Pokémon is perhaps the most easily recognisable video games franchise in the world, being famous in both the west and the east. In some parts of the world however, its know for the wrong reasons. In Saudi Arabia for instance, Pokémon has been accused by some Islamic fundamentalists of indoctrinating young Muslims into the Jewish faith. In 2001, the Grand Mufti actually went as far as to put a fatw on Pokémon, arguing that the game promoted Zionism by depicting multiple images of the Star of David, as well as several Christian crosses. In Qatar and Egypt, the fatw was upheld, causing all Pokémon-related merchandise to be pulled from stores. The issue was made worse after a rumour began to circulate that Pokémon was actually Japanese for I am Jewish. Eventually, Nintendo themselves were forced to weigh in on the issue and make a statement about the perceived Zionism of the Pokémon franchise, adamantly denying any such link.
