1. Osnath said:

WHY ??? don't degrade us jews with something awful as this? don't lower us down to their level with such a deed. Hopefully we have more class than that.

2. Orlo said:

Stupid... utterly stupid...

3. Peretz Rickett said:

In every war up until modern times, the enemy was characterized and lampooned as, well, the enemy, and rightfully so. Modern Western civilization has largely stopped doing this in an attempt to be sensitive to multiculturism, and it is has lead to the pussification of the West. About time we picked up the old traditions. The only difference this time is that is that more of it will be true. Bring on the war propoganda - it's about time.

4. Jordan said:

This is a bad idea. Please, lets not stoop this low.

Let Iran post their cartoons, trust me, it will help Israel if we are calm and dignified.

5. Peretz Rickett said:

Jordan: "trust me, it will help Israel if we are calm and dignified."

How so?

6. Jordan said:

Europe just saw Arabs who they have previously supported (financially and politically) act in a vile manner... burning flags, death threats, racism, etc.

Europeans are now questioning whether hatred towards Israel is based on history or idiology. For the first time in 50 years, we have a great chance to win a great deal of support.

But if we act like animals, we will lose the one chance we have to prove that Israel is not a racist state and we really just want the right to exist.

Please don't screw this up by acting like racist pigs. Its not worth it.

7. Peretz Rickett said:

It has nothing to do with racism. If you want to call it something, call it behaviorism. I don't hate the Arabs and consider them my enemy based on their genetic makeup - it's not too noticeably different than mine as a Jew. I hate them and consider them to be my enemy (every single one until they surrender) because of their behavior.

We're talking about cartoons. Are you saying that the Europeans are so shallow that they will equate cartoons with the animalistic behavior of the Arabs? If that is the case and making some cartoons and war propoganda will spoil it all, then nothing was gained in the first place.

Can you distinguish the difference between cartoons and the Arab's crazed behavior or are you projecting your own shallow notions and understanding toward Europe?

8. Jordan said:

Peretz, (and others) please... don't screw up this very REAL opportunity.

Even if you think this contest is ethical (which hopefully most Jews don't), its not a smart strategy. No matter what you call it, the world WILL see it as racist hatred.

On many Arab blogs (ie, bigpharaoh.blogspot.com), Europeans are commenting that they are starting to see where Jews are coming from and maybe unconditional support for Arab nations wasn't such a hot idea.

Any short-term satisfaction you get from irritating your enemy, it can compare to having millions of new supporters in the free world.

9. Peretz Rickett said:

You didn't answer the challenge Jordan. If those in Europe, now observing the animalistic behavior of worldwide Araby and drawing appropriate conclusions, revert back to their old understanding just because of a few cartoons... then what was gained in the first place? In other words, if they are more concerned about some cartoons than the actual behavior, what have they really learned?

This is fundamentally what the issue here is anyway. Denmark's paper had every right to lampoon whoever they wanted, including Jews. I might get offended about it and express my distaste for anti-Semitism had their target been Jews, but I wouldn't rampage in the street with a thirst for blood that could only be quenched by the beheadings of a few innocents. The difference between us and them is our reaction to the lampooning. If getting a few more cartoons out there causes more animalistic behavior from the Arabs (as if they really needed an excuse anyway), and then Europeans blame the cartoonists or the publisher of the cartoons, then your whole theory that they have reevaluated their support of Araby is baseless in the first place.

10. Jordan said:

If you are looking to be vindicated that violence is far worse than offensive print... of course, your right.

But Peretz, I am just asking you to consider the consequences of running cartoons that "denigrating Islam and the Prophet" right at the time were millions are reconsidering supporting Israel, the one true democracy in the middle east.

Lets just sit back and let the nutbar President of Iran make the case for Israel for us!! Trust me, if we take the high road it will pay off in spades!

11. Bill Narvey said:

Ted,

I am shocked and dismayed by your posting calling for a cartoon contest to denigrate Islam and Mohammed.

This idea cannot possibly serve any useful purpose.

It will however hurt Israpundit's reputation and credibility, if it hasn't already just by posting this idea, as a responsible forum for an informed and considered exchange of ideas and mark it as an extreme right wing anti-Muslim reactionary blog.

Please think again at what you are suggesting, reconsider and remove this post from your Israpundit site.

12. allen said:

ibn gabirol, maimonides, judah halevi, levi ben gershom, there is a rich history of the abrahamic model that has been represented by various schools of thought. surely this is a proof of the unity in diversity of the Creator. its a shame, with all that The Most High has bestowed on creation, man-kind, indeed.

