|
IN A CARTOON
WORLD OF HIS
OWN
Editorial
cartoons --
political
commentary
in
illustrated
form,
usually with
some attempt
at humor --
are
intentionally
subjective.
That being
the case,
they
generally
escape
critical
analysis.
But when the
cartoonist's
premise
contradicts
the
essential
facts of his
subject
matter,
criticism is
mandatory.
So it is
with Tom
Toles'
editorial
cartoon in
the December
16
Washington
Post.
http://www.ucomics.com/tomtoles/2004/12/16/
Out of Touch
Toles
portrays
Palestine
Liberation
Organization
leader
Mahmoud
Abbas as the
eager belle
of the peace
process
ball,
Israeli
Prime
Minister
Ariel Sharon
as
determined
not to
dance.
Despite a
spotlight on
Abbas - the
presumptive
leader in
the campaign
for
Palestinian
Authority
president -
Sharon looks
away,
insisting "I
still can't
find a
partner ....
If I wait
long enough,
she'll go
away and
prove it."
Cute, but
completely
wrong. In
recent days,
. Sharon
has
suggested he
might
coordinate
Israel's
planned Gaza
Strip
withdrawal
with a new
PA
leadership,
provided it
is committed
to keeping
order and
blocking
terrorism.
The
withdrawal
was to have
been
unilateral
because
under the
late Yasser
Arafat,
there was
no Palestinian partner
willing to
negotiate in
good
faith. Whether
Abbas
will make
consistent
efforts to
block
terrorist
attacks
remains to
be seen;
. The
Israeli
government
has said it
will attempt
to
facilitate
voting in
the PA's
January 9
presidential
election, by
withdrawing
troops from
population
centers,
easing
passage at
checkpoints
and so on,
even though
this could
entail
serious
security
risks, such
as
terrorists
slipping
into Israel
to carry out
attacks;
.
Egyptian
President
Hosni
Mubarak
urged
Palestinians
not to miss
the
opportunity
presented by
Sharon for
progress
toward
statehood;
. Abbas -
Toles'
willing dance
partner -
has
criticized
the
"militarization"
of the "al-Aksa
intifada"
(2000 to the
present), in
which nearly
1,000
Israelis
have been
murdered by
Palestinian
terrorists,
while
praising the
tactics of
the first
intifada
(1987 -
1992), in
which more
than 230
Israelis
died. (The
main
difference
between the
first and
second
uprisings
was not
non-violence
versus
violence but
the greater
intensity of
violence in
the second,
including
suicide
bombers and
top-down
direction by
affiliates
of Abbas'
own Fatah
movement and
PA
"security"
forces,
among other
groups); and
. Abbas
got
headlines
for calling
for the end
of armed
attacks, at
least for
the present.
But he
continued to
insist on
the same
deal breaker
Arafat
invoked at
Camp David
in 2000 -
the demand
for
Palestinian
Arab
refugees and
their
millions
of descendants
to "return"
to Israel -
thus
destroying
it as a
Jewish
state. Abbas
also
rejected
refugee
absorption
by their
Arab
countries of
residence,
in contrast
to Israel's
resettlement
of hundreds
of thousands
of Jewish
refugees
from Arab
countries.
Furthermore,
Abbas has
been
attempting
to involve
Hamas in the
Palestinian
election
process,
rather than
eliminate
the
terrorist
group as
required
under the
"road map"
supported by
the United
States,
United
Nations,
European
Union and
Russia.
Blinders
Firmly in
Place
Toles
typically
stereotypes
Sharon as
manipulative
and
dishonest.
His December
16 effort
fits the
mold. He
draws as if
tracing with
an old and
sacrosanct
anti-Israel
template.
The news,
the facts,
don't really
inform his
work. For
someone
whose job is
to offer
intelligent
and clever
commentary
on current
events,
that's not
just a
weakness,
it's an
indictment.
Action Items
*Write to
letters@washpost.com
Send a copy
to Editorial
Page Editor
Fred Hiatt
at fredhiatt@washpost.com
and
Ombudsman
Michael
Getler at
ombudsman@washpost.com
Stress that
opinion -
whether in
editorials,
Op-Ed
columns or
editorial
page
cartoons -
must be
well-informed
opinion to
have value.
Point out
that Toles'
December 16
Washington
Post
cartoon does
not comment
on the news,
but rather
ignores and
even inverts
it.
* If the
cartoon is
reprinted in
your local
newspaper,
please
contact it
as well.
* Send
CAMERA a
blind copy
(bcc):
cameraletters@aol.com
Please use
this Action
Alert as
background.
Do not
forward it
to the news
media or
anyone you
do not know
to support
accurate
news
coverage of
the Middle
East.
With thanks,
Eric
Rozenman
Washington
Director
CAMERA |
