The LA Times: THE GUTLESS OFFENDERS AND CARTOON HYPOCRITES-IN-CHEIF

by Si Frumkin

It was reported, somewhat apologetically, that the major U.S. newspapers who are always in the forefront of the ongoing battle for the freedom of the press, free uncensored expression and who fearlessly go into battle to expose the evil politicians, generals, big businessmen, polluters and war profiteers have chickened out. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, Boston Globe and the rest of the media heroes decided not to print the 12 Danish cartoons that have caused all the recent problems worldwide.

This in itself isn’t much of a story. Those who follow these things know that this is not unusual. The media have a way of dealing with real danger that was evidenced when some of the biggies in print and TV media had made a deal with Saddam Hussein not to say bad things about him if he will allow their Baghdad bureaus remain open. There is also the pro-Palestinian bias that is motivated by Palestinian guns having been held to reporters’ heads, confiscation of film and demands – usually met - for the firing of those who report Palestinian brutality, savagery or phoniness of some the staged events.

The story is that the Los Angeles Times did print offensive cartoons, quite a few of them, certainly more than just a dozen, but they weren’t those offensive cartoons. They certainly were offensive but just as certainly the Times people knew that there would be no dire consequences – no one would be physically attacked, mobs wouldn’t set fire to the Times building and Times bureaus wouldn’t be closed in the faraway Middle East. The worst that could happen was that annoyed readers might cancel a few subscriptions and a few nasty letters would be written to the editor.

The Times could live with that. After all, in a city with no serious competitors where would these readers go? And furthermore, the cartoons were produced by Paul Conrad, a man with impeccable liberal credentials, a Pulitzer Prize winner and a truly talented artist, so who cares if a couple of rabbis and others express their disapproval.


Wait a minute, you say. The Times is better than that. The Times wouldn’t do this. Were they really and truly offensive? Maybe it is all in Frumkin’s mind? One man’s offensive is another man’s masterpiece, or something like that, you know.

OK, you may be right and I’ll let you judge for yourself. Here are just a few of them.

A Star of David formed of dead bodies – Palestinians murdered by Israel (9/20/82; a Star of David made of barbed wire encloses Palestinians (4/4/82); machine guns and automatic weapons form a Star of David (1/5/81); an Israeli soldier with a smoking gun in his hands stands on top of a pile of dead Palestinians, saying, “I’m willing to talk peace, but there aren’t any Palestinians to talk peace with”(4/27/88); an Israeli soldier firing at a dying Palestinian, a calendar below him with most days checked off and a caption, ”A Palestinian a day keeps the PLO away”; a monstrous Menachem Begin (he was the Israeli Prime Minister at the time) whose face is a nuclear cloud that is rising through a Star of David; the Israeli flag in which the Star of David in the center and the stripes above and below are represented by vertical lines counting off dead Palestinians (6/5/89); a bearded figure holding up a placard “Free Soviet Jews” standing on top of a suffering kneeling figure marked “Palestinians” - it shows that Soviet Jews were freed and supported at the expense of Palestinians; a cartoon captioned “Abraham and Isaac”: a huge bearded figure marked “Israel” is clubbing a child holding a rock; the large figure is saying, “Stop me before I kill again!” (Here Conrad is not only offensive – he is just plain wrong. Abraham did not kill Isaac!); Christ on a donkey accompanied by people with palm fronds is trying to enter Jerusalem and is stopped by armed Israeli soldiers, saying, “Jerusalem is a closed military area!”; Jesus rebuking a crying Moses, “Well, Moses, so much for our Judeo-Christian ethic”; Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley who was criticized by Jews for not denouncing anti-Semitic remarks by Farakhan is shown in Christ-like robes, a crown of thorns on his head and is captioned, “…and the chief priests and politicians shouted, ‘crucify him!’” (Quote from the Gospels on the crucifixion of Jesus) and more, much more.


So what do you say? Should we go and set fire to the Times building? Should we shoot the people who bring the Times to our homes? Should we threaten the Times editor with beheading? After all, this is what induced the Times and all the rest of the brave defenders of press freedom not to publish offensive cartoons, so it seems to work, right?

I think not. I will not sink to the level of the rioting barbarians. Much that the Times advocates and publishes offends me but I recognize its right to do so. But, I am also determined to expose hypocrisy and immorality when I see it.

And this is what this story is about.