Latest Oliphant Cartoon Called "Hideously Anti-Semitic"

The Raw Story:

The latest cartoon by the most widely syndicated political cartoonist in the world has raised the ire of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which is dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism.

The ADL's director called the syndicated cartoon, published Wednesday and reprinted below, "hideously anti-Semitic."

Read the whole story: The Raw Story

Comments

[chaos4700]

Wow... this is the first time I've had to put this in a thread /starter/, but....

Noun, verb, anti-Semite. There's nothing anti-Semitic about criticizing Israel for committing war crimes against a civilian population that is essentially defenseless when it comes to air strikes.

[JacksonJones]

While it is certainly true that all criticism of Israel isn't anti-Semitic, some of it certainly is. For example, criticism of Israel that includes the mocking the victims of the Holocaust may be anti-Semitic.

See, for example:

chaos4700: "Really? How often do the pro-Israeli crowd throw the number 5.6 million into their arguments whenever it suits you? I think your own ancestors would disagree that the raw statistics are irrelevant. Or would, if they were still in a position to."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bromwich/thoughts-on-the-death-of_b_175395.html?show_comment_id=22089941#comment_22089941

[barrycourage]

Such criticism wouldn't be anti-Semitic if it were valid.

[Erdgeist]

My question is this, when is any criticism of the policies of Israel not anti-Semitic?

[WoodyTanaka]

Criticism of Israel is not necessarily anti-Semitic, but that does not mean that no criticism of Israel's policies are anti-Semitic.

For example, not an all inclusive list, but when one states that the policies of Israel are the policies of Jews, generally; when one criticizes the policies of Israel and attributes those policies solely to the Israelis being majority Jewish; comparing the policies of Israel to those of Nazi Germany where 1) there is no reasonable correlation between the two situations or 2) it is done solely in order to insult or hurt the feelings of Jewish people.

As I said, not an inclusive list, but I certainly would believe that these would qualfy as being anti-Semitic criticisms of the policies of Israel.

[chaos4700]

That's all well and good but I think unfortunately there /is/ a valid case for comparing Israel's tactics to those of Nazi Germany. Seriously. Read the first few paragraphs of this and tell me it doesn't remind you of what Israel has been doing in Gaza and the West Bank:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensraum
I agree that it's offensive to hurl the comparison if it has no basis, but then again, you can't stifle a valid comparison of government and military policy. Especially when such comparison serves as a warning for where these things tend to trend.

[Daniel007]

Your reproduction of the cartoon in the post seems to have cut off part of the original frame on its right side, omitting a critical part of the message. Perhaps your readers should see the entire cartoon frame?

[LincolnParkChicago]

What is cut out is a small figure of a woman clutching a baby and labelled Gaza. The eye on the star of david is looking at this figure. It is as if it is getting ready to devour it

http://rawstory.com/images/new/oliphant_gaza_israel_cartoon.jpg

[Freedomscap]

Oh, I see we got some know it alls in the house -- wouldn't you know. Typical.

No one else knows anything. Yeah, I gotcha.

[Mykel]

Oh, for Pete's sake, what do Zionists expect, when the emblazon the giant religious symbol that is the Star of David on an allegedly Western, secular, democratic state?

If there was a crucifix on the American flag, it would not, then, be "anti-Christian" for political cartoonists to show a cross trying to eat, say, oppressed Mexican-Americans or African-Americans.

Then again, America is a real, live, Western, secular, democratic state, unlike Israel.

Which brings to mind said Mexicans and blacks living in America: why do we have to see our taxes go to support Israel and its slaughter of the Palestinians?

What the Hell did WE have to do with the Holocaust?

[barrycourage]

And why do we have to see our taxes go to support urban schools and the immense financial resources needed to educate impoverished minority children?

What the Hell did WE have to do with slavery and segregation?

[Piatt]

We ought to be able to question the actions of the government and armed forces of Israel, particularly in Gaza, without being accused of anti-Semitism. That accusation is too frequently employed as a dialogue ender rather than starter.

[JTHC75]

Meh, I don't see antisemitism, but I do think it's not a very good cartoon. What does it mean? A headless goosestepping swordsman pushing a shark-toothed, snarling star of David on a unicycle? Huh, what? What's the symbolism here? Israel is on one wheel? Likud is a headless goosestepping swordsman?

[Freedomscap]

And don't even start with this "chosen" myth -- big lie.

[JacksonJones]

Right, the idea that the concept of a "chosen people" is that Jews think that they are better than or take precedence over other people is indeed a myth and a big lie.

Glad you're bright enough to see that.

[chaos4700]

Really? Then how come /every/ criticism of Israel is labeled as Anti-Semitic? How come Israel is the single country on the face of the Earth that has, by far, broken the most international laws, UN resolutions and human rights conventions and thus far goes unpunished?

[barrycourage]

It is a myth. An anti-Semitic myth.

----------------------------------------------

According to Judaism, the Jews are the "chosen people." This concept has been misunderstood by both Jews and non-Jews alike. Many people have come to believe that by calling themselves the chosen people, Jews are declaring that they think they are better than other religious and ethnic groups. What are the facts?

Being the chosen people does not mean that Jews have greater privileges than non-Jews. Rather, according to Jewish law, being the chosen people means that they have a special responsibility to uphold Jewish ethical teachings. The idea comes from a portion of the Torah (the Jewish bible) in which the Jewish people were "chosen" to accept the responsibilities of the Torah and to be a "light unto the nations," that is, an example of good behavior for all. But the "chosen people" concept has been twisted over time by some who say that the title proves that Jews think they are better than those who are not Jewish.Jews, like most groups, are proud of their heritage and identity. However, this does not make them better than anyone else.

