Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is calling on the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay to condemn and remove the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, from his position for posting an anti-Semitic cartoon – depicting Jews as unjust, bloodthirsty dogs – on his blog.
On June 29th, Falk posted the cartoon in question of a menacing dog in a Jewish scull cap labeled “USA,” urinating on Lady Justice while eating human flesh and bones. The cartoon was later removed.
According to the ADL, the cartoon shows Falk’s bias against Israel and is part of a larger pattern of anti-Jewish bias.
“Mr. Falk has a long record of incendiary and blatantly biased criticism of Israel, including statements comparing Israeli defense measures to Nazi atrocities,” Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director wrote in a letter to Pillay. “In a 2008 BBC interview he defended his comparison of Israel treatment of Palestinians in Gaza as a “Holocaust.”
The ADL believe his actions are indefensible.
“This cartoon is blatantly anti-Semitic and conveys the message that Jews and Americans care little about what is just and moral,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “While Mr. Falk writes on this blog in his personal and not professional capacity, the message of hatred in this cartoon nonetheless directly contravenes the principles of the Human Rights Council and of the United Nations itself.”
Falk apologized Wednesday for posting the cartoon on his blog and said that he had not realized it would be deemed anti-Semitic.
“To be clear, I oppose any denigration of a people based on ethnicity, race, religion, stage of development, and believe in the human dignity of all people in their individual and collective identity,” Falk wrote on his blog. “Beyond this, if we are to have a sustainable human future we must also make peace with nature, and treat animals with as much respect as possible.”