13. Larry said:

As a Protestant Christian I have always felt comfortable being a supporter of Israel as Israel is a democracy and as such will not do things to embarrass me as a supporter. On the other hand the liberal/leftist leaders of the mainline protestant churches will continually be embarrassed by the antics of the totalitarian muslim regimes in the mideast.

Please stay on the high road by focusing on the issues at hand. If the cartoons imagined are like those being published by Cox and Forkum, then cartoons are a good way to get the message out. C&F's cartoons are timely and to the point; eg today's "Undeniable", or yesterday's "Western Dhimmitude", or last week's "A Right to Blasphemy". http://www.coxandforkum.com/

My short list of the issues at hand are the following. If the imagined cartoons focus on the issues, then cartoons are fine. If the imagined cartoons end up being gross characterizations of Mohammed then those cartoons are no different from the anti-semitic cartoons regularly published in the Arab press.
1. These cartoons were published because Danish writers had expressed fears of muslim revenge---the Rushdie syndrome.
2. The Danish Imams added “French pig squealing” contest photos to the original 12.
3. Muslim press has a habit of publishing anti-semitic cartoons.
4. It seems that outlawing images of mohammed is a new law in the muslim books.
5. The left leaning press is strangely silent on the cartoon issue as it goes against their agenda. It was ok for Newsweek to falsely say Korans were flushed down toilets and muslims rioted---but is not ok to print the cartoons so the average Joe can judge for himself.

14. Osnath said:

Israpundit, please reconsider doing this, I want the world to see that we are a dignified classy people, not at all like these death worshipping stuck in the 5th century maniacs.

15. J. Lichty said:

Ted:

I will echoe the chorus here, and I have a feeling you posted this as satire, but if you are honestly considering this, turn back now. We do are not like jew-hating Muslim toddlers who throw tantrums and take every chance to demonize us.

Truth and justice are on our side. We kill when we have to, not because we want to.

16. reggie said:

Pussification? great word...

Keep up the great work Ted! I'll submit my cartoon this weekend.

17. allen said:

being niether left nor right, rather radically in the middle affords one the ability to be objectively subjective and subjectively objective. most in the muslim world, and in the world, are simply misguided. change is the only constant that doesn't change, it is the nature of The Most High, we are constantly evolving form one stage to the next, willingly, unwillingly, knowingly, unknowingly.

18. Bill Levinson said:

Peretz Rickett wrote "In every war up until modern times, the enemy was characterized and lampooned as, well, the enemy, and rightfully so. Modern Western civilization has largely stopped doing this in an attempt to be sensitive to multiculturism, and it is has lead to the pussification of the West. About time we picked up the old traditions. The only difference this time is that is that more of it will be true. Bring on the war propoganda - it's about time." I agree 100 percent.

The Islamofascists asked for it with this one

and they are going to get it, truth for falsehood and with compound interest.

19. Jauhara al Kafirah said:

I am going to comment as a cartoonist. You don't need to denigrate Islam in order to tell the truth about it. For a cartoon to be successful, it has to have an undeniable truth about it. The cartoons coming out of Barbary are not true, but rehash old racist stereotypes and libels. That is why they are so awful and repulsive. They aren't even funny. The best cartoons are those which look for the "naked Emperor"...in other words, the best cartoons tell uncomfortable truths that everyone else would rather ignore. I think the problem with the contest is in the wording, Ted. What you should say, is that we should have cartoons that tell the truth. Islam and Arab society and culture are so comically dysfunctional that the material just writes itself! Tragic, but true. Simply tell the truth. No need to embellish it....and be certain that you will piss of the savages when you do. That is not only a given. It's a bonus!

20. Dan Barkye said:

I don't want to have any part in this utterly childish, stupid, tug of war.

If I'm going to make war, I have other tools, not ethno- and religio-centrism.

If I don't do as they do, it leaves them in the mud, and me in my clean, sophisticated, powerful and determined class.

Dan Barkye

21. Shlomo said:

What could you possibly hope to achieve by doing this?

22. Solomon said:

Ted, I appreciate greatly the work you and Israpundit do. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree with the analysis, but that's beside the point.

Please put me down as someone who see's nothing constructive coming out of this.

23. Bill Levinson said:

Solomon, this is one of the BEST things we can do to fight Islamofascism. We must evoke worldwide hatred and contempt of Islamofascism (NOT mainstream Islam) and cartoons have historically been the best way to do this.

24. Proud Israeli said:

You make us ashamed to be Jewish! We want to live in peace. Enough with the racism - on both sides!

25. Leonard said:

Ted - this shows considerably poor judgement on your part. Please heed the advice of your readers and don't denigrate yourself or your site by sinking to the level of our opponents. We are already winning the argument through reasoned debate. Please cancel this posting or you will alienate your supporters.

