By monitoring and translating Arabic media, Memri and Palestinian Media Watch have opened an important window into the Arab world's views. The Memri blog frequently flags political cartoons like these; after seeing enough of them as I scroll down my feed, I "got used to" the poison pen style.
Fortunately, Tim Marshall of Sky News reminds us that this demonization isn't something we should "get used to." His wake up call was sparked by this cartoon in the PA-controlled daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida:
The context? Coverage and commentary of Hillary Clinton's about-face on Israeli settlements, Marshall explains:
Then comes another article. "Why, Mrs. Hillary? How much did the Zionists pay you as a bribe?"
Aha, now the Americans are in the pay of the dastardly Zionists. This shift through the gears of paranoia and prejudice then accelerates backwards to the 1930's and a cartoon which could have come straight from the poisoned pages of the Nazi publication, Der Sturmer (The Attacker).
Uncle Sam looks into the mirror to see himself reflected as hook nosed religious Jew wearing a hat with the star of David. What a noxious collection of images, all rolling into the big lie that Jews control the world . . . .
When Israeli soldiers commit criminal acts in times of war, or scrawl 'Death To Arabs' on walls in Gaza, they are rightly taken to task, but this casual, day in day out, demonization of a people passes as normality in the Arab world, and without mainstream comment elsewhere. Why?
Why, indeed?
