Evolution of an Outrage
November 26, 2003 12:03 by ManagingTeamIn 1819, Francesco de Goya painted the grotesque “Saturn Devouring One of His Children” :
In January, 2003 editorial cartoonist Dave Brown of Britain’s Independent penned this horrible allusion to the Goya painting, with Ariel Sharon eating a Palestinian child:
The Brown cartoon was then adopted by radical Islamic groups in India this summer as part of their vicious anti-America and anti-Israel campaign:
And now…the UK’s Political Cartoon Society has given the Brown cartoon first prize in its annual “Cartoon of the Year” competition, winning out over 34 other entries!
From the pages of a paper, to the global political realm, to professional approbation – has the “Demonize Israel” campaign gotten so out of hand?!
Contact the Political Cartoon Society here.
UPDATE: Here’s Israel’s real attitude toward Arab babies: “A week-old Iraqi infant has arrived in Israel to undergo an operation to correct a congenital heart defect,” the Associated Press reports. An Israeli organization called Save a Child’s Heart brought Bayan Jassem to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, south of Tel Aviv, whose director, Moshe Mashiah, came to Israel as a refugee from Iraq in 1951.
UPDATE: The founder of the Political Cartoon Society has written to us with this statement:
You have all taken this award completely out of perspective and context. Shame on you! We do so much good. If only you looked at our website properly you would have noticed that in fact we promote anti-facism and educate about the dangers of extremism.
Dr Tim Benson
Founder PCS
It’s hard to learn anything from the PCS site (it’s poorly done), but let’s assume Dr. Benson is right and the organization has done “so much good” to fight facism. If so, we have here a prime example of how the European left has warped its moral compass when it comes to Israel, falsely ascribing to Israeli democracy the most horrific characteristics of totalitarianism, while downplaying the greatest threat to all liberal societies today: radical Islam.
Kate Willner
12:15 am
Mar 29, 2004
Dear Mr. Benson,
Be honest with yourself, sir: you made a terrible mistake awarding anything but derision to Mr. Brown’s disgusting cartoon. Wit and a crafty pen without a thinking mind and kind heart will not create anything to help the human situation. Too little cannot be said or made of Mr. Brown. Freedom is a privilege that brings with it the responsibility for consequences of your actions. Both of you fueled the fires of antisemitism. Complete amends are impossible, but that does not obviate you from trying.
Having many decent people (and a few low-literacy morons) blast you for your mistake no doubt put you on the defensive–I read some of your feeble protestations to criticism of the society’s poor judgement: so you had good intentions–so what? ‘Dave Brown is a nice guy’–so what? There were no hooked noses on the people–so what? No Israeli insignia on the helicopters–so what? “…we do so much good”–not this time. “The cartoon was chosen because of its impact.” What kind of impact were you trying to make?
Viktor Frankl said that there are only 2 kinds of people: decent and indecent. Publishing a cartoon like this was not a decent thing to do. Nor was giving it an award.
Denied mistakes haunt us; this one will keep you company until you face it and own up to it. May God grant you clarity and the strength to do the right thing. And may God protect the lives of the innocent from the fallout of your terrible lapses of judgement.
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Anonymous
7:41 pm
Apr 01, 2004
you guys are sick you sons of bitches
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Dan K.
4:13 pm
Apr 29, 2004
Dr. Benson,
You wrote:
“It was voted for our members. That’s democracy for you. By the way, like me, many of my members are Jewish, except they don’t look at Israel through rose-tinted glasses.”
Perhaps you are aware that Adolf Hitler was also elected by democratic vote of the people? And, yes, there were even some Jews who voted for him.
If something or someone is democratically chosen, that does not mean that it is the most morally just choice. All it means is that the person (or cartoon) reflects the views, be they morally just or not, of the majority of the voters.
And that, Dr. Benson, is by far the most disturbing aspect of the case of your cartoon – that this is the view of the majority of your members, be they Jews or not.
Of course the second-most disturbing aspect is that you continue to defend the “choice” of your organization, when otherwise you could have chosen (and still could choose) to acknowledge how repugnant the cartoon is, and choose to take a stand and retract its first-place status.
But, it is becoming apparrent that you are just not that sort of person.
Dan K.
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MICHAEL THOMAS
5:15 pm
Apr 29, 2004
IF I MAY BE SO BOLD AS TO SPEAK MY MIND.
I AM ASTOUNDED THAT PEOPLE OF THE PRESS WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN TO ISRAEL, TAKEN THE TIME TO LEARN THE HORRIFIC HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE OR EVEN ONLY BEEN TO DACHAU AND STOOD ON THE SOIL AND FELT THE HORROR THAT WAS REAL CAN MAKE LIGHT OF THEM.
I AM NOT A JEW, BUT I HAVE BEEN THERE AND FELT THE HORROR, IT IS REAL!