26. Ed D said:

For Jordan, I, too, do not like this idea of cartoons; however, if by now (through many years of Jewish hatred), you have not yet seen the truth (I'm speaking of all Europeans),
then you would not recognize the truth if it hit you between the eyes. You wouldn't recognize the truth, even by bringing up the past history of anti-semitism in Europe which let's say never happened, but Europeans can't acknowledge the fact that the Jews in Europe took the brunt of hatred from the Nazis so that the French, Germans, etc. would not have to.

27. Leonard said:

Ted - we need to keep the moral high-ground. Can't you see the damage our opponents are doing to their cause world wide - by their violent reaction to the cartoons. Please don't self-destruct by giving them any ammunition. Now is not the time.

28. Ted Belman said:

I will be reponding to comments here once I take them into consideration in full. I do appreciate your input.

29. Bill Levinson said:

Leonard wrote, "Ted - we need to keep the moral high-ground. Can't you see the damage our opponents are doing to their cause world wide - by their violent reaction to the cartoons."

Fine; let the Islamofascists show the world that they are barbaric sub-animals by rioting. Our side is not rioting or breaking any other laws despite the stuff the Islamofascists have published. As an example, neither I nor any other civilized person even thought of burning down the nearest mosque because of this:

Payback through cartoons, truth for falsehood and with compound interest, is another matter. Ted is doing exactly the right thing and I support him 100 percent.

30. Solomon said:

Bill,

I understand that cartooning and lampooning can have a very important place in the discourse, but it has to be done very, very carefully.

On a regular basis the Muslim/Arab world comes forward, courtesy of sites like PMW and MEMRI, and hands us a stick to bludgeon them with...they hand it to us on a silver platter. I and many others post that stuff on a regular basis. You almost don't need to comment on it. Just show it to a Western audience and let them know this stuff isn't fringe, it's mainstream. In other words, just tell the truth and show them the images.

I can't speak for other countries, but I know that average, ordinary Americans, when confronted with this *are blown away by it.* They've never seen this stuff before. They get it right away. I'm talking ordinary, generally apolitical people. Anyone with any class gets it right away, they've never seen it. The MSM never presents it. I've done this many times and I can tell you how effective this is. Hell, I've showed my Kool-Aid drinking Democrat-voting parents the stuff that comes out of MEMRI and *even they* had to admit it might not all be a creation of the evil Bush, and that maybe we've got a legitimate threat growing out there.

The fact is, those images make the people who produce them look bad...very bad.

The Iranians are having a Holocaust cartoon contest? GOOD! I'll re-post every single one of them. That's to our benefit and shows the nature of the enemy of the West.

As Leonard said, we are *winning* the argument on the merits already.

If you go and produce stuff that looks the same, that turns off the average, ordinary person, even if you feel it's technically accurate, it will not reflect on the subject of the cartoon, it will reflect, badly, on its creator. It will not only give amunition to people who already hate Jews and Israel, it could turn off our most important constituency -- the great moderate, ordinary middle that either exists or potentially exists everywhere. It's a fine line but one we need to labor to stay firmly on the right side of. Some things might feel good in the short run, but they will be bad in the long run.

This is dangerous ground with many potential pitfalls. I urge caution.

Anyway, that's more than I intended. Take it or leave it. It's still a free internet. :)

31. blackie said:

RESPONSE TO BILL LEVINSON, YOUR POST OF FEB 9 (3:05 PM): In case you haven't noticed, the Muslims of the world almost unanimously stand unified on this issue. We're talking about 1.5 or so BILLION Jew haters! These "peace-loving" Muhammadniks are commanded by the Koran, Shariia Law, countless fatwahs, etc., to exterminate all humans of Jewish blood. In case you also haven't noticed, Jews never stand unified for any reason. And "Jewish courage" is an oxymoron these days. It's one thing to bluff and bluster in the media - quite another to physically defend one's self against these genocial savages. Practically speaking, Jews on this planet will be outnumbered approx. 100 to 1. There can be no doubt that when they are good and ready (after the appeasing, left-wing Israelis have voluntarily given away most of Eretz Yisrael), they will embark on a worldwide Islamocrusade that will not end until every last Jew is destroyed. And the naive and sissyfied Jews, who expect the rest of the world to protect us because we're too scared to protect ourselves, will realize too late that the rest of the world really doesn't love us tnough to save us. One thing above all will make possible the Muslims' "final solution" - JEWISH COWARDICE. So Bill, please don't deliberately insult and provoke them unless you are personally prepared to physically defend us. Hopefully, we are intelligent and creative enough to figure out a more effective survival tactic. This one strongly resembles a "death wish". RUACH!

32. Larry said:

Let me ditto Solomon and add that most Americans do not know what the word dhimmitude means. Since the mainstream media won't educate the public about muslims, then the bloggers need to fill that void with clear commentary and analysis. I have contended for some time that the bloggers are the new "investigative journalists" in today's news media.

