The University of California Berkeley student newspaper has apologized for an editorial cartoon of Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz that had been denounced as anti-Semitic. “We have seen with sharp clarity the pain and anger caused by an editorial cartoon that ran online in our opinion section on Oct. 18, and we apologize for this,”…
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StandWithUs condemns an anti-Semitic cartoon published October 18 in the Daily Californian, the UC Berkeley student newspaper. The cartoon portrays a caricature of renowned Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz who recently spoke at the university. The image contains classic stereotypes of Jews: a figure with a hooked nose and thick lips acting in a conniving and dishonest manner to cover up a bloody crime.
In 2016, the UC Regents issued its “Final Report of the Regents Working Group on Principles Against Intolerance.” The report states:
“Anti-Semitism, anti-semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California… The Regents call on University leaders actively to challenge anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination when and wherever they emerge within the University community… The University seeks to educate members of the community to recognize, understand and avoid biases, stereotypes and prejudices.”
“Affirming the UC Regents recommendations, StandWithUs strongly urges the UC Berkeley administration to implement the Regents Policy by condemning this anti-Semitic cartoon. We also call upon the author of the cartoon to publicly apologize, and use this as an opportunity to learn about anti-Jewish stereotypes, and the role they have played in recent modern history in marking Jews as sub-human pariahs and targets for genocide,” states Roz Rothstein, CEO StandWithUs.
“It is shocking to see a depiction of a prominent Jewish intellectual echo traditional anti-Semitic cartoons and tropes, which were designed to incite hate towards Jews, in a student newspaper at a prestigious American university. When stereotypes are repeated and recirculated, they become confused with reality. They dehumanize the target group, turning them into marginalized objects of hate. This cartoon fits that description,” states Noa Raman, StandWithUs Northwest Campus Director.
The cartoon also demonizes Israelis, casting them as coldblooded murderers and Palestinians as blameless victims. Slandering Israel while erasing the destructive actions of Palestinian leaders and terrorist groups from the picture only fuels more hatred and conflict.