View source for International Holocaust Cartoon Competition

{{short description|Cartoon competition sponsored by the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Antisemitism}}
'''International Holocaust Cartoon Contest''' was a 2006 cartoon competition, sponsored by the Iranian newspaper ''[[Hamshahri]]'', to denounce what it called Western "[[Double standard|double standards]] on [[freedom of speech]]". The event was staged in response to the [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy|''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.memri.org/tv/iranian-tv-report-international-holocaust-cartoon-contest-tehran |title=Iranian TV Report on International Holocaust Cartoon Contest in Tehran |website=[[Islamic Republic of Iran News Network|IRINN]] |date=September 20, 2006}} (excerpts from an Iranian TV report on the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Contest: video and transcripts)</ref> The [[United States Department of State|United States State Department]], the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli Foreign Ministry]] and [[United Nations Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]], among others, strongly criticized the contest.<ref name=condemn>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15525133 |title=Moroccan wins Iran Holocaust cartoon contest |website=NBC News |date=November 2, 2006 }}</ref>

In January 2015, in the wake of the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting]] and the magazine's subsequent decision to publish further cartoons of [[Muhammad]], the [[Iranian House of Cartoon]] and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex in Iran announced that they would be sponsoring The 2nd International Holocaust Cartoons Contest. Selected cartoons were exhibited in [[Tehran]] beginning on 14 May 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/holocaust-denial-and-distortion/holocaust-denial-antisemitism-iran/2016-holocaust-cartoon-contests-in-iran/the-government-of-iran-and-the-2016-holocaust-cartoon-exhibition |title=The Government of Iran and the 2016 Holocaust Cartoon Exhibition |publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |access-date=2023-11-19}}<br>- {{cite web |url=https://www.memri.org/tv/iranian-tv-report-international-holocaust-cartoon-contest-held-tehran |title=Iranian TV Report on International Holocaust Cartoon Contest Held in Tehran |website=MEMRI TV |date=May 14, 2016}} (video and transcripts)</ref>

==2006 competition==
[[File:International_Holocaust_Cartoon_Competition_Winner.jpg|thumb|This cartoon by Abdellah Derkaoui won first prize in the 2006 competition<ref name=FPIF>{{cite web |url=http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3868 |website=Foreign Policy In Focus |title=Holocaust Cartoon Contest |date=9 January 2007 |access-date=8 July 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109185147/http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3868|archive-date=9 January 2007}}</ref>]]
[[File:Latuff nazi camp 2.png|thumb|This cartoon by [[Carlos Latuff]] won second prize in the 2006 competition]]

On 6 February 2006, [[Farid Mortazavi]], graphics editor of ''Hamshahri'', announced a competition for cartoons on the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]. 12 best contributions were to be rewarded with a gold coin each, which were later increased to $5,000 to $12,000 prizes for the top three cartoons and three gold coins each for 12 other cartoonists. Later, ''Hamshahri'' published an English introduction to the contest, as well as preliminary rules.
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:Holocaust Contest Drawings.JPG|thumb|right|]]. The bottom image is [[Artistic rendering|rendered]]-->
The contest was created in response to the 12 cartoons published by the [[Denmark|Danish]] newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten'' to challenge the championing of [[free speech|freedom of speech]] in the defense of the ''Jyllands-Posten'' cartoons. This was done under the notion that those who supported the ''Jyllands-Posten''{{'}}s right to free [[War against Islam|anti-Islamic]] speech would be placed in a precarious position were they to condemn the [[antisemitic]] cartoons targeted at one of the most sensitive of Jewish topics. In that introductory message for the contest, ''Hamshahri'' denounced what it called Western hypocrisy on freedom of speech, alleging that "it is impossible in the West to joke upon or even discuss certain topics related to [[Judaism]], such as the Holocaust, and the pretexts for the creation of [[Israel]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/africa/24iht-iran.2585075.html |title=In Tehran, a riposte to the Danish cartoons |author=Michael Slackman |work=The New York Times |date=24 August 2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104908/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/africa/24iht-iran.2585075.html |archivedate=2 April 2015}}</ref>

On 14 February 2006, the editor in chief of ''Hamshahri'' commented in Persian that "the purpose of establishing such a competition is not to offend or ridicule anyone, but to do a discussion about the realities of the Holocaust". He also indicated that ''Hamshahri'' tries really hard not to cause pain for anyone and also added that the newspaper has no contention with the [[Jews in Iran]] or any other place, but that it has problems with [[Zionism]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2006/02/060214_he-hamshahri.shtml |title=سايت کاريکاتورهای هولوکاست 'هک' شد |language=fa |trans-title=The website of Holocaust cartoons was hacked |website=BBC Persian |date=14 February 2006}}</ref> [[Masood Shojaei]], the director of [[Iran's Caricature House]], which co-sponsored the competition, said, "Iran's Caricature House, as the only technically qualified center involved in the competition regards the Holocaust topic as a terrible and saddening issue."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=290458 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510051225/http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=290458 |archivedate=2010-05-10 |website=Mehr News |title=هدف از برگزاری مسابقه بین‌المللی کاریکاتور رسیدن به حقیقت گمشده است |language=fa |trans-title=The purpose of holding the international caricature competition is to reach the lost truth}}</ref> The exhibition put on by [[The Iran Cartoon Organisation]] and ''Hamshahri'' newspaper opened on 14 August 2006.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

