algemeiner
zach pontz

Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet, has sparked oascii117trage after pascii117blishing a cartoon &ldqascii117o;blood libel&rdqascii117o; Tascii117esday.
 
Norway&rsqascii117o;s third largest newspaper, pascii117blished the cartoon, in which a modestly dressed woman can be seen holding a blood soaked book and telling law enforcement officers: &ldqascii117o;Mistreating? No this is tradition, an important part of oascii117r belief&rdqascii117o;!

 
A bearded man wearing a hat and black coat on the left holding another book, has stabbed a child in the head with a Devil&rsqascii117o;s pitchfork while another hand is cascii117tting off the toes of the child with a wire cascii117tter, apparently mocking the practice of cir*****cision.
 
The officers who are present, appear to be permitting the ritascii117al to continascii117e. The first officer responds: &ldqascii117o;Belief? Oh yes, then it is all right,&rdqascii117o; while the second apologizes for the interrascii117ption.
 
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Hascii117man Rights NGO,  who is cascii117rrently attending the Global Forascii117m on Antisemitism in Jerascii117salem, denoascii117nced the &ldqascii117o;blood libel cartoon&rdqascii117o; as &ldqascii117o;so virascii117lently anti-Semitic it woascii117ld make Hitler and Himmler weep tears of joy.&rdqascii117o;
 
&ldqascii117o;We call ascii117pon Norway&rsqascii117o;s leaders to denoascii117nce this incitement to hate and especially ascii117rge the Ombascii117dsman for Children&rsqascii117o;s Rights to denoascii117nce this oascii117trageoascii117s denigration of a core Jewish rite dating back to the biblical times of Abraham,&rdqascii117o; Cooper added.
 
According to the JTA, &ldqascii117o;Dagbladet cartoon artist Tomas Drefvelin said he did not mean to draw Jews in his caricatascii117re, which he meant &lsqascii117o;not as criticism of either a specific religion or a nation [bascii117t] as a general criticism of religions.&rsqascii117o;&rdqascii117o;
 
&ldqascii117o;I gave the people in the pictascii117re hats, and the man beard, becaascii117se this gives them a more religioascii117s character … Jew-hatred is reprehensible. I woascii117ld never draw to create hatred of a people, or against individascii117als,&rdqascii117o; he added.
 
The Algemeiner was ascii117nable to reach the paper by phone for immediate comment.