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Cartoon attacks David Horowitz
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A political cartoon circulated at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee depicting a prominent national conservative author last week is sparking a free expression debate across the nation.
David Horowitz spoke at UWM Thursday evening, drawing supporters and protesters, which resulted in a dialogue over a cartoon he is calling anti-Semitic.
In an interview with The Badger Herald, Horowitz said the depiction of him with a hooked nose by the Muslim Student Association in Milwaukee was inappropriate for a campus organization to circulate, but it was still protected under the First Amendment.
“I haven’t asked anybody to be outlawed or put in jail,” Horowitz said. “Sure, it’s free speech. It’s just inappropriate for a campus. I don’t think the university should have banned it from being posted, but had that been a cartoon on blacks or gays, there would have been hell to pay — there should be one standard rule.”
Some conservative bloggers called for disciplinary action by the university, but UW-Madison political science professor Kenneth Mayer compared the situation to The Badger Herald reprinting a controversial Danish cartoon offensive to some Muslims in February 2006.
“This is exactly like the Danish cartoons. Horowitz sees them as different, but that’s just his interpretation,” Mayer said in an e-mail. “Muslim students saw those cartoons as hateful religious bigotry and wanted the Herald punished. But free speech rights do not depend on how a viewer or listener interprets the speech or message.”
Horowitz, however, responded to Mayer both on conservative blogs and in an interview, saying reprinting of the cartoons by various media outlets was different since the cartoon was circulated by a campus organization.
“It’s nothing like the Danish cartoons,” he said. “There, the editors of a newspaper made a decision that those cartoons were fair comment. What ensued was riots and some people were killed globally; that’s an attack on free press.”
Horowitz said he took more issue with how UWM’s MSA allegedly tore down 2,000 of the posters promoting his event.
Mohamed Elsayed, president of MSA in Milwaukee, said the group never called for the event to be canceled and emphasized that even hate speech is protected.
“No flyers were removed by anyone from MSA or anyone affiliated with MSA,” Elsayed said in an e-mail. “In typical demagogic form, Horowitz tries to characterize the very legitimate and very justifiable attack against him as an attack on all Jews. How ludicrous.”
Sabih Khwaja, president of UW-Madison’s MSA, said the cartoon did not contribute to a meaningful discussion.
“We the UW-Madison MSA feel that the cartoon was is in poor taste and does not offer constructive dialogue or discourse,” Khwaja said. “Furthermore, we reject the notion that fascism can be association with any religious organization.”
Horowitz said universities should have a “zero-tolerance policy for those who disrupt or interrupt invited speakers” since all sides of issues should be able to be discussed in a civil way. He pointed to his October visit to UW-Madison as a model example as opposed to Milwaukee, where 16 individuals were escorted out.
“At least half the audience (in Madison) that came to hear me speak was hostile, but was very well-behaved,” Horowitz said, laughing at the exception of who he called the “loony” Sept. 11 conspiracy theorist Kevin Barrett who was “assholed” out of the event. “I’ve never objected to people disagreeing with me.”
Horowitz said disruptive attendees often have him on the defensive before he even begins his lecture, detracting from the experience.
Mayer said Monday universities are often “not very good at standing up to those who want to impose a heckler’s veto,” and should protect controversial speakers, but added there is a difference between posting cartoons and disrupting a speech.
UWM spokesperson Tom Luljak said the university has policies against tearing down approved signs and brings in extra security for high-profile events where “passions run high.”
“Our goal is in no way to inhibit the freedom of speech but guarantee that it can take place and the individuals will remain safe in the environment,” he said. “We certainly recognize the need to balance the right for individuals to speak, as well as those who are opposed to protest.”
Horowitz said the UWM Post was one of only a handful of campus newspapers to print an advertisement from his organization denouncing MSA’s alleged connection with the Muslim Brotherhood and a malicious terrorist agenda. Horowitz said MSA differs from groups such Jewish organization Hillel.