After the winners were announced in November 2006, Shojaei said that the competition would become an annual event. The [[Associated Press]] quoted him as saying, "Actually, we will continue until the destruction of Israel."<ref>{{cite news |author=Nasser Karimi |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003337932_webcartoons01.html |title=Iran names winner of its Holocaust cartoon contest |work=The Seattle Times |agency=Associated Press |date=2 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130052808/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003337932_webcartoons01.html |archivedate=30 January 2011}}</ref> However, Shojaei categorically denies that he even spoke to the Associated Press reporter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://irancartoon.com/120/Sheer%20lies/index.htm |title=Associated Press to "Fabrications" About Holocaust Contest |website= Irancartoon |publisher=Cartoon & Caricature Information Center |access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref>

===Reactions===
====In Iran====
Conservative newspapers such as ''[[Kayhan]]'' and ''[[Jomhouri Eslami]]'' hailed the decision by ''[[Hamshahri]]'' for the contest, and their cartoonists, such as [[Maziyar Bizhani]], actively entered the competition.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

Several reformers criticized the cartoon competition and also the president's statements about the Holocaust. [[Emadeddin Baghi]], a member of the religious-intellectuals circle, [[Ebrahim Yazdi]], the head of [[Nehzat Azadi |Nehzat Azadi Party]], [[Hamid Reza Jalaeipour]], a prominent figure of [[Islamic Iran Participation Front]] and [[Sadeq Zibakalam]], a prominent political analyst of the [[Kargozaran]] party criticized these new policies by calling them "useless, scientifically-baseless and purely political actions which originates  from the authorities' lack of historical knowledge". In an interview with ''[[BBC News]]'', [[Nikahang Kowsar]], a former cartoonist for ''Hamshahri'', said he thought the competition was the wrong approach. "It's a bad reaction to a bad action coming from the Danish newspaper," he told the BBC. He also claimed in his weblog that ''Hamshahri'' cartoonists would have a bad fate if they refused to take part in the competition.<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4709380.stm |title=Iran paper's Holocaust cartoons |date=13 February 2006}}</ref>

====In Israel====
Israeli artists spoofed the contest with the [[Israeli antisemitic cartoons contest]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/TA-artist-takes-on-Iranian-cartoons |title=TA artist takes on Iranian cartoons |author=Aaron Wenner |date=16 February 2006 |work=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref>

====International====
On 8 February 2006, [[Flemming Rose]] (the cultural editor for ''Jyllands-Posten''), told [[CNN]], "My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with that Iranian newspaper ''Hamshahri'', and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them." Later that day, the paper's editor-in-chief said that ''Jyllands-posten'' would under no circumstances publish the Holocaust cartoons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/danish-paper-refuses-holocaust-cartoons-1-1105292 |title=Danish paper refuses Holocaust cartoons |date=February 9, 2006 |work=The Scotsman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013155707/http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/danish-paper-refuses-holocaust-cartoons-1-1105292 |archive-date=October 13, 2012 |access-date=September 16, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Six of the least controversial cartoons of the International Holocaust Cartoon Competition were republished by the Danish newspaper ''[[Dagbladet Information]]'' on 8 September 2006, after the editor consulted the main rabbi in Copenhagen,<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5327852.stm |title=Paper reprints Holocaust cartoons |date=September 8, 2006}}</ref> and three cartoons were later reprinted in ''Jyllands-Posten'' as well.<ref>http://www.jp.dk/login?url=kultur/artikel:aid=3961206{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (link invalid)</ref>

The event was also criticised by the then United Nations Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]],<ref name=condemn/> the U.S. State Department,<ref name=condemn/> the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli foreign ministry]], [[Reporters Without Borders]], the [[Anti-Defamation League]]<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |url=http://www.adl.org/main_Arab_World/asam_jul_dec_cartoon_contest_2006.htm |title=Arab Media Review: Anti-Semitism and Other Trends July - December 2006: Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Contest |date=January 24, 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806191414/http://www.adl.org/main_Arab_World/asam_jul_dec_cartoon_contest_2006.htm |archivedate=2010-08-06 }}</ref> and other parties.<ref>{{cite news |author=David Cesarani |url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_cesarani/2006/12/post_777.html |title=Deep in denial |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=December 11, 2006}}</ref>

=== Winners ===
{{anchor|mo}}
On 1 November  2006, the political cartoonist [[Abdellah Derkaoui]] ({{langx|ar|عبدالله درقاوي}}), a [[Morocco|Moroccan]], was announced as the winner and received the first prize of US$12,000. Derkaoui's winning cartoon differed from many of the runners-up, in that it did not deny the Holocaust; instead, it used the Holocaust to make a comparison between the actions of [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Criticism of the Israeli government|contemporary actions of the Israeli government]].<ref name=FPIF/>

