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104

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1990

_J

789 Seidler Sittifr
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Mon•Sat. 10-5 • Friday 10-8

Anti-Semitic Concerns
Prompted By UN Stamp

IRA RIFKIN

Special to The Jewish News

stamp with alleged
anti-Semitic over-
tones, issued this
week by the United Nations
Postal Administration, has
drawn the concern of the An-
ti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith.
The ADL asked the UN to
consider recalling the issue.
However, UN officials have
said doing that would create
a hot collector's item and
generate additional un-
wanted publicity for the
stamp.
The controversy has been
fanned by an anonymous
flyer mailed to journalists
and Jewish organizations
worldwide. The flyer accused
the UN of issuing "an anti-
Semitic stamp bearing a
Nazi-like caricature of Jews
as thieves." The flyers bore
New York postmarks.
The stamp depicts three
criminals walking away
from a burning building car-
rying sacks presumably fill-
ed with stolen items. All
three are wearing long black
coats and black hats, and
have beards and prominent
noses.
However, one of the three
has red hair and a red beard
and all three are wearing
striped pants and stovepipe
hats, images that are not
generally associated with re-
ligious Jews in anti-Semitic
literature.
The 36-cent stamp is part
of a UN series intended to
alert people to the need for
crime prevention and is only
for use on mail originating
from UN offices. It is not
available at regular post of-
fices.
Anthony Fouracre, the
UN's chief postal official,
said the stamps had a
"Rosseau-like" quality
typical of the "folklorical
style" employed by the
stamp's Czech designer,
Josef Ryzec. He said no eth-
nic depiction was intended.
Mr. Fouracre added that
the anonymous flyer had
distorted the art work by
eliminating all colors other
than black and white and by
emphasizing the criminals'
features. As a result, he said,
the criminals appear more
Jewish and more sinister
than in the original art
work.

Ira Rifkin is an assistant
editor at our sister newspaper,
the Baltimore Jewish Times.

Justin J. Finger, the
ADL's associate national di-
rector, wrote in a letter to
UN officials that the stamp
"depicts individuals who
bear a disturbing and un-
comfortable resemblance to
caricatures of religiously
garbed Jews found in anti-
Semitic literature, par-
ticularly that of the Hitler
era.
"There is also a tradition
of stereotyping Jews as ar-
sonists. Such caricatures are
still used today by anti-
Jewish extremists."
Mr. Finger added in his
letter that while ADL has
"no evidence that these in-
dividuals were intended by
the artist to be Jews .. .
nevertheless, the troubling

An ADL official
said the stamp
bears a s"troubling
resemblance" to
anti-Semitic
material.

resemblance to historic anti-
Semitic material has struck
a chord throughout the Jew-
ish community here and
abroad."
The stamp has already
been distributed in Europe,
where one Swiss newspaper
described the criminals as
looking like Fagin in
Charles Dickens' Oliver
Twist. Fagin is considered a
negative Jewish stereotype.
Mr. Fouracre said 700,000
copies of the stamp will be
sold worldwide. He said most
of the stamps will probably
be purchased by collectors,
as is often the case with UN
stamps.
"What really created a
ruckus was the flyer," Mr.
Fouracre said. "The stamp
itself created no controversy.
We consider the flyer to be
very malicious and question
the motives of those who
sent it out." ❑

'''1 FOR SENIORS 11"'

JPM Seniors

Plan Events

The Senior Adult Depart-
ment of the Jimmy Prentis
Morris Jewish Community
Center will host an erev
Shabbat program 12:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 in Jaffe Hall. Cantor
Max Shimansky will lead the
service. Also the Yiddish