33. Bill Levinson said:

Hey Blackie, did you ever notice that the Islamofascists have butchered Israelis by the hundreds (along with 3000 of our people on 9/11) without any provocation whatsoever? Meanwhile, they are using hate propaganda exactly as the Nazis did so they must be answered in kind, and with compound interest. In terms of propaganda, to paraphrase Lord Clifford in "King Henry VI," we must not bandy with them word for word but buckle with them blows, twice two for one!

Solomon wrote, "If you go and produce stuff that looks the same, that turns off the average, ordinary person, even if you feel it's technically accurate, it will not reflect on the subject of the cartoon, it will reflect, badly, on its creator. It will not only give amunition to people who already hate Jews and Israel, it could turn off our most important constituency -- the great moderate, ordinary middle that either exists or potentially exists everywhere."

That is true when you are dealing with people on an intellectual level. Unfortunately,

"All propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its spiritual level to the perception of the least intelligent of those towards whom it intends to direct itself." -Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), Vol. I

"...there was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger, 'and this will always be the man in the street.' Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology... Hatred and contempt must be directed at particular individuals." -H. Trevor-Roper (ed), The Goebbels Diaries, p. XX, cited in Regan, Geoffrey. 1987. Great Military Disasters. New York: M. Evans and Company.

If Germany's Jews had directed military-grade hate propaganda at the Nazis (during the early 1930s when freedom of the press still existed), the Nazis might have been stopped. The propaganda must of course be factual and precision-targeted. In the case of Islamofascism, a clear distinction must be made between Islamofascists and Muslims. The propaganda must NOT be directed against Islam, only against those who use it to justify violence and murder.

34. abu boo said:

This is a bad idea. The reasoning is *very* simple. You become something much like them.

We all know the enemy lies. They are required in various instances (kitman and taqiya) in order to protect the faith. We know them embellish. We know they demonize. We know they avoid reality.

This is sad that they do.

Jews don't do this. Jews shine the harsh light of truth, the light unto nations about this, and expose it for what it is.

Hold a mirror up to them. They cannot stand their own image. Don't add to it, or you detract from the image you show. Don't call them names or paint inaccurate pictures of them. They do enough themselves to enable you to hold up the mirror for all to see their true nature. Only expose their true nature.

This is true regardless of whether you are lampooning, or cartooning, or making a case against a group of terrorist supporting dhimmi-wits like ISM/PSM.

Give them the spotlight. They didn't intend for it to shine on them, and don't let them control it. The bright shining like of public scrutiny has a remarkably disarming effect upon dhimmi-wits.

But don't be inaccurate either. Don't embellish. Don't overcompensate for their past actions. This says more about the embellisher than the reporter/cartoonist/lampooner.

Let them continue to be the uncivilized. Just show them for what they are. Don't add anything that is not there. Do no evil, tell the truth. That should be sufficiently frightening for most. And it will be impossible for some to come to terms with. The argument is stronger and more lasting the simpler and more accurate it is.

35. Richard Charles said:

I agree 100% with Bill Levinson. The rest of you are "pussyficators.... cations....contortionists or whatever that word was!

36. Dan Barkye said:

I don't wish any foe to feel this here pussyficator.

37. blackie said:

RESPONSE TO BILL LEVINSON, YOUR POST OF FEB. 9 (6:14 PM): Hey Bill, did you ever notice that the Islamofascists (or any other Jew haters, for that matter) don't need to be provoked. They simply despise and want to exterminate all Jews, without exception. They don't need a reason. Your idea of cartoon provocation wouldn't have saved one of the 6 million "Kdoshim" from the Nazis then - and it won't save one of us from the Islamonazis now. Egghead Shakespearian quotes don't make much of an impression on 1.5 billion largely illiterate, self-pitying, genocidal savages. If you (and your "blog buddies") have the guts to stand up to them and "buckle them with blows, twice two for one", be my guest. Put your own head in the lion's mouth if you must, but don't be suicidal with the rest of our lives. Your cartoons (could you feature at least one that is hand-drawn) will not persuade them from making us all extinct. On the other hand, you could provoke them a giant step closer to their goal - before we figure out how we're going to survive. And you, Bill, with this excellent forum, should be a part of saving us - not sacrificing us! RUACH!

38. Bill Levinson said:

Blackie, my cartoons are directed primarily to Euro-American audiences to show them just how lousy the Islamofascists are. They are not targeted to Islamofascists, who don't need cartoons as an excuse to cut off heads or set off bombs. They were doing that long before the Danes published their Mohammed cartoons.

39. aerosquid said:

Already on it !