The article, which was published in the online travel section under the title “What’s missing? The countries with no airports, railways, trees and world heritage sites”, provided a list of nations without the above resources, as well other categories including those without mountains, beaches or Olympic medals.
Another a category titled “No Banks”, the article read: “only three countries on the planet don’t have a central bank owned or controlled by the Rothschilds. Cuba, North Korea, Iran.”
The concept that the Rothschild banking family controls international finance is an antisemitic trope dating back two hundred years. In modern times it has been embraced both by Neo Nazis on the far right and extreme anti-capitalists on the far left. It is the latter group which has tended to spread the idea that three countries deemed to be the most hostile to American consumer capitalism are the only ones not controlled by “the Rothschilds”.
The piece was changed on Wednesday morning to remove any reference to countries without banks, after readers took to social media to express their dismay and anger at the article.
“This is gutter journalism, and utter lies. Shame on you for printing this filth”, one person tweeted, while another asked the Telegraph: “are you going to respond to the fact that you’ve published a well-known antisemitic lie in your paper?”
A spokesperson for the Telegraph told the JC that “this was a reference included in error which was removed as soon as it was brought to our attention. We apologise for any distress caused."
