Illustration promotes

‘prejudiced bigotry’
Steve Baggs’ illustration in the Emerald (“The Middle East’s wonderful future,” Oct. 13) was one of the most despicable pieces of anti-Jewish and anti-Christian religious-political propaganda and prejudiced bigotry I’ve seen in a long time.
The characterization of Jews and Christians as darkly evil and greedy was false and vicious, especially in light of ongoing suicide-homicide bombings by those groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad whose aim is to undermine any road map for peace in the region. It reminds me of the anti-Semitic cartoons and articles published in Nazi Germany, and applauded by the Islamic Conference this week in Malaysia when it called for the destruction of Israel and America.
Shame on the Emerald for publishing this kind of wicked hatred. It is a disappointment to those of us who work for peaceful coexistence.

Libby Bottero

Eugene

Illustration caricatures

inappropriate, inaccurate
I am writing in response to Steve Baggs’ editorial cartoon published in the Emerald on Oct. 13 (“The Middle East’s wonderful future”). I was shocked to see this form of blatant anti-Semitism appear in our local campus newspaper.
Baggs included several elements that are patently offensive. Baggs implies with the words “You’re my bitch, ain’t-cha Georgie!” that there is a widespread conspiracy wherein Jews control the world.
This falls under the same line of lunacy as those who make the claim that it was a Zionist conspiracy that was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, instead of al-Qaida terrorists. Baggs also implies that the caricature of Ariel Sharon represents all Jews with the kippa placed upon Sharon’s head (Sharon is rarely seen wearing a kippa) and a Star of David pinned to Sharon’s jacket. The cartoon thus implies that Jews are something less than human, thirsting only for money and violence. This cartoon should be offensive to anyone, and its inclusion in the paper demonstrates a dangerous kind of insensitivity on the Emerald’s part.
The Emerald needs to offer an apology to all Jewish students and the general campus community for publishing anti-Semitic cartoons such as this.

Sol Hart

graduate student

‘Biased cartoon’ illustrates

narrow world view
I think that in order to be fair, as people love to be here in Eugene, Steve Baggs should draw a cartoon representing the “Muslim Middle East Road Map” to go with the Oct. 13 cartoon, “The Middle East’s wonderful future.”
Maybe a picture of Yasser Arafat with dead babies and blown-up busses, Saddam Hussein with dead Kurds and kids, and Osama bin Laden with dead Americans would sum up the Muslim view just as accurately as Baggs chose to sum up the Jewish and Christian view with his biased cartoon.
Baggs should thank his lucky stars he lives in America, where he is allowed to draw freely whatever he wants. He’d probably be severely punished for drawing an anti-Muslim cartoon if he lived in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, etc.
But feel free to keep on criticizing, Baggs. People like you, and many others in Eugene, who have lived their whole lives in Eugene, don’t speak Arabic or Hebrew, and have never ever been to Israel or any of the surrounding countries, always have so much to say. Isn’t that ironic?

Matthew Peltz

senior

Judaic studies
Follow this link to veiw the response from Editor in Chief Brad Schmidt
Click here to view the related Editorial Cartoon by Illustrator Steve Baggs (10/13/03)