Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Groups Split on Cartoons

The eruption of violent Islamic protests over the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has triggered a sharp debate between Jewish organizations over whether they should be speaking out about the crisis.

The American Jewish Committee sent a delegation of its leaders to Denmark, which has come under harsh condemnation in the Muslim world for not stopping the initial publication of the cartoons. Leaders at the AJCommittee couched their support as a defense of free speech, not of the cartoons themselves.

This week, following the Denmark trip, another organization, the American Jewish Congress, was urging a restrained approach in order to avoid playing into the accusations of Iran that Jews and Israel were behind the publication of the cartoons.

“What could Jews possibly gain by lending credence to antisemitic and lunatic ravings of the president of Iran (especially in the eyes of Muslims who are not committed to his effort to make everything into a Jewish or Zionist conspiracy) by taking a prominent role in defense of press freedom and Western ideas of pluralism and religious freedom?” wrote the general counsel of the AJCongress, Marc Stern, in an opinion essay in this week’s Forward (see front page). “The desire to do so, and the impulse not to sit idly by, may be admirable but, at least here, they are not wise.”

The argument drew a sharp rebuke from the executive director of the AJCommittee, David Harris, who led the mission to Denmark. “Actions speak louder than words,” Harris told the Forward. “Jews are kidding themselves if they think they can sit this one out…. Are we supposed to duck for cover when this erupts and embassies are torched? What’s next? This is an attempt to intimidate, and we have a stake in ensuring it does not succeed.”

In an obvious swipe at the AJCongress, he added, “Those organizations that have historically defended freedom of press and First Amendment privileges should be especially responsive to such threats.”

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, noted that while Jewish organizations were not eager to become embroiled in the cartoon affair, they were eventually drawn into it when Muslim groups asked them for their position. Jewish groups, he said, also felt the need to speak up in response to the Iranian accusations that they were responsible for fomenting the trouble and the hypocrisy of Arab regimes that expressed outrage at the cartoons, while allowing their media to publish antisemitic articles and caricatures.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.