A contest of self-deprecation

Worldpress.org spoke with comic book publisher Amitai Sandy about his unique answer to the rampant comic-inspired chaos that has recently engulfed the world. Sandy is now sifting through submissions to a contest open only to Jews to produce the most offensive anti-semitic cartoons possible.

Following the decision by an Iranian newspaper to hold a Holocaust caricature contest, Amitai Sandy and his friend Eyal Zusman, 30, decided to answer hate with laughter. On Feb. 16, the two declared an Israeli anti-Semitic cartoon contest for Jewish artists only. They have so far received over 40 submissions.

If you desire background, Tom Spurgeon has been keeping a fastidiously close eye on the eruptions and other happenings related to the Jyllands-Posten cartoons. This is certainly an unexpected turn, but one that is garnering praise and submissions by supporters who wish to one-up the more maliciously conceived Iranian contest.

So far, this weird anti-Jewish art contest has received over 40 submissions, including four from Avi Katz. An illustrator for the biweekly Jerusalem Report and creator of the comic strip Virtuella, Katz first heard about the competition by way of a pro-peace e-mail list and was eager to participate.

"I think it's funny. I think it's noble. I think it's the right answer to anti-Semitism," he states emphatically.

Quoth Sandy: "No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!"