An Open Letter to Jonathan Shapiro (aka Zapiro)

Holocaust inversion is arguably the most repugnant form of Holocaust denial.  It simultaneously minimizes the horror of that low point of humanity and the ongoing pain of its victims, and spreads a vicious and dangerous blood libel against the Jewish people.

Twenty-three years ago, when you penned a cartoon depicting then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a Nazi after his harsh response to the terrorist onslaught of the so-called Second Intifada, I wrote you an angry letter.

Surprisingly, your recent Holocaust inversion cartoon, a souped-up rehash of your last one, this time featuring Bibi Netanyahu, did not make me angry.  That is not because there is plenty to criticize Netanyahu for, nor because I have become desensitized to antisemitism, given the cesspool of hate in which we all now exist. It is because I recently read Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” and was struck by his injunction that the Capos should “be judged on a similar psychological basis [as the SS men and the concentration camp wardens].”

The Capos were of course the concentration camp prisoners who served the Nazis in exchange for better treatment.  They were often crueler and more brutal than the Nazi guards themselves, as they desperately tried to curry favor with their oppressors.

Yes, your cartoon is vile and antisemitic (so grotesque that I refuse to republish it – anyone who wants to see it can find it on the web).  It is also certain to exacerbate the Jew hatred that is increasingly rampant throughout the world, including in South Africa.  And yet I am not angry at you.  I just feel sorry for you. You are so desperate to ingratiate yourself with your comrades, who cannot accept your humanity unless you shake off parts of yourself, of your Judaism, that you are willing to propagate a blood libel more hideous than anything the most diehard antisemite would dare to publish in a civilized society.

You are in fact worse than the concentration camp Capos, who after all had no way of escaping their miserable situation.  As a free man, you have willfully chosen for personal advantage to stand with and cheer on the most vile antisemites of the world.  You are pathetic, and I especially feel sorry for your family who have to share in your shame.

Here is the full letter I sent you on April 21, 2002, most of which (except the part about any admiration I once felt for your work) is just as applicable today as it was 22 years ago.

Dear Mr. Shapiro:

I am writing to express my outrage at your recent cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a Nazi, with the Star of David emblazoned on his armband and cap in place of the dreaded swastika.  Let me say at the outset that I have never been a supporter of Mr. Sharon’s politics.  I will even concede that reasonable minds could differ about the moral propriety of Israel’s recent actions in response to the vicious and incessant terrorism that has wreaked havoc on its civilian population.  You clearly are of the view that Israel’s actions were not morally defensible (although your opinions appear to be based on unquestioning acceptance of Palestinian propaganda); I, for what it is worth, believe that the effort to root out terrorism was a moral and strategic imperative.  You are entitled to make your political point, but the manner in which you have chosen to do so is shameful and dangerous.

I am sure you have received substantial “feedback” regarding this particular drawing, so I will not dwell on obvious and familiar territory, that is, how preposterous it is to compare Israel’s offensive against terrorist strongholds to the Nazis’ genocidal madness, and how such an analogy is an insult to the six million Jews (and a like number of non-Jews) who were brutally murdered by the Nazis, as well as a spit in the face of survivors who bear tattooed arms and emotional scars to this day.

In truth, it is not the substance of your cartoon that is so very disturbing.  That, I am afraid to say, is hardly original and contains nothing that has not been trumpeted by countless anti-Semites over the past several weeks.   Indeed for years that misguided thinking has been the balm used to assuage European Holocaust-guilt, and more recently to justify attacks on Jews and Jewish sites throughout Europe and beyond.   Hate speech is easy to recognize and we Jews generally take it from whence it comes and treat it with the disdain it deserves.  In one ironic sense, your cartoon is more honest than most of its ilk, because it does not bother to try to set up the phony distinction between and anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.  The Star of David that you equate with the Nazi swastika is not just an element of the flag of the State of Israel but it is the symbol of the Jewish people.  As such, your cartoon is an attack not just on Sharon, not just on Israel, but on the entire Jewish people.  It is hard to imagine any non-Jew in the civilized world producing such a brazen piece of anti-Semitic garbage.

And that is what is so disturbing about your cartoon, that it  springs from a Jewish pen.  And not just any Jewish pen, for every creed is bound to have its glory hunting contrarians, but this is the work of a Jewish satirist who had been widely admired (including by me) for his integrity and morality in response to injustice.  That a cartoon denying the horror and the ultimate evil of the Holocaust – because by comparing these events that is exactly what your cartoon does – should come from such a Jew is astounding.  And what a PR bonanza for enemies of Israel and Jews everywhere!  When your drawing appears in Jeddah and in Damascus, as it will, it is not the hackneyed substance that will garner nods and smirks of approval, but the “fact” that even a Jew can see how Israelis are no better than Nazis.  And the more astute readers will observe that the Arab propaganda campaign is working, even sweeping in susceptible Jews to their cause.

Clearly your desire was to make a hard-hitting political statement condemning Mr. Sharon’s tough strategy for dealing with terror.   Other cartoons of yours have had the same object and I have disagreed with those too.  It appears that rather than seeking and speaking truth, you have succumbed to the “politically correct” orthodoxy prevalent in your immediate environment.  That is your prerogative, but on this occasion you went too far.  This time, the means you chose to score your political point was at the expense of millions of innocents whom you have indiscriminately insulted and harmed.  Hiding behind your Jewish name, you have broken new ground in Jew-vilification, and your example will be emulated and may even spur further acts of anti-Semitic violence.  The entire Jewish people will suffer because of your vanity and thoughtlessness.

This cartoon was a terrible mistake. It was wrong – disgracefully and despicably so – and you should recognize that and admit it.  Do not attempt to justify or rationalize what you were trying to achieve. We get the point, but we cannot accept the way you have chosen to make it.  I do not believe it is too late for you to apologize for insulting the memories of millions and for fueling the anti-Semitic flames that are raging around the world.   If you are not even willing to do this much, may the hollow eyes of six million souls haunt your dreams forever.