In a very highly recommended diary, Kossacks were proudly presented with two cartoons depicting the nefarious Jewish control of Yale University. But there's a historical precedent to one of the cartoons - a very troubling historical precedent.
A recent Diary
Israyale argued that the vast Jewish conspiracy as preventing Dr. Juan Cole from being appointed to a position at Yale. The diarist chose to commission cartoons that he feels sums up his case.
The first cartoon depicts Yale being renamed Israyale. Very droll, a comic masterpiece. The second cartoon, however, depicts a band of trench-coated Jews darkly threatening the very, very White Yale faculty member with the clever line "Juan Cole sleeps with the Gefilitte Fishes."
Lovely!
I was very offended by this cartoon - being Jewish, Israeli, and sick of how Israel is depicted (often, not always) on DailyKos I argued that the cartoon was anti-Semitic. The reason why: I've seen this cartoon, this motif, in a different form before:
Hey, the hat has changed, but the message never does. Symbols matter, images matter. Political cartoons are a powerful medium. To say that we should view the Israyale cartoons solely in the context of the diary seems a willing neglect of reality - the cartoons are on the Web, now they've been picked up by other sites. The cartoons form their own message - a message of unintentional bigotry, but bigotry nontheless. Juan Cole is an accomplished scholar who stands on his own merit - this garbage does no dignity to the manner or his work.
The cartoons are an issue. We should discuss them.