two-page center spread from Flat, Deutsche Bank, Lufthansa, Caterpillar, Continental Bank of Chicago and a number of Arab banks and airlines.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
