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Media Watch
ADL Letter to the Chicago Tribune
Note: The Chicago Tribune has made several attempts to acknowledge concerns raised by ADL and others in response to the May 30, 2003 editorial cartoon by former Tribune artist Dick Locher, which depicted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a hooked nose and implied that Jews are motivated solely by money.
After the cartoon appeared, the paper directly addressed the concerns in a June 1 commentary by Chicago Tribune public editor Don Wycliff. In his column "When a cartoon offends readers," Wycliff stated: "… there are lines that a cartoon should not cross. On Friday, our editorial page ran a cartoon that crossed all the lines."
Furthermore, the Tribune's editorial page editor, Bruce Dold, admitted that the cartoon's message failed on several levels. "I think Dick Locher intended to comment on the influence the U.S. can exert through the foreign aid it provides to Israel," Dold said. "I think that's all Locher intended. But the cartoon carried several other messages that could be seen as drawing on anti-Semitic symbols and stereotypes. It also implied that the U.S. is bribing Israel to support the road map to peace, but there is simply no evidence to support that. On those levels, the cartoon failed."
Following is ADL’s letter to the Chicago Tribune:
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Mr. R. Bruce Dold
Editorial Page Editor
Chicago Tribune
435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
To the Editor:
Sadly, the Tribune has reached an all-time low with the publication of the May 30th editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and President George Bush. This cartoon, playing on age-old anti-Semitic stereotypes, could easily have been found in publications such as Egypt's Al-Ahali newspaper, which regularly prints cartoons blaming the world's ills on the Jews.
It is shameful that a publication such as the Tribune would print a cartoon that implies that Jews are motivated solely by money, feeding into classic anti-Semitic canards. This is reinforced by the graphic imagery that depicts Sharon with the hooked nose historically used by bigots to represent "greedy" and "manipulative" Jews. To add insult to injury, the cartoon implies that Israel is only interested in pursuing peace if tempted with money.
At best, the publication of this cartoon signifies the Tribune staff's insensitivity and ignorance about anti-Semitism. At worst, it demonstrates a troubling bias. We can only hope that it was the lesser of these two evils that influenced this disgraceful decision.
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Sincerely,
Shoshana Buchholz-Miller
Associate Director
Anti-Defamation League
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Note: A similar letter from ADL appeared in the Denver Post on June 6, 2003.
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Media Watch
ADL monitors electronic and print media reports about the Middle East |
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