Post-Sept. 11 Cartoons In Arab Media Skewer The United States, Article Says

DURHAM, N.C. -- Post-Sept. 11 political cartoons in Arab/Muslim newspapers draw a moral equivalent between the war in Afghanistan and terrorist attacks, ridicule the United States for its incompetence in locating Osama bin Laden and portray the United States as a powerful yet often blind or misled soldier, says a newly published journal article.

"If Americans want to understand the hostile feelings many people in the Arab/Muslin world have about the U.S., its leaders and their policies, they should take a hard look at the striking cartoons we have compiled from the region and published in Political Communication," said Duke University political science professor and journal editor David L. Paletz.

The article, titled "No Laughing Matter," appears in the latest issue of the journal Political Communication. Written by Matthew Diamond, a Duke political science graduate student, the article is based on an examination of political cartoons published in Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper, Pakistan's Dawn and Chouk, Iran's Nowrooz Daily and Iran News, Saudi Arabia's Al-hayat (based in London) and Arab News, as well as cartoons identified by arabia.com as being published in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

The 32 political cartoons reprinted in the article -- selected by Diamond, Paletz and the journal's assistant editor Teresa Chung -- contain several recurrent themes, including the futile hunt for bin Laden; coverage of the war by the media; the impact of the war on Afghanistan; and the next move in President Bush's war on terrorism.

Commenting on media coverage of the war, one cartoon, from Egypt's Al-Ahram, shows a bloated Uncle Sam watching an air attack on TV while a bin Laden figure crawls behind his easy chair. A second cartoon, from Pakistan's Dawn, shows a TV cameraman with his camera focused on a bin Laden poster instead of a Pakistani family releasing doves of peace right behind him. These cartoons, the article notes, depict American media coverage of the war in Afghanistan to be an "entertainment consumer commodity blinding viewers to the world around them."

The largest group of cartoons in the article focus on the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. One, from the Iran News, shows President Bush about to launch two enormous twin missiles. Underneath, the caption reads, "The Twin Towers for Taliban."

Another, from the Iranian paper Nowrooz, shows the giant heel of Uncle Sam about to crush a crowd of Afghans with bin Laden hidden in their midst.

Two cartoons from Egypt's Al-Ahram also address this theme. One juxtaposes the wreckage of the World Trade Center and a broken jet fuselage with a scene of a devastated Afghan tent camp and spent U.S. bomb casings. The other shows an Afghan mother, surrounded by wailing, starving babies, wishing for food but instead watching as a U.S. plane drops a coffin.

Not only do many of the cartoons "posit the moral equivalence of the September 11 attacks and the U.S. attacks in Afghanistan," the article says, but "the U.S. is often portrayed as a cowboy, a giant or an oversized bomber or bomb, all extremely powerful, dominating, and indiscriminate in the application of that power." Another common image of America is that of a "well-equipped (but often stupid, blind, or misled) soldier," the article notes.

The entire volume of Political Communication, edited by professor Kai Hafez of the German Institute for Middle East Studies in Hamburg, Germany, is devoted to examining and better understanding the role of the media in the Muslim world, Paletz said. Among the journal's articles are those titled "Freedom as a Value in Arab Media: Perceptions and Attitudes Among Journalists," "Modern Mass Media and Traditional Communication in Afghanistan," "Regulation and Self-Regulation: The Role of Media Commissions and Professional Bodies in the Muslim World," "News About the Other in Jordan and Israel: Does Peace Make a Difference?" and "From Vanguard to Vanquished: The Tabloid Press in Jordan."

"We put out this special issue of the journal because we want our readers to know about the organization and control of the media in the Arab/Muslim world, the conditions of press freedom and regulation, the experience of journalists and the political contents of the press there," Paletz stated.

Note to editors: Journalists wishing to receive a copy of the journal Political Communication should contact Erin Rogers at Taylor & Francis, the journal's publisher, at (215) 625-8900, ext. 235, or erogers@taylorandfrancis.com. Two of the political cartoons can be accessed at http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/cartoons.html. David Paletz can be reached by e-mail for additional comment at paletz@duke.edu.