The news about this has been all over the Israeli media. (Ma'ariv, Ynet, etc.) They are accusing us of anti-semitism and incitment. One article even goes so far as to say that the red color of the cartoon background signifies blood and is therefore violent (red and black are also the color of the Nazi flag, and for that matter red is the color of the red flag of the Left). This is a ridiculous accusation. (http://www.nfc.co.il/archive/001-D-35615-00.html)
The articles in the media accuse Indymedia of publishing the cartoon. It is obvious that they have no understanding of what open-publishing is. The article was published without our involvement whatsoever, by the cartoonist himself in Brazil. We did not publish it and we did not put it as a feature.
Whether one agrees with the cartoon or not -- if it is simplistic or tactless -- is not the question. The Latuff cartoon should not have been censored. It is not incitement, it is not anti-semitism, it is not racism, etc.
Anyway, the cartoon was off the newswire and in the archive in a matter of hours due to other articles being published onto the newswire and the only way to get articles from the archive is to actively search for them.
Actcom, who provides the server became fearful and pleaded/demanded that we close the website. We are in the process of re-programming/improving the website design anyway, so we have shut the site for at least a couple of weeks and we are looking for a server outside of Israel so that we aren't as suseptible to being shut down.
I personally find this specific caricature somewhat juvenile. Further, I believe that the left's heavy use of zionist/nazi equations in general is politically ineffective. When Israelis (and for that matter most Jewish people) see/hear the equation, they immediately reject/ignore the content of the critique, regardless of its merit.
Instead, the use of the Apartheid analogy is much harder for Israelis to reject and therefore a much more effective tactic. Other than that, to plainly state something along the lines, "The Jews have be oppressed for thousands of years, Inquisition, pogroms, the Holocaust...now how can the Israelis be so blind and careless to their own occupation and oppression of others...don't you have any ability to self reflect on your own suffering and not do it to others?"
Edward Said used this to great effect: "Israel is neither South Africa, nor Algeria, nor Vietnam. Whether we like it or not, the Jews are not ordinary colonialists. Yes, they suffered the Holocaust, and yes, they are the victims of anti-Semitism. But no, they cannot use those facts to continue, or initiate, the dispossession of another people that bears no responsibility for either of those prior facts.... So the choice is either apartheid or it is justice and citizenship. We must recognise the realities of the Holocaust not as a blank cheque for Israelis to abuse us, but as a sign of our humanity, our ability to understand history, our requirement that our suffering be mutually acknowledged....Why do we expect the world to believe our sufferings as Arabs if (a) we cannot recognise the sufferings of others, even of our oppressors, and (b) we cannot deal with facts that trouble simplistic ideas of the sort propagated by bien-pensant intellectuals, who refuse to see the relationship between the Holocaust and Israel? Again, let me repeat that I cannot accept the idea that the Holocaust excuses Zionism for what it has done to Palestinians: far from it. I say exactly the opposite, that by recognising the Holocaust for the genocidal madness that it was, we can then demand from Israelis and Jews the right to link the Holocaust to Zionist injustices towards the Palestinians, link and criticise the link for its hypocrisy and flawed moral logic."(http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1998/383/op2.htm)
This is a much more effective critique than 'shut up you Zionazi!!', etc...Israelis have a much harder time combatting critique from this direction.
Bryan
--------------------- "Jerusalem police said on Sunday they are investigating who was behind a rash of posters in the capital depicting Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert stamping products from the territories with a nazi-era yellow 'Jude' Star of David, under the slogan 'Olmert caves in to the EU demands to label Israel's Yesha products.'...Police are also investigating the appearance of a caricature of PM Ariel Sharon kissing Adolph Hitler on the left-wing Indymedia web-site." (picture of cartoon shown in link) http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid =1070775779594&p=1008596981749
Dec. 7, 2003 Police investigate Olmert 'Jude' posters By STUART WINER
Jerusalem police said on Sunday they are investigating who was behind a rash of posters in the capital depicting Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert stamping products from the territories with a nazi-era yellow 'Jude' Star of David, under the slogan 'Olmert caves in to the EU demands to label Israel's Yesha products.'
