A political cartoon by one of America’s leading cartoon artist is stirring uproar among American Jewish groups who are calling his work anti-Semitic.
In his March 25 cartoon, published in dozens of newspapers including the New York Times and the Washington Post, syndicated cartoonist Pat Oliphant depicts a woman carrying a baby being pushed off a cliff by a goose-stepping headless figure holding a Star of David with sharp fangs. The woman and baby are labeled “Gaza.”
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti Defamation League called the use of Nazi imagery “hideously anti-Semitic.” He added that cartoon suggests that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip resemble those of the Nazi regime. “The implication is of an Israeli policy without a head or a heart.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement arguing “It is cartoons like this that inspired millions of people to hate in the 1930s and help set the stage for the Nazi genocide."
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism called on online publication to remove the offending cartoon from their websites.
The Australian born award-winning cartoonist is known for his controversial drawings. During the recent election campaign he drew criticism after depicting vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin speaking in tongues.
The uproar over the anti-Israel cartoon comes weeks after Jewish activists rallied against another journalistic opinion piece. A column by the New York Times’ Roger Cohen on the Jews of Iran was at the center of the storm. Cohen, himself Jewish, visited Iran and wrote of the tolerance shown toward the country’s small Jewish community.
Cohen argued that despite difficulties, Iranian Jews are part of the society and enjoy an atmosphere of acceptance that is at times more welcoming than in some American communities.
In response, several Jewish columnists accused Cohen of ignoring what they see as persecution of religious minorities by the Muslim leaders of Iran.
After facing a barrage of critical letters to the editor of the New York Times, Cohen agreed to a public debate in one of Los Angeles synagogues where many Iranian Jews expatriates attend. He insisted that apart from Israel, Iran is the most democratic country in the Middle East. Facing accusations that Jews with whom he met in Iran were not free to criticize the government, Cohen answered that their praise should not be dismissed altogether. He also argued that the Iranian people pay little attention to the government-sponsored anti-Israel propaganda.