Locher Defends Mideast Cartoon in 'Chicago Trib'

By: Dave Astor A Dick Locher cartoon in the Chicago Tribune drew criticism from the paper's public editor, a Chicago Sun-Times editorial, and some readers who felt the drawing had anti-Semitic elements. But Locher disagreed with that charge, and defended the cartoon.

"I was trying to go to bat for the American taxpayer," Dick Locher told E&P Online Monday. "Israel is a good friend, but let's get an accounting of where the money is going."

Locher's May 30 cartoon showed President Bush placing American dollars on a bridge over "Mideast Gulch" in an effort to lure Israel into negotiating with the Palestinians. "On second thought, the pathway to peace is looking a bit brighter," says an Ariel Sharon-like figure as he eyes the money.

Some readers thought the cartoon played into the stereotype of Jews being "avaricious and greedy."

The June 1 Sun-Times editorial stated: "The cartoon's message -- that Israel's interest in peace is sparked, not by a desire to end bloodshed, but by American cash -- is a lie that sails beyond legitimate comment into a baseless slur."

And Don Wycliff, the Tribune's public editor, wrote June 1: "It is no secret to readers of this column that I have been no fan of Sharon and his policies. But I was jolted when I looked at the cartoon and saw that figure with the hooked nose, the Star of David, and those words -- particularly since money has never been the decisive issue in the Middle East dispute."

But Locher said he's an equal-opportunity caricaturist -- noting that he always draws a big nose on Yasir Arafat (including such a nose on an Arafat-like figure in the May 30 drawing). "Editorial cartoonists work with exaggeration," he explained.

"I had no slur in mind whatsoever," Locher continued, expressing surprise people interpreted his cartoon that way. He said he's not anti-Semitic and that anti-Semitism would "dilute the message" of a cartoon.

Locher added that he thought of the idea for the cartoon after talking over the foreign-aid issue with several friends -- some Jewish and some not Jewish.

Tribune Editorial Page Editor Bruce Dold told E&P Online: "I think Dick Locher intended to make a comment on how the U.S. exerts influence through its foreign aid."

The paper received at least a few dozen e-mails and calls about the cartoon, though Dold and Wycliff could not give an exact number. They both did say that there were more negative than positive reactions from readers. But Locher reported that about two-thirds of the three dozen e-mails he received were supportive.

Locher, a 1983 Pulitzer Prize winner, is a former staff cartoonist for the Tribune. He still has a freelance arrangement with the paper to supply about one local cartoon a week. His national and international work -- such as the May 30 cartoon -- is syndicated to the Tribune and other papers via Tribune Media Services. But the May 30 cartoon, while drawn for TMS, did say "Chicago Tribune" in the lower right corner.

A TMS spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment about whether any other papers had problems with the cartoon.