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ADL Clears City Paper of Anti-Semitism

Regional director says the devil is in the doodles

by
Marc Tracy
February 08, 2011
(WCP)
(WCP)

Does the Anti-Defamation League agree with the Simon Wiesenthal Center that Washington City Paper’s image of Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder—in which a devil’s horns and facial hair are doodled onto his visage, accompanying an article that details how Snyder has been a poor steward of a once-great NFL franchise—is anti-Semitic?

Don’t be ridiculous! Snyder, the ADL’s Washington regional director told Washington Jewish Week, is “being demonized because people are angry about his ownership, not because he’s a Jew.” He based this analysis on the fact that the article has zero anti-Semitic implications—it doesn’t even mention that Snyder is Jewish. Deborah Lipstadt, a Nextbook Press author and expert on anti-Semitism, agreed: “Of course Jews were seen as Devil-like in the Middle Ages,” she said. “But I don’t see it as an overtly Jewish thing.”

As of last Friday, however, the Wiesenthal Center was still beating this ridiculous drum. “If you’re asked to make an apology, you should,” was Rabbi Abraham Cooper’s rigorously logical formulation. Personally, I think Cooper and the Wiesenthal Center should apologize for cheapening the very serious charge of anti-Semitism by using it so inappropriately. And, y’know, if you’re asked to make an apology, you should.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.