“MSA isn’t a religious or ethnic group; it’s not like Hillel or Campus Baptists, it’s a political organization and it supports jihad,” Horowitz said. “I would have the same feeling with Hillel if they were bringing extremists to campus — they shouldn’t be political, they should be representing all people.”
Milwaukee’s MSA refuted the claims in their pamphlet distributed on campus along with the controversial cartoon.
“Given that the MSA is an organization that openly operates hundreds of independent chapters across the country, why hasn’t the right-wing Bush administration closed them down?” the pamphlet said.
Greg Steinberger, executive director of Hillel in Madison, said both the Milwaukee MSA and Horowitz use similar anger-baiting techniques to promote responses.
“My guess is if a Jewish student was walking down in the Union and saw [the cartoon], many of them would feel upset, offended or threatened,” Steinberger said. “We’ve got to do better with civility and can’t focus on this heightened hostility.”
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I thought only liberals complained about being PC?
That cartoon has nothing to do with Jews. Sorry David, but that’s what your nose really looks like. Albeit, it looks a little exaggerated, but It’s called a “caricature” and they’re used in cartoons all the time.
so let me get this straight:
the herald runs the danish cartoons that made a lot of students on this campus (not to mention people around the world) really upset.
the herald runs ads falsely blasting the m.s.a. for being a jihad organization
then an ass-clown like david horowitz makes the front page over what he perceives is an anti-semetic cartoon
i know i’m not the only only one asking this, but why does the herald so unfairly cover this country’s muslim community? the decision to make this news is a poor one, especially when the senior class president was just busted for stealing…
Moderate Islam at work.
There is nothing in the cartoon against Jews in general. What are these guys talking about? Horowitz is the subject of criticism, and he is really being “ludicrous” by trying to divert it.
google ‘prophet of doom.’
“Greg Steinberger, executive director of Hillel in Madison, said both the Milwaukee MSA and Horowitz use similar anger-baiting techniques to promote responses.”
Hey, just like Internet trolling!
Ahhhhhh…. The religion of ‘love and peace’ shows us yet another shining example of how they choose to embrace ‘diversity’! The Muslim Student Association authored and published this hate speech in cartoon format. It is fully reminiscent of the Nazi cartoons that vilified the Jews before and during World War II. If history repeats (and it often does), the next phase for Islams’ persecution of Jews will parallel tatooed ID numbers, concentration camps and emaciated corpses.
We appreciate these 1st Amendment protected expressions by the Muslim Student Association and its affiliates, here in the Land Of The Free and The Home Of The Brave. By your words and deeds, we know you, oh house of islam! Thanks again for the reminder…..
But… his nose does look like that. That’s not racism. That’s accuracy.
why was this frontpage news?
Could an article miss a point more? This is beyond simple. Remove yourself from your opinions on Horowitz or the MSA. And follow me here, let’s show some basic critical thinking, just for a minute, it won’t hurt:
Is the cartoon offensive? Not to me personally, but the depiction of a stereotype of a Jew can certainly be seen by some as “offensive.” And isn’t the offense in the eye of the offended? One would never question any other minority if a cartoon offended them in the same way. SO YES.
Is Horowitz attempting to somehow constrain the cartoonist’s right to free speech? NO. As he clearly states in the article, he’s not calling for arrest, or censorship, or anything like that. The cartoonist is free to print anything they like. He specifically says he doesn’t think the university should ban it, just that they should come out conclusively as saying it’s an offensive cartoon. Really not unreasonable at all, and very clear in motive and intention.
It’s really that simple you ignoramus’. Why even print this story as if there are 2 sides? Students at a place of “higher learning” really should not be fed such drivel. Keep up the insipid work Badger Herald, some day, 5th graders the world over may marvel at your logic and reasoning abilities.
Somebody said something mean on the internet. How is this front page news, especially given the other stories in today’s BH? Where is the significance?
That’s like your opinion, man.
Where’s the beef? No arson, no rioting , no murder - how does this guy expect to get anything changed?
Where’s my Piss Muhamed?
Does anyone else think it’s really weird that the man is dressed in a Nazi uniform…..but Horowitz thinks he looks “too Jewish?”