The posters appeared on Hanevi'im and Straus Streets in downtown Jerusalem as well as other streets around the capital.
The cartoon featured in the poster was originally drawn by Israeli cartoonist 'Oleg' on behalf of the Women in Green – a movement against retreating from the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights - and appeared as a paid-for advertisement in last Friday's edition of the Post.
The cartoon was produced in protest over Olmert's "capitulation to European anti-Semites by metaphorically stamping Israeli goods with the yellow Star of David." Co-chair of the Women in Green Nadia Matar told Israel Radio, adding that anyone could have taken their pamphlet, enlarged it and hung it.
Matar denied any knowledge of the posters and suggested the picture was taken from the Women in Green's web site where the cartoon, along with previous drawings, also appear.
"Someone took it, and did good job," Matar said. "Perhaps we can get the same people to put them up every week, because we can't afford to do it."
Matar defended the theme of the cartoons and said it is Olmert's actions that are questionable. "The first step is to label the products with a yellow star and next it will be the people of Yesha. It is Olmert that is an outrage not the poster," she said.
Should the perpetrators be caught Matar said she will not press charges for breach of copy write. "Why should I, they did us a favor," she said.
Yesha Council head Benzi Lieberman condemned that action and told Channel 2 news that if they discover who hung the poster, they would report them to the police.
Police are also investigating the appearance of a caricature of PM Ariel Sharon kissing Adolph Hitler on the left-wing Indymedia web-site.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Ya'acov Edri (Likud) strongly condemned the posters and said he hopes the perpetrators are brought to justice.
"I see this as very serious, and I hope and believe the police will apprehend and arrest those behind it and bring them to justice," Edri said.
"When you make an extreme connection like that it is incitement and that is very dangerous," Edri continued. "It is making a clear connotation that Olmert is putting a yellow star on the settlers."
Olmert has recently drawn strong criticism from settlers for acceding to a European Union request to label products made in Israel with their city of manufacture, thus identifying those products that come from beyond the Green Line and in the territories.
"We have had enough of incitement in the past," Edri said referring to the period leading up to the assassination of former Prime Minister Yizchak Rabin during which posters and banners against the government's policies were condemned by some for their inciting content.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lopliansky strongly condemned the posters and ordered municipal worker to immediately remove them and city spokesman Gidi Schmerling said the municipality will register a formal complaint with the police against the perpetrators and press for charges if they are apprehended.
Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Ruby said police are investigating whether or not the poster can be considered incitement. "First we need to check if it is really incitement and if it is against the law," Ben-Ruby said. "We are also looking into where the posters came from."
Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yossef also spoke out against the posters.
"Although we are very against what he is doing we are also against the posters," Mor_Yossef said. "He [Olmert] might be a bit confused but there is certainly no place to suggest he is anti-Semitic. That is out of bounds".
http://www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=9959 Israeli police investigates Sharon's caricature
Jerusalem, Dec 8 (UNI) Israeli police is investigating the appearance of a caricature of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon kissing Adolph Hitler on a website and a rash of pictures of his deputy, Ehud Olmert, stamping products from the territories with a Nazi-era yellow ''jude'' Star of David in Jerusalem.
The star bears a provocative slogan ''Olmert caves in to the EU demands to label Israel's Yesha products.'' Sharon's picture appeared on the left-wing Indymedia web-site while his deputy's on Hanevi'im and Straus Streets in downtown Jerusalem as well as on other streets around the capital.
The right wing settler community is annoyed with Olmert for agreeing to stamp products manufactured in the territories with the name of the place, instead of Made in Israel stamp, complying to European demands which would lead to levies on the products that Israeli products are exempted from paying under special agreements.