shiny
"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."
Cartoon Wars...
First there was a violent reaction to the cartoons printed by the Danish newspaper, then re-printed by others in the European Union. Embassies burned down. Flags were burned. Death threats were issued. National boycotts ensued. People threw rocks. Some people died.
And now? The retaliation continues -- through counterstrikes of cartoons.
You see, the Arab European League has decided that "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" Meaning that, in the interest of free speech, they'll try to print the most inciteful, hate-mongering cartoons they can in order to show everyone else the power of removing such taboos. After all, they have the right to do so, correct? Of course.
Interestingly enough, their cartoon submissions are not anti-Danish or anti-Europe. Nope. Pretty much all of them are antisemitic.
Which includes one of Hitler in bed with Anne Frank, exclaiming "Write THIS one in your diary, Anne!" Which I find funny on all sorts of levels. Not that the Holocaust or the death of Anne Frank are funny, of course. I simply think it's funny that it's a pathetic attempt to get the world's Jews riled up and expect them to do some flag and embassy burning of their own. That and the fact that, in the cartoon, Hitler's nipples are little hairy swastikas.
Continuing further, Iran's president, in a move to not be "out-nutted" by anyone else, has decided to hold an international contest -- let's see who can draw the "best" cartoon satirizing the Holocaust! (To be fair, it wasn't the Iranian president himself who suggested this; it was a newspaper -- the largest one, actually -- run by the government in Tehran.) Again, the statement is: "You think you can offend us through your cartoons? Fine. We'll do the same to you."
My response? Let 'em.
Let 'em have their fun.
It's not as if antisemitic cartoons are anything new. You can go back to Medieval times -- possibly earlier -- to find caricatures of Jews and their associations with the Devil. And you can turn to mpst Arab national papers to find cartoons with antisemitic overtones -- whether they be of the hook-nosed Jew controlling the media, or whether they be drawings of Ariel Sharon covered with blood after whacking Palestinian children to bits with an axe with a swastika on top of it.
Will there be an outcry by the world community? By the Jewish community? Probably. But no death threats. No demonstrations on the street which will turn into firey riots. No flag burnings. And I can guarrantee you that there will not be a burning of the Iranian Embassy in Israel. (True. There isn't an Iranian Embassy in Israel. But if there were, it wouldn't be burning, either.)
Come on! Who are the best people at making caricatures of Jewish people?
Jewish people!
Woody Allen. Jerry Seinfeld. Paul Reiser. Robin Williams. (True. He's not Jewish. But it's fun to pretend he is.) Gilbert Gottfried. Jon Stewart. Richard Lewis. Larry David. We're used to it! Hell, Werner Klemperer was Jewish and he played a Nazi on Hogan's Heroes! Robert Cleary was a concentration camp survivor who played... well, a concentration camp prisoner! (There's a fun scene in the Bob Crane biopic "Autofocus" where Robert is lamenting about how he has to cover up the numbers on his arm just so they could put on fake numbers on his arm.) The point is -- the Jewish community can out-do any bit of this that those who hate the Jews can do.
You know what would be great? If this "International Competition" to satirize the Holocaust actually happened. And they found the funniest one of them all and awarded it first place. And then the author unmasked himself and said "Surprise! My name is Josh Steinberg and I'm Jewish. And proud." I mean, they probably wouldn't have a sense of humor about it and they'd put a price on his head and he'd have to go into hiding forever. But for a moment he'd be proud. And so would the rest of us.
Let's see how this plays out...
(Acknowledgements to JewSchool for pointing me towards some of the content above.)
And now? The retaliation continues -- through counterstrikes of cartoons.
You see, the Arab European League has decided that "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" Meaning that, in the interest of free speech, they'll try to print the most inciteful, hate-mongering cartoons they can in order to show everyone else the power of removing such taboos. After all, they have the right to do so, correct? Of course.
Interestingly enough, their cartoon submissions are not anti-Danish or anti-Europe. Nope. Pretty much all of them are antisemitic.
