Starstruck

In a recent LA Times editorial, Walt and Mearsheimer chide U.S. presidential candidates for pandering to the Israel Lobby.

What you don’t see on the online version of this column is the cartoon that accompanied it:



How nice. Uncle Sam's hands manacled in handcuffs shaped like a Star of David. Not only is it a grotesque use of the Jewish star, but it literally depicts the United States as imprisoned by pro-Israeli interests.

Indeed, in substance, it’s not so different from this Saudi cartoon that depicts a stereotypical Jew riding Uncle Sam like a jockey on a stallion:


And, while we're on the subject, can I take a moment to rant about the seemingly endless lack of originality (and taste) displayed by editorial cartoonists? For as long as I've been reading newspapers, I've seen the Star of David drawn as a barbed wire fence or a brick wall; I've seen Stars of David replacing the five-pointed stars on the American flag; I've seen cartoons of people crucified on Stars of David and stabbed by Star-of-David-shaped knives.

Of course, cartoonists like to respond that the Star of David is fair game, since it appears on the Israeli flag. On this matter, though, I think they should once and for all heed the advice of political cartoonist Jimmy Margulies. He notes:

Yes, [the Star] does appear on the flag of Israel, but the Star of David by itself is a symbol of all of Judaism. Better to either put the label Israel where appropriate, or use the Israeli flag in its entirety…. just as a writer is on solid ground by getting his or her facts and sources as accurate as possible, cartoonists can still offer strong commentary, without being inflammatory in ways which do not help the central point of the cartoon.