The cartoons appear in the SECTION labeled "Anti-Semitism in the Arab/Muslim World."

The headline is actually, "The U.S. Presidential Candidates: Cartoons in the Arab Media."

The text labels the four themes as:

* "The close relationship between America and Israel and/or the Jews;" * "The influence of the Jewish lobby on American decision makers;" * "Jewish control of the Western media and economics;" * The American administration's unwavering desire to satisfy Israel and American Jews."

Did you actually read the text, or just jump to the comics?

Now, I agree that anti-Isreal, anti-Zionist and anti-AIPAC sentiments are not actually anti-semitism. But the ADL does not limit its work to anti-semitism, extending it to other groups and to Israel.

I ask you, Mr. Ely, where would you have had them post these cartoons? They put them in their Anti-Semitism section, in their Arab/Muslim world subsection (and not the US or International subsections). If you disagree with where they posted them, suggest something else. If you think that they should not have posted them at all, say so.

But complaining about a headline that was not actually a headline? Please!

Of course, you neglect to mention the text that introduces these cartoons:

"As part of ADL's ongoing monitoring of anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim media, this report documents recent cartoons on the theme of the U.S. presidential election campaign.

The American elections have provided an excuse for the Arab media to promulgate perverse, bigoted and age-old conspiracy theories that portray Israelis and Jews as controlling the candidates. Appearing in Arab and Muslim newspapers published in the Middle East and the Gulf countries, the cartoons and caricatures focus on four main themes which reflect a deeply rooted sentiment in the Arab world."

Mr. Ely, OK, we've now posted virtually the entire text. Clearly done in the context of criticism. Woo-hoo fair use! More seriously, though... I still disagree with your reading. They have been monitoring the Arab and Muslim media looking for anti-semitism, right? This report stems from, or is part of that that effort. We can agree on that, right? Where we disagree is whether the ADL is labelling them anti-semetic. Moreover, the fact that similar cartoons/themes have appeared in the western media does not in any way insulate them from such a charge. There's some anti-semitism here, too. I think that the four themes that they list -- quoted in my first comment -- make it clear what they think the cartoons depict. Are those anti-semetic themes? Well, the first three are likely things that American Jews and the "Jewish Lobby" would be proud to say, even already say. So, the first three might not be anti-semetic. The fourth is a criticism of the "American administration," not of jews. Through an anti-semetic lens, they are negatives. But thought a zionist lens, they are positives. In my view, that makes the themes themselves neutral, though the cartoons are not. So, does the ADL say that they are anti-semetic? Well, it comes down to their use of the word "bigoted," I think. Take that word out, and I don't see the arguement. But the word IS there. So, I have to address that, or concede the point. I would say that their phrase "perverse, bigoted and age-old conspiracy theories" means "perverse conspiracy theories, bigoted conspiracy theories and age-old conspiracy theories." But I do not think that it means that all examples display all three characteristics. Looking at the cartoon reprinted on their site, I'd say that some do, however. Syria's and Bahrain's, for example. The big question that I have is what the Star of David means in the Arab world. Is it a symbol of the state of Israel? Is it a symbol of all jews? Or is it both? That is, do they conflate all jews with Israel? If they do, I ask both of us, does that make the cartoons more anti-semetic?

My appologies for the lack of line breaks. I forgot to add in the HTML code, this time.