South Korean Comic Labeled Anti-Semitic
The international comics scene is always interesting to keep an eye on, with bizarre stories cropping up every now and again. In that vein comes the news that the U.S. State Department made a report criticizing a South Korean comic book for being anti-Semitic.
According to the report, which was later presented to Congress, the book is the American volume of the Far Country, Neighbor Country series, according to this story in the Chosun newspaper. The series is intended for South Korean children, and it gives brief histories in comic book form of various countries around the world.
In the article, the anti-Semitic passages are listed as explaining the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks being caused by Muslims who hate the United States because "Jews use money and public discussion as weapons to make WASPs do what they want."
Here’s a few panels:
The article continued:
The series, written by Rhie Won-bok, a professor at Duksung Women’s University, was designed to teach youngsters the history and culture of other countries in comic book format. The "best-selling" children’s book series sold more than 10 million Korean-language copies, according to the report.
The report cited two examples of anti-Semitism in the book. One comic strip shows a newspaper, a magazine, a television, and a radio, each with a Star of David, and is captioned, "In a word, American public debate belongs to the Jews, and it’s no exaggeration to say that [U.S. media] are the voices of the Jews."
Another strip shows a man climbing a hill and then facing a brick wall inscribed with a Star of David and a STOP sign. The caption reads, "The final obstacle [to success] is always a fortress called Jews."
The author later acknowledged his mistake and pledged to write "in a more responsible way," the report said. In March 2007, the book’s publisher agreed to pull the controversial book from stores, the report added.
Like I said, lots of strange stuff here. For instance, it strikes me as strange to see anti-Semitism appear somewhere like South Korea. Also, I had no idea that the State Department’s duties include keeping tabs on anti-Semitism.
"Also, I had no idea that the State Department's duties include keeping tabs on anti-Semitism."It's a new thing, seehttp://www.state.gov/documents/organization/10230…for the whole report.Or to the point I quote from page 11:"In response to rising anti-Semitism worldwide, including in some of the strongest democracies, the U.S. Congress passed the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004. On October 16, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the legislation into law (Public Law 108-332)."The Act requires the U.S. Department of State to document and combat acts of anti-Semitism globally. To advance these goals, the Act mandated a one-time report on anti-Semitic acts, which the U.S. Department of State submitted to the U.S. Congress in January 2005."The Act also established within the U.S. Department of State an Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. On May 22, 2006, Gregg Rickman was sworn in by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the first Special Envoy."The document in question was released this month (Mar 08).
Better headline: Anti-Semitic Comic Stopped
That South Korea was the source of this attack should come as no surprise. Anti-Semitism (actually, anti-Jewism, as "anti-semitism" would incorporate all semitic cultures such as Arabs and Assyrians) has always been on the international Top 5 of Hate — be it in England, Russia, Japan, or any other nation with country clubs.
John and Mike, thanks for the insights.
What other racial or ethnic groups have Special Envoys of the U.S. Department of State? Is there a Special Envoy for Native Americans, Italians, Poles, Latinos or Blacks? What about women? Is there a Special Envoy of the U.S. Department of State to Monitor and Combat Misogyny?If Jewish people are the only group that has a Special Envoy in the U.S. Department of State, is that because Anti-Jewish sentiment is more dangerous than hatred directed at other groups?
"If Jewish people are the only group that has a Special Envoy in the U.S. Department of State, is that because Anti-Jewish sentiment is more dangerous than hatred directed at other groups?"In a way, yes — it's more dangerous simply because it's more prevelant, and therefore much more likely to be ignored. Racism is generally localized and targeted, i.e. specific groups are at war with other specific groups for specific reasons over a specific period of time. But anti-Semitism is so old and ingrained that it crosses nearly every geographic, cultural, and religious boundary. As Tom Leher said, "everyone hate the Jews."I agree that a similar report should be produced to combat misogyny, but because it would raise too many un-PC questions about "culture" and "religious expression," I doubt it will ever be done.
I would have to see some kind of statistics before I accept as fact that Anti-Jewish sentiment is more prevalent, more likely to be ignored and thus it is more dangerous. There is a LOT of really stupid and dangerous racist and sexist and homophobic and xenophobic and phobaphobic crap in this world. And I don't think that we can just shuck off fighting misogyny as wishful thinking, too unrealistic to be achieved. Misogyny is a danger to us all and a harbinger of greater evil. If people can claim that denying women equal opportunities, in short equal rights is a form of cultural or religious expression, why can't people use the same excuses to hide their hatred of gays or Jews. Oh wait, they do!
I appreciate your points, Russ. My problem is, it doesn't matter if more people hate Jews or blacks or gays or women or Mexicans or Catholics or… well, you get the point. There's nothing to come out of "well, my atrocity is worse than yours" other than a sense of hopelessness and defeat.We have got to stop defining ourselves by the current trends in public discrimination and seek a more encompassing and global approach. That's why I've found the immigration debate disgusting.
While I certainly don't know anything about how the Bush Administration runs their State Department, it may be that tracking anti-Semitism is related to the broader Middle East policy. In other words, by keeping track of this kind of hate speech, they can keep track of the so-called Islamo-fascists.(Note: Nothing in this comment should be interpreted to be in any way an endorsement of the Bush presidency, nor of the term "Islamo-fascist."
You could be right. But South Korea is a LONG way from the Middle East. There is a Jewish Anti Defamation League. I wouldn't mind them coming forward to boycott or put some other kind of public pressure on the publishers of this comic to cancel publication. That's not censorship, that would be the free market at work. But this is a government agency working to quash ideas with governmental pressures. That makes me a bit uneasy. I wonder how the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund would view this case.
Perhaps you mis-read my comment. It cites a "special envoy to combat anti-semitism," not to represent this or that group. Anti-semitism is a danger to us all, and a harbinger of greater evil.It's dollars to donuts State has people looking at the rights of women around the world, as many of the enemies of democracy and an open society (needed to write and read comics) are very hard on women, too.These are ways to keep track of world events and trends that could be counter to American interests, interests shared by you and me, now or in the future. They try to keep up on a lot of varieties of this sort of thing. You've got to keep the d*vil way down in the hole. I invite you to click through to the linked report; it directly addresses some of your questions.
For more about this topic, see:http://www.comicmix.com/news/2007/03/15/south-kor…