THE FEELING IS NOTHING I WISH FOR ANYONE TO EXPERIENCE, BUT IF YOU HAVE THE POWER TO INFLUENCE OTHERS PERHAPS YOU MIGHT FIND A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE BY A TRIP TO GERMANY, IF YOU WISH A STRONGER LESSON TRY POLAND.
I WILL BET YOUR STATEMENTS, THOUGHTS AND LIFE WILL BE FOREVER CHANGED.
JUST A SUGGESTION,
MICHAEL THOMAS
drmet@pacbell.net
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MICHAEL THOMAS
5:26 pm
Apr 29, 2004
ooops,
I made a mistake in my statements above. Please for give me for my poor English.
I am sure that my 2nd grade teacher would be very upset I did not proof read my statements.
Still, I hate the idea this type of thing is still apart of this world.
Michael
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MICHAEL THOMAS
5:26 pm
Apr 29, 2004
ooops,
I made a mistake in my statements above. Please for give me for my poor English.
I am sure that my 2nd grade teacher would be very upset I did not proof read my statements.
Still, I hate the idea this type of thing is still apart of this world.
Michael
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MICHAEL THOMAS
5:26 pm
Apr 29, 2004
ooops,
I made a mistake in my statements above. Please for give me for my poor English.
I am sure that my 2nd grade teacher would be very upset I did not proof read my statements.
Still, I hate the idea this type of thing is still apart of this world.
Michael
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Georgia, USA
5:45 pm
Apr 29, 2004
I am not Jewish, and I find the cartoon totally unacceptable and of poor taste. I find the Muslim position in all this unacceptable. Their mentality to destroy the Jewish nation and all Americans is pure out ignorance at work. Where is their compassion for life & their morals ? This entire dispute is a waste of human lives, time and money and makes no point or conclusion that flies in my book. Why don’t they wake up and realize what they are doing is not of God !!!
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Alys
7:19 pm
Apr 29, 2004
This cartoon–and the fact that it was chosen as cartoon of the year!–is another evidence of the warped anti-Semitic mind. The impact of false reporting against Israel is rampant and obscene. Prejudice is blinding the judgment of media and governments. It is becoming more obvious that the nations who divided the Middle East out of greed for Oil [specifically Great Britain hacking off land for Jordan, France hacking land for Syria and Lebanon–and the UN and US forcing Israel's to give land to terrorists], are now themselves being threatened by oil terrorism in retribution.
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Anonymous
8:15 am
Apr 30, 2004
The cartoon is in all sense pure anti-semitic and nuisance to the state of Israel.
What good did it qualify to be chosen as cartoon of the year? nothing but hate for Jew.
Dr Tim Benson should be ashamed of himself to think that he is going any good by this kind of”work”
I tell him he shall ripe what he is sowing!
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Anonymous
9:57 am
Apr 30, 2004
“However I know Dave Brown and it was done in ignorance of this.”
-Dr Tim Benson
Founder Political Cartoon Society
Is Ignorance a criteria for reward? Are you, Dr. Tim Benson stupid too? You just shot your defence in the foot, or should I say you just ate your baby!? You are a bastard because you forget your heratage and the anguish of your people. I am not Jewish, but know a good case when I see one. Yours, sir is not a good case.
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Ana Jacob
5:30 pm
Apr 30, 2004
Mr Benson
I am daughter of a jewish father and a catholic mother, cousin of two young boys killed by palestinian homicide-suicide-bombers.
At the age of 15, I chose my religion. I was taught to respect all religions.
This cartoon is the most horrible I’ve ever seen.
You wrote:
You have all taken this award completely out of perspective and context. Shame on you! We do so much good. If only you looked at our website properly you would have noticed that in fact we promote anti-facism and educate about the dangers of extremism.
which context?
what good do you do?
In what way this cartoon educates about the dangers of extremism?
What about the Israeli children murdered by the palestinians? where’s the cartoon showing Arafat eating israeli children?
My opinion is that you and your association are extremely stupid. And that kind of stupidity is extremely dangerous!
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Robert Cowen
8:28 pm
Apr 30, 2004
There is a principle which Dave Brown, the infamous cartoonist in The Independent, should take to heart. If you cannot help don’t hinder. The aid and comfort which his horrible cartoon gave to an entirely undeserving terror machine will not do him any credit with hate filled Muslims who will as soon put him to the sword as we Jews.
There are many writers in The Independent whose editor is shamefully Jewish who cannot wait to make disparaging remarks about Israel. Alan Jenkins recently calimed that Tony Blair’s recent actions in support of the US in the Middle East had made Britain the third most reviled country in the world after US and Israel. Looks like Mr Blair got that right then when compared to the cowards in the EU.
