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Anti-Semitism: Arab World
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Cartoons and Extremism: Israel and the Jews in Arab and Western Media
By Joel Kotek
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 For decades, the Anti-Defamation League has monitored and exposed the anti-Semitism that has pervaded the Arab and Muslim print media. ADL is known for its compilations of editorial cartoons featured in Arabic-language newspapers, where all too often, the exaggerations intrinsic to these caricatures propagate age-old anti-Jewish stereotypes and myths.
In an effort to provide historical context to these modern-day cartoons, ADL, the Community Security Trust and European Jewish Congress have co-sponsored the publication of Cartoons and Extremism: Israel and the Jews in Arab and Western Media by Dr. Joel Kotek (Vallentine Mitchell, 2009).
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An Antwerp-based historian, Dr. Kotek connects the dots between these contemporary cartoons and anti-Semitic caricatures throughout history, from medieval times through Nazi-era propaganda.
The juxtaposition of images from anti-Semitic materials from centuries ago with the cartoons that appear each and every day in mass-print newspapers in the Arab and Muslim world is startling and alarming.
From the Foreword by Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director:
 Joel Kotek’s study of anti-Semitic cartoons in Arab and Western cultures is a vital contribution to an understanding of the resurgence of anti-Semitism in our world today.
Kotek’s decision to focus on cartoons as a way to understand anti-Semitism is one we share. ADL has been monitoring anti-Semitic cartoons in the Arab world for decades and produces regular reports on the latest manifestation of this phenomenon. Cartoons both tell much about a society and can have an impact on attitudes.
This book is particularly valuable because of its comprehensive approach to the issue and because it relates current cartoons in the Arab and Muslim world to the long and pernicious history of images about Jews in the Christian world.
We learn many things form Kotek’s analysis. First with all the talk about the “new anti-Semitism” reflecting the connection of anti-Semitism to anti-Zionism, the truth is there is far more about this anti-Semitism that is old rather than new.
Secondly, it reminds us how easily the centuries-old conspiracy theories about Jews that emerged in Christian societies can be adopted and adapted by very different cultures, in this case the Islamic world. It speaks to the unique character of anti-Semitism (all forms of hatred have things in common and that which makes each unique), the idea that the reality about Jews is not apparent, it is secretive, poisonous, and powerful. We see this in images of Jews as having secret rituals, of Jews accused of repeating the murder of Jesus, of Jews being the secret power in the world.
Thirdly, Kotek reminds us that anti-Semitism both in the Arab and Muslim world and in the West is a mainstream phenomenon, not something on the margin. These cartoons have appeared in publications that are read by the public on a regular basis. He reminds us, if we needed reminding, that anti-Semitism, more than 60 yeas after the Holocaust is not only still alive in the West, but has developed and stubbornly maintained a potency in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
Finally, Kotek alerts us to the two great dangers of the continuing anti-Semitism in the Arab world. First, if there is to be hope for peace between Israel and the Arab world, the hate found in these cartoons must cease and be countered by education for peace and respect.
Even worse, if such hatred continues, it can become the lynchpin for violence against the State of Israel and the Jewish people that we witnessed in Europe in the 20th century. Kotek’s study should be a wake-up call for all who take seriously the words “Never Again.”
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