An antisemitic ad has been published in one of the largest newspapers in Rockland County, the Journal News (aka Lohud).
The Agudath Israel has released a statement against the disgraceful ad, and is demanding an apology. The ad cartoon depicts an image of a puppet-master representing a Rabbi, who is manipulating what appear to be children on top of a pile of cash. The headline next to the ad says:
Rabbi holds the strings on $76M for East Ramapo School District
Here is the statement in response:
Agudath Israel of America viewed with alarm an incendiary promotional advertisement published today for an upcoming article in Journal News (Lohud), a popular newspaper in Rockland County.
The caption, “Rabbi holds the strings on $76M for East Ramapo School District… Coming Feb. 9,” appears above a puppet master using pencils and string to manipulate what appears to be children atop a pile of cash.
While the article, or even the identity of the “rabbi” (as though his “rabbihood” is somehow germane) are unknown, the caricature evokes the worst antisemitic tropes, and is categorically unacceptable. The concept of the Jew as a conspiratorial puppet master, covertly manipulating the world economy and events, harks back to at least the 1700’s, as further amplified upon in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Its imagery and underlying implications have stoked pogroms for hundreds of years, and was employed as recently as by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, who killed 11 worshippers in the largest modern mass shooting against Jews in America, at Tree of Life in 2018. We wonder how any article which emerges from an editorial board that approved such a hateful cartoon can pretend to be free from bias.
Agudath Israel calls for a full apology, and actionable commitment by Lohud to avoid bigoted imagery and coverage of the Jewish community in Rockland County in the future.
Whoever he is, you can bet that he does call himself Rabbi and you can also bet that they unless he actually does have control over how this money is being spent, they would not be saying it.
ReplyDeleteBoker Tov.
That's what happens when politicians and power brokers call themselves Rabbi and do in fact fight for control of millions of dollars in public funds.
I'm not saying that this is a mistake, just that it's the logical consequence.
The school board has destroyed the district. The public schools are falling apart and graduation rates are dropping.
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