(Cont.)

[barrycourage]

(Cont.)

Orthodox Jews interpret the "chosen people" idea to mean that they have a responsibility to keep the 613 commandments of the Torah. All sects of Judaism have acted on this ethical responsibility through their work on social issues.

Moreover, Judaism espouses the concept of the righteous gentile, whereby someone who is not Jewish and who follows the Seven Laws of Noah (requirements that establishes moral interaction, justice compassion for all of humanity) will receive the same rewards after death as a righteous Jew. Jews do not view being Jewish as an exclusive status reserved only for those who happen to be born into the faith. According to Jewish law, anyone can convert to Judaism by accepting the same responsibilities as the other members of the faith.

http://search.adl.org/search?q=cache:Y7bFeE9r5I8:http://www.adl.org/education/curriculum_connections/spring_2006/Using%2520Facts%2520to%2520Respond%2520Handouts.pdf+chosen+people++&client=adl&access=p&lr=&num=20&output=xml_no_dtd&site=adl&ie=&oe=&proxystylesheet=adl

[SolarArray]

Israel has become the ones they hated so many years ago.

[barrycourage]

How so? How many years ago? What were the circumstances then? What are they now? Who was and is involved? What were the pressures then and what are they now?

Can't wait to read your explication.

[MagisterLudi]

This what some educated Arabs think:
"Aside from Iran's satellite, Syria, no Arab country has shed a tear for Hamas. Indeed, mainstream Arab media have accused Hamas leaders of provoking a war they couldn't win.
The Sunni world recognizes that Iran's proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, pose a real threat to them.
Hamas leaders have been accused in the mainstream Arab media of provoking a war they couldn't win."

http://www.metimes.com/Opinion/2009/01/19/the_real_world_gazas_five_rings_of_fire/3092/

[Justtellthetruth]

And yet, are you aware that Israel helped START Hamas in order to undermine Fatah?

It's all a game. Peace talks are really just latitude to continue the settlement expansion, which, regardless of ANY peace deal or negotiations, have grown massively every year for 40 years.

The Israeli attacks are simply aimed at quelling resistance to the constant expansion that happens every year. The ones they are working on now are epic.

[JacksonJones]

Even if Israel is actually as cynical as you say it is (and I don't agree that it is), Hamas makes no secret of its intention to destroy Israel, and the factions of the PLO other than Mr. Abbas' only make weak efforts to disguise the fact that they have the same position as Hamas. But you don't ever write anything about that.

[MagisterLudi]

Ah, another mindless Hamas supporter.
Welcome.
My my heartfelt wish is that you experience living under Hamas for a few weeks.
And for your sake I hope you're not a socialist,communist, atheist, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, feminist, gay, like to wear shorts or like loud Western music.
Enjoy.

[longtimegone]

Forty-six postings on a cartoon; you've outdone yourself. There's a little discussion on white phosphorus going on elsewhere, when you're done insisting that all cartoons be evaluated equivalently. Incidentally, I'm probably not the only one who recognizes several of those forty-six posts as repeat offerings from you.

[msfsi]

when you finish spamming this thread with your anti-Islamic and anti-arab posts from neo-con think tanks, you may wish to thread-spam the article about human rights watch and Israel's indiscriminate killing of palestinian civilians.

[UtahLiberal435]

Uh, I'd call the cartoon righteously anti-Zionist.

As it should be.

[JacksonJones]

So you think the cartoon is saying that Jews don't have the right to self-determination in Israel? That, after all, is the anti-Zionist position.

[MagisterLudi]

That's exactly what UtahLib is saying. He's into Middle- East- for- Muslims- only narrative.

[MagisterLudi]

Amnesty International calls on the Hamas de-facto administration to:

- immediately end the campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats in which Hamas forces and militias have been engaged since the end of December 2008;

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE21/001/2009/en/9f210586-f762-11dd-8fd7-f57af21896e1/mde210012009en.html

Forth islamicist apologists!!!

[chaos4700]

You seem to be forgetting that their are many, many more articles on that site about Israel. Here's a few, just from Operation Cast Lead alone:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-army-used-flechettes-against-gaza-civilians-20090127

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-armys-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-clear-undeniable-20090119

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-soldiers-leave-gaza-homes-devastated-condition-20090123

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/amnesty-international-team-talks-gaza-survivors-20090121

[MagisterLudi]

as a person who posted numerous posts excusing Hamas crimes against humanity it is you that must be reminded of basic facts.

[JacksonJones]

Sorry, but you are bursting through an open door. The media's focus on Israel to the exclusion of the campaign of terrorism that she faces is one of the big problems with people's perception of Israel's actions.

[MagisterLudi]

Amnesty International: Hamas War Crimes Report:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE21/001/2009/en/9f210586-f762-11dd-8fd7-f57af21896e1/mde210012009en.html

Still waiting for that Oliphant cartoon.

[Richard Griola]

There are many people, including me, who Israel has attacked cities, namely Beirut, just to make a point.
Does that sound familiar?

[MagisterLudi]

Hezbollah engages in terrorism against Israelis, Americans, even Iranian dissidents in the West; supports Syrian occupiers of their own country; participates in human right abuses against Palestinains in Lebanon.
Yep... sounds familair. Nice people.

[discourse jockey]

Yes, it sounds like you accidentally left out the verb (persumably "think", or "believe"). That's very familiar indeed.

[JacksonJones]

You know, when people say that crticism of Israel isn't anti-Semetic (and I agree that it needn't be), it's comments like those in the "Khazar" threads below that make need to reply, "it may not all be anti-Semitic, but a lot of it seems to be."