In the run up to the 2012 U.S. presidential elections, Arab and Muslim media outlets have been featuring cartoons depicting the candidates — President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney — as well as the Democratic and Republican parties and the U.S. electorate as subservient to Israel and the Jews.
The cartoons in the ADL compilation are consistent with anti-Semitic caricatures regularly appearing in Arab and Muslim world depicting Jewish and Israeli power over and manipulation of the U.S. and the international community. While some of the featured cartoons include classic anti-Semitic imagery and stereotypes, others exhibit a more nuanced, yet still classically anti-Semitic portrayal of Jewish control over the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
They are the latest in an ADL series that highlights the Arab media's demonization of the 2012 presidential election and the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
In a compilation of election-themed cartoons from the Muslim and Arab press, ADL highlighted the repeated demonization of Jews, Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship, with offensive caricatures in the daily newspapers of Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria and elsewhere. The majority of the images depict the presidential candidates, Democratic President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, as pandering for votes from Israel and the "Jewish vote," or showing Jews as conspiratorially controlling the candidates and the democratic election process.
"For far too long, anti-Semitic cartoons have appeared in the Arab and Muslim press, often in countries where the press is tightly controlled by the government," said Abraham H. Foxman ADL national director. "It is shameful that this practice continues — even in countries with new governments and leadership — and is so widely accepted in these societies. It is time for political leaders in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and elsewhere to condemn these hateful images and for the owners and editors of the media outlets to stop allowing their publications to promote conspiratorial anti-Semitism and incitement against Israel."
One image from Syria portrays a stereotypical Jew balancing a ballot box on his finger while accepting cash from "Obama" and "Romney" (Tishrin, Aug. 3). Another cartoon published in the United Arab Emirates shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside of Gov. Romney's head with both of his hands on the steering wheel (Al-Ittihad, Sept. 25).