“i know i’m not the only only one asking this, but why does the herald so unfairly cover this country’s muslim community?”
Is this supposed to be a joke? This article is clearly Anti-Semitic. David Horowitz has the right to speak freely so even if this cartoon wasn’t Anti-Semitic it shouldnt have even been printed. There are 2 or more muslim opinion writers that work for the Herald that almost everyday write about issues about islam and many times bash Israel and Jews. dont give me that BS
For the sake of accuracy, it was 6 individuals, not 16, who were asked to leave Horowitz’s UW-Milwaukee event. It is possible to check such statements for accuracy by contacting the UWM Union administration, which is what I did.
Everything has context. Here the context is global jihad. Global jihad has two main components: 1) world domination by sharia law with the concomitant destruction of free societies and 2) genocide of Jews and non-submissive Christians (as well as Hindus, atheists, etc). The methods of global jihad, including those of the short and long-term, include 1) demographics (i.e., infiltration of liberal democracies by Muslim immigration to crumble them from within), 2) terrorism, 3) intimidation, 4) unconventional military attacks, and 5) propaganda. On the last point, the propaganda is almost exclusively genocidally anti-Jewish. Even when it is superficially anti-American, it relies on the premise that “the Jews/Zionists control America” or vice versa. In the places controlled by Arabs and Muslims, anti-Semitic cartoons (to mention one device) like the one the MSA used to attack Mr. Horowitz are not only common but are indeed a staple of their media and culture. Moreover, the bizarre, but nonetheless effective, labeling of Jews as Nazis is also status quo. Finally, the hooked nose is the sine qua non of the Arab anti-Jewish hate cartoon; since one cannot affect the shape of one’s nose by cultural choices, these are racial statements, not religious. Therefore, what we see in the actions of the MSA, here and many other places, is simply their transplanting of what they have back in their hate-filled home countries to our beloved country. It is not, at root, different from the ideology that led Arabs to murder thousands of Americans on September 11th.
It was shameful the way students at UWM acted when David Horowitz was trying to speak. I am sure those same students would have sat mesmerized had Ahmadinejad been standing up there spewing his venom about the west and the evil Jews. Why do they like to speak of the 1st amendment so often, and then trample on the 1st amendment of others who have differing views from theirs.
amen and amen
The University of Wisconsin has always been a Marxist, Socialist, far-left loon city.
They muzzle any ideology that differs from their grubby, liberal concepts.
Get a job, people!
get a fricking life
Mitch Cumstain? Is that your real name? Conservative moron.
I attempted to post a comment explaining how the MSA cartoon is a part of global jihad, and it has apparently been censored by the powers that be.
the MSA is a student organization out to educate ignorant people about the true islam that is practiced by a majority of the muslims in the world and not by the MINORITY of extremists who claim they are acting in the name of islam. i dont what you mean by the MSA is a part of a “global jihad” but i promise that it isnt exactly a place where terrorists get together, smoke hookah, and talk about how much they hate americans. lol.
Predictable. UW protects hate speech of those they tolerate & hate the free speech of those they don’t. Precictable. If you cannot win the arguement with honest facts, degrade and diminish them, just like toddlers. Predictable. Today’s college children totally ignorant if Islam’s history, from running African slavery for thousands of years to Armenia to N.Africa to Europe to ….. The kind, loving faith. Predictable. College profs with rediculous bias promoting censorship. Centers of higher learning. Predictable.
I have heard Horowitz speak and I’d like to see the evidence that he is “facist”. The idiot who drew the cartoon probably doesn’t even know the definition of the word “facist”. He probably calls anyone to the Right of Marx by that name. NONSENSE.
As far as the cartoon being anti-semetic, I would be more concerned about that “facist” label than the nose on the caricature but Horowitz’s nose is not especially large from what I can remember ( although he does look Jewish in my estimation). If I were Horowitz, I think I would not pull the “religeon card” in this instance.
That being said. I very much like Horowitz and I agree with most of his statements. I believe that he is a true patriot fighting the far left which seeks to dictate over our lives.
GO DAVID! I LUV YA!