Which includes one of Hitler in bed with Anne Frank, exclaiming "Write THIS one in your diary, Anne!" Which I find funny on all sorts of levels. Not that the Holocaust or the death of Anne Frank are funny, of course. I simply think it's funny that it's a pathetic attempt to get the world's Jews riled up and expect them to do some flag and embassy burning of their own. That and the fact that, in the cartoon, Hitler's nipples are little hairy swastikas.
Continuing further, Iran's president, in a move to not be "out-nutted" by anyone else, has decided to hold an international contest -- let's see who can draw the "best" cartoon satirizing the Holocaust! (To be fair, it wasn't the Iranian president himself who suggested this; it was a newspaper -- the largest one, actually -- run by the government in Tehran.) Again, the statement is: "You think you can offend us through your cartoons? Fine. We'll do the same to you."
My response? Let 'em.
Let 'em have their fun.
It's not as if antisemitic cartoons are anything new. You can go back to Medieval times -- possibly earlier -- to find caricatures of Jews and their associations with the Devil. And you can turn to mpst Arab national papers to find cartoons with antisemitic overtones -- whether they be of the hook-nosed Jew controlling the media, or whether they be drawings of Ariel Sharon covered with blood after whacking Palestinian children to bits with an axe with a swastika on top of it.
Will there be an outcry by the world community? By the Jewish community? Probably. But no death threats. No demonstrations on the street which will turn into firey riots. No flag burnings. And I can guarrantee you that there will not be a burning of the Iranian Embassy in Israel. (True. There isn't an Iranian Embassy in Israel. But if there were, it wouldn't be burning, either.)
Come on! Who are the best people at making caricatures of Jewish people?
Jewish people!
Woody Allen. Jerry Seinfeld. Paul Reiser. Robin Williams. (True. He's not Jewish. But it's fun to pretend he is.) Gilbert Gottfried. Jon Stewart. Richard Lewis. Larry David. We're used to it! Hell, Werner Klemperer was Jewish and he played a Nazi on Hogan's Heroes! Robert Cleary was a concentration camp survivor who played... well, a concentration camp prisoner! (There's a fun scene in the Bob Crane biopic "Autofocus" where Robert is lamenting about how he has to cover up the numbers on his arm just so they could put on fake numbers on his arm.) The point is -- the Jewish community can out-do any bit of this that those who hate the Jews can do.
You know what would be great? If this "International Competition" to satirize the Holocaust actually happened. And they found the funniest one of them all and awarded it first place. And then the author unmasked himself and said "Surprise! My name is Josh Steinberg and I'm Jewish. And proud." I mean, they probably wouldn't have a sense of humor about it and they'd put a price on his head and he'd have to go into hiding forever. But for a moment he'd be proud. And so would the rest of us.
Let's see how this plays out...
(Acknowledgements to JewSchool for pointing me towards some of the content above.)
Profile
In the interrogation room
August 19th
sandyquill
cheeseluver901
August 18th
lizardbeth
myspacebarbroke
August 15th
askjesse
August 13th
laughwithme
xOrAnDiXo
beccsaloser
August 12th
MakenZero
August 11th
ravager
Friends
- Aren't there better ways to supplement your income? Teacher arrested...
... - You know, if Christians and Republicans would get the...
... - And this is why Republicans and conservatives are full of shit. It makes shittons of sense for a...
... 20 Years of shiny@mindsay
1985 - 2005
Year 01: 1985
Year 02a: 1986
Year 02b: 1986
Year 03: 1987
Year 04: 1988
Year 05: 1989
Year 06: 1990
Year 07: 1991
Year 08: 1992
Year 09: 1993
Year 10: 1994
Year 11: 1995
Year 12: 1996
Year 13: 1997
Year 14: 1998
Year 15: 1999
Year 16: 2000
Year 17: 2001
Year 18: 2002
Year 19: 2003
Year 20: 2004
Year 21 and Beyond
Calendar
holocaust