The Anti-Defamation League on Monday urged editors of The
Economist magazine to issue a "full-throated apology" for publishing
an editorial cartoon that observers have deemed anti-Semitic.
The renowned magazine “cannot repair the damage of
publishing an anti-Semitic image with only half-measures,” the ADL said in a
statement.
The cartoon depicts U.S. President Obama as "hindered
in his efforts to reach an agreement with Iran by the machinations of a United
States Congress under the control of a nefarious Jewish lobby," according
to the anti-racism watchdog group.
The Economist initially published the cartoon by Peter
Schrank on Saturday, but removed the offending image from the article following
a backlash from readers.
The website added an editor's note to the article, about the
Obama administration's efforts to reach a final nuclear deal with Iran, which
reads: "The print edition of this story had a cartoon which inadvertently
caused offence to some readers, so we have replaced it with a photograph."
The cartoon still remained the top image on the site's
Middle East & Africa section on Tuesday morning (Israel time), but was
removed in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Jewish groups said the editor's note does little
to reverse the damage.
"This was nothing less than a visual representation of
the age-old anti-Semitic canard of Jewish control," the ADL statement
said. "And it conjures up yet another classic anti-Semitic myth - the
accusation that Jews have 'dual loyalty' and will act only on behalf of Israel
to the detriment of their own country. This is the stuff of the 'Protocols of
the Learned Elders of Zion,' recycled for a modern-day audience."
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, told the Algemeiner that “the cartoon fails to deliver anything but the
classic 'Israel controls Congress' stereotype.”
“The cartoon’s effect is to reinforce anti-Israel
stereotypes,” he was quoted as saying.
The Economist has been accused of anti-Israel bias in the
past and of distorting matters related to Diaspora Jews and Israel.
No comments:
Post a Comment