Perhaps the most revealing item in the above posts is the point about Dave Brown becoming the object of a fatwa if he had transposed Sharon with Arafat. Brave isn’t he this Mr Brown who sits in liberal Britain and cows in front of implied Arab threats. These guys could have given Neville Chamberlain lessons in appeasement as could the 52 former ambassadors who deigned to criticise Tony Blair recently.
The barbarians are at the gates and these people are ushering them in. Some people never learn.
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mike
4:23 pm
May 19, 2004
you are real gay, he’s eating babies.
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Larry in California
10:34 pm
Sep 18, 2004
I visited Dachau in 1989, it was chilling to be in a place that was once an assembly line of death, and the death of Jews – God’s gift to the world (as the Messiah of mankind is a Jew). I stood in the tiled bathroom that was really a gas chamber, I saw the cement wall that Jews were lined up against and shot (and the bullet holes and scars in the cement are still there to recreate the horrible expereience for you). I saw the ovens. But what I found most disturbing of all was an area where there were large wooden posts stuck in the gound (at least the diameter of a telephone pole and approximately 15 feet high). The posts were shiny with a strong shellac looking finish. We asked what these posts were? We were told that this is where the Nazis would take certain prisoners and strap, hang, or mount them to these poles and torture them. I guess it wasn’t enough just to kill the people they hated, they had to torture them first. I wondered what tortures went on there and for how long they would last. To this day I can’t get the pictures of this out of my mind. When you stand on the grounds of Dachau, you know you are in a satanic and demonic place, you can feel it, and you can hear the voice of the blood of the Jews cry out from the ground. One (of conscience) cannot stay long in this place.
In 1991 I visited Israel with my church, we toured the whole Country. As soon as our airplane entered Israel airspace I could feel God’s presence there, it was an unbelievable and exhilirating feeling (one I honestly was not expecting). At that moment I knew I was in God’s Country and I felt humbled before God, because I suddenly knew that you don’t go to God’s Country without God’s permission. God had given me permission to visit his Country. While in Israel we visited nearly every Holy site, we saw the evidence that God’s chosen people (the Jews) had lived in this land for thousands of years, and that it was given to them by God. I found the Jewish and Israeli people to be the nicest, kindest people I have ever met in my entire life (and I have travelled to many places and have met many peoples), I could feel their love for other people and their love for life. I realized how the news media has distorted the world’s perception of Israel and the Jews.
In Genesis (1st Moses) Chapter 12, verse 3: God says to Abraham “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.”
The nations of the world should heed those words.
And before they curse the Jews they may want to visit Dachau first and feel the satanic demonic creepyness of that place, and then ask themselves if they really feel the same. They should also visit Israel and feel the love that the Jewish people have for others and for life, and then ask themselves if they feel the same.
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Steph
3:26 pm
Sep 27, 2004
Steph says odd
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throbbingturd
7:00 pm
Nov 20, 2004
what is wrong with eating babies? they are not even fully conscious yet. it is just like eating chickens or dogs.
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Sander
3:21 pm
Jan 26, 2005
My God.. you’re a sorry bunch. No wonder the world hates Israel so much. You keep looking for answers everywhere, except inside yourselves.
And about the cartoon: It’s not even close to describing the misery Sharon, his predecessors, and your colonialist state have brought upon the Middle East.
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James T.
12:39 am
Mar 09, 2005
I think the majority of you are completely missing the point of Brown’s cartoon. Is it grotesque? Yes. Is it a complete vilification of Sharon? Yes again. Does he deserve to win the award? Most definitely.
What Brown is pointing out, isn’t that Sharon’s a ‘monster’ because he’s a Jew. He’s a monster because he’s simultaneously perpetrating the same acts which he is condoning: violence against innocent civilians.
When are we going to stop looking at each as Jews, Arabs, Westerners, Europeans and simply accept one another as fellow human beings.
What I find particularly troublesome and frustrating is how anti-israeli comments are automatically construed as anti-semitic. People should be allowed critize the actions of the state of Israel, without that label being placed upon them. No one, including Jews, should be allowed to monopolize the status of victim. All of us must start realizing that the enemy is within ourselves and that we harm our own when we strike out at the Other.
For those of you that are either fuming in anger or nodding in agreement after reading this, I suggest you read Judith Butler’s chapter entitled ‘The charge of anti-semitism: Jews, Israel, and the risks of public critique’ in her book ‘Precarious Life’.
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Jez451
2:55 am
Dec 31, 2005
That last post seconded.
Are all Jews paranoid nutters, or just a select few?
Britain is more anti-Muslim than anti-Semitic.
Only a tiny handful of crazy people in the world want to “drive Israel into the sea” or whatever equally crazy phrase it is.
Please, this will sound blunt but for you crazy Zionists out there giving Jewish people a bad name – it’s NOT 1945 any more, get over it.
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