The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith has attacked a cartoon in the Feb. 27 issue of Newsweek magazine for presenting “virtually all the anti-Semitic stereotypes that we hoped would have ended in this country with the destruction of Hitlerism. To find the symbolism which led to the Holocaust echoed in Newsweek is repugnant to many Americans, Jews and non-Jews alike.”
The cartoon, by Simpson of the Tulsa Tribune, shows Premier Menachem Begin with a heavy protruding nose and identified by a Star of David on his shoulder, standing next to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, shown with an extended hooked nose, and President Carter, shown with thick lips.
All of them are looking at a melange of signs on stores which read: “West Bank bank–finance your Phantom jets here”; “West Bank Hilton”; “Hymie Donald’s matzo ball burger”; “West Bank taco bagel”; and “Lox and chips.” Begin is saying: “But…it’s only temporary…” The caption under the cartoon states: “One view of Israel’s West Bank settlements: Growing signs of erosion in U.S. support for Begin.”
Asked for his reaction to the ADL’s denunciation of the cartoon which was issued in a telegram to the magazine by ADL director Benjamin R. Epstein, Edward Kosner, Newsweek editor, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “Newsweek isn’t in the business of merchandising anti-Semitic messages. We are sensitive to this. If the cartoon appeared offensive, we’re sorry about it. All political cartoons have a political edge. This apparently went over the edge in the eyes of some people. We’re sorry they’re upset.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
