San Diego (special) --A month after its editor apologized for running an Easter Sunday 'BC' comic strip in which a cross replaced the menorah, the San Diego Union- Tribune offended sensibilities in the Jewish community again on May 18
with a cartoon that made the Star of David appear as a stabbing weapon.

The cartoon in which the lower point of the six-pointed Star of David
appeared to be lodged in the back of a dead man was used to illustrate a
column by Israel's consul general in Los Angeles, Yuval Rotem, in which he
said the escalating violence in Israel has resulted from "the Palestinian
leadership's opting for confrontation over reconciliation."

Asked why he had selected that particular cartoon, Bernie Jones, editor of
the Union-Tribune's opinion page, told HERITAGE: "What I saw in the art
was a representation of death in Israel--not anything of religion or a
nation being a killer." 

Jones said rather than stabbing the dead person beneath it, it appeared to
him that the bottom point of the Star of David in the cartoon was casting
its shadow over a victim, who could not be readily identified as either an
Arab or a Jew. The Star of David, which appears on Israel's flag, in this
instance was intended to symbolize the nation of Israel, he said.

The Opinion Page editor said normally illustrations are chosen to
complement an opinion piece, rather than to counter it. He said he
actually was attempting to find an illustration that conveyed the sense of
Rotem's argument, and was not attempting to dispute Rotem's point of
view.

"I can understand that people would have a different perspective than I...
but the motivation and perspective was that there is death in Israel," he
said.

Rotem sent a strongly-worded letter to the newspaper protesting the
cartoon which, ironically, appeared on the day that seven people were
killed and more than 100 wounded by a suicide bombing in Netanya. 

The consul-general suggested that the cartoon was reminiscent of some of
the anti-Semitic cartoons that ran in Europe during the nazi era as well as
in some of the more virulent newspapers of the modern-day Arab world.

Use of the symbol of the Jewish people was totally inappropriate, Rotem
said. 

Leaders of local Jewish groups also reacted negatively to the illustration. 
"The portrayal of Jews as the perpetrators of betrayal and violence is
one-sided, inaccurate and biased," commented Rabbi Alexis Roberts,
spiritual leader of Congregation Dor Hadash and president of the San Diego
Rabbinical Association. "The article calls for honest, trusting dialogue
which is the only possibility for peace. The illustration conveys a very
different message."

Marty Block, president of the American Jewish Committee, said of the
illustration: "It is very offensive. It is also incendiary at a time when, as
Rotem points out, negotiations are the path to peace. This type of cartoon
incites passions on both sides, and this type of thing can only trigger more
violence."

After speaking with Jones, Rabbi David Frank of Temple Solel said: "I
think what happened was that Bernie made a poor decision; he had a book
in front of him of many different cartoons, and he thought he was
selecting one that reflected the theme of the article."

Frank, who also is chairman of the Community Relations Committee of
United Jewish Federation, said his advice to Jones and other editors is "be
more careful. Consider interpretations. Be sure you are selecting one that
reflects the article. ... Editorial cartoons are so open to
misinterpretation..."

Morris Casuto, director of the regional Anti-Defamation League, had little
patience for Jones' explanation: 

"At the very least, Mr. Jones' explanation was self-serving and
extraordinarily weak.," the ADL director said. "He should have known
better when using that symbol in that way. ... 

"The Star of David is primarily a religious symbol which when used in the
context shown in the cartoon can lead to serious incidents against
members of the Jewish community," he said. "Once again, the leaders of
the Union-Tribune have reason to apologize for their insensitivity."

In saying "once again," Casuto was referring to editor Karin Winner's
explanation to readers in April that the syndicated BC cartoon by Johnny
Hart had not been reviewed before it appeared on Easter Sunday. At that
time, she said she would have pulled the 'BC' cartoon from the newspaper
before it appeared because of the offense it gave to readers who saw it as
expressing the theology that Judaism had been replaced by Christianity.

Winner could not be immediately reached for comment on the latest
cartoon controversy.