Holocaust cartoon and hate speech double standards

Sheila Musaji

Posted Sep 3, 2009      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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Holocaust cartoon and hate speech double standards

by Sheila Musaji

An Arab group called the Arab European League (AEL) has published an offensive cartoon against the Jewish people on their website.  The cartoon shows two apparently Jewish men standing near a pile of skeletons with a sign that says “Auswitch,” presumably representing the largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz.  One pokes a bone with a stick and says “I don’t think they’re Jews” and the other answers, “We have to get to the six million somehow.”

According to Boston.com:  “The AEL took the cartoon off its website ( http://www.arabeuropean.org ), but republished it, prompting the prosecution to proceed with the case.  The group said that it would remove the cartoon again but that it would defend the case in court.” 

According to the Jewish Post the Dutch government will prosecute the AEL under speech laws over the Holocaust cartoon.  The public prosecutor’s office in the city of Utrecht said the cartoon insults Jews as a group and is therefore an illegal form of discrimination.  Prosecutors plan to press charges for “insulting a group and distributing an insulting image.  The Dutch arm of the Arab European League said it doesn’t deny the reality of the Holocaust, but published the cartoon on its Web site as an “act of civil disobedience” to highlight a double standard.

Obviously what the AEL has done is offensive, and it is a form of hateful speech.  If there is a Dutch law that covers such a cartoon, then it should be applied.  However, the application of such a law should be the same for everyone.  There is no way not to notice that when the incident of the Danish cartoons insulting Prophet Muhammad, these cartoons were republished in Holland by Geert Wilders, on his website, and displayed on a television program.  Dutch prosecutors said they would not prosecute Geert Wilders under the hate speech laws because:  “The cartoons are about the Prophet Mohamed, but don’t say anything about Muslims. None of the cartoons are offensive towards Muslims or contribute to hatred, discrimination or violence against Muslims.’”

Harris Zafar calleed this a double standard: “AEL says it does not agree with the view of the Auschwitz cartoon but posted the cartoon as to prove a point by “illustrat[ing] with cartoons the double morals of the West during the Danish cartoon affair.” ...  “Any fair minded person would agree that both cartoons are offensive and have no place in any society where mutual respect and tolerance are promoted between members of all faiths.  I do not defend AEL’s actions.  It is hardly fair to protest against the Dutch government by insulting Jewish people.  Jewish groups are correct in saying it was not reasonable for AEL to express its opposition to alleged bias against Muslims, by attacking Jews.  At the same time, AEL has exposed an apparent double standard on the part of the Dutch government.  Offending the religious sensitivities of the Jewish community is a crime, but offending the religious sensitivities of the Muslim community is not.  The concept of justice and fairplay would dictate that the same action should be treated in the same manner, regardless of who the offending party is.”

All of this unnecessary stirring up of animosity towards members of other faiths is what gains all the publicity.

Just last month, the King of Morocco was reported to have called the Nazi destruction of the Jews “one of the most tragic chapters of modern history,” and has endorsed a Paris-based program aimed at spreading the word among fellow Muslims.” 

And, this month, Muslims, Christians and Jews are in Krakow to pray for peace:  “Representatives of major world religions, the Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Grand Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger, Shear-Yashuv Cohen, Grand Rabbi of Haifa, and a significant Muslim presence from Indonesia, India, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Ivory Coast, Qatar, and key representatives of Buddhism and Hinduism, must participate.  Tuesday (9/10/09) they will visit the site of the former Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, symbolic site of the extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany and the sufferings of Polish and other peoples.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it was this sort of religious toleration that could be the focus of the news media?  It is tragic that such positive events are so marginalized that the impression is given that conflict is the norm rather than an aberration.

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