The second prize of US$8,000 was split between the Brazilian cartoonist [[Carlos Latuff]] and the far-right French cartoonist [[Françoise Pichard|Chard]], although Chard refused the prize, stating that her cartoon was entered into the competition without her consent. According to the [[Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs]], the cartoon by Chard contains explicit [[Holocaust denial]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jcpa.org/article/ahmadinejad-iran-and-holocaust-manipulation-methods-aims-and-reactions/ |title=Ahmadinejad, Iran, and Holocaust Manipulation: Methods, Aims, and Reactions |publisher=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |date=February 1, 2007 |access-date=September 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030105351/http://jcpa.org/article/ahmadinejad-iran-and-holocaust-manipulation-methods-aims-and-reactions/ |archive-date=October 30, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Shahram Rezai of Iran won the third prize of US$5,000. In addition to the main prizes, there were also "Special Prizes" of three gold coins awarded to several entries. One of these prizes went to Italy, one prize to Morocco, two to Jordan, one to Syria, two to Brazil and five to Iranians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://irancartoon.ir/news/archives/2006/11/post_586.php |website=Irancartoon|date=10 November 2015 |title= چهارشنبه، 10 آبانماه 1385 مسابقه بین المللی کاریکاتور هولوکاست با شناخت نفرات برتر به کار خود پایان داد |language=fa |trans-title=On Wednesday, November 10, 2016, the International Holocaust Caricature Contest ended with the recognition of the top winners}}</ref>

== 2016 competition ==
In December 2015, two state-sponsored Iranian cultural organizations, the Owj Media & Art Institute and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex, announced a Holocaust cartoon contest. Over 150 cartoons from the contest made up a May 2016 exhibition in the art section at the Islamic Propaganda Organization in Tehran, as part of Iran's Cartoon Biennial. After the closing of the Tehran exhibition at the end of May 2016, the Islamic Propaganda Organization sponsored exhibitions of selected cartoons in provincial capitals throughout the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Government of Iran and the 2016 Holocaust Cartoon Exhibition|url=https://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/holocaust-denial-and-distortion/iran-cartoon-exhibition/introduction/fact-sheet|publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref>

=== Reactions ===
====In Iran====
In an April 2016 interview published in the ''New Yorker'', Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tried to distance the Iranian government from the contest, asserting that it did not receive government support or endorsement, and that no official permission was necessary to hold it.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Wright|first1=Robin|title=Iran's Javad Zarif on the Fraying Nuclear Deal, U.S. Relations, and Holocaust Cartoons|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/irans-javad-zarif-on-the-fraying-nuclear-deal-u-s-relations-and-holocaust-cartoons|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref> Following Zarif's statement, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance questioned the Foreign Minister's comments, stating that the Ministry supports any program that will "enlighten people about the Holocaust".<ref>{{cite news|title=Iran's 'moderates' and the Holocaust|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-zarifs-holocaust-denial-denial/2016/05/09/2b5570b6-160a-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref> The main spokesperson for the contest, Mas'oud Shoja'i Tabataba'i, said that Zarif was not welcome at the exhibition. Zarif was questioned in the Iranian parliament about his negative position on the Holocaust cartoon contest and exhibition three months after its closing. He maintained his belief that Holocaust denial does not benefit the Islamic Republic of Iran and he repeated the claim that the contest was the work of an NGO and not any government agency.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mohammadi|first1=Majid|title=Iran's Second Holocaust Cartoon Exhibition and Its Aftermath|url=https://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/Iran-aftermath-paper.pdf|website=US Holocaust Memorial Museum|access-date=9 January 2017}}</ref>

====International====
American political cartoonist [[Daryl Cagle]] entered a cartoon into the Second Holocaust Cartoon Competition in 2015. The cartoon features Iran's Supreme Leader with his face in the shape of a pair of human buttocks: the face / posterior is farting out the words to his famous statement, "The Holocaust is an event whose reality is uncertain and if it has happened, it's uncertain how it happened."

"I'm guessing the Iranians will not choose to include my cartoon in their exhibition and competition – but considering how the contest organizers complain about the "West" censoring "discussion" of the Holocaust, I thought it was a nice irony to give them a Holocaust cartoon that they would likely censor," wrote Cagle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://darylcagle.com/2015/04/27/i-entered-irans-holocaust-cartoon-contest/ |title=I entered Iran's Holocaust cartoon contest |date=May 1, 2015|publisher=Daryl Cagle}}</ref>

[[Irina Bokova]], the director-general of [[UNESCO]], condemned the holding of it: "Such an initiative which aims at a mockery of the genocide of the Jewish people, a tragic page of humanity's history, can only foster hatred and incite to violence, racism and anger. This contest goes against the universal values of tolerance and respect, and runs counter to the action led by UNESCO to promote Holocaust education, to fight anti-Semitism and denial."<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/director-general/singleview-dg/news/unesco_director_general_condemns_the_holding_of_the_secon/ |title=UNESCO Director-General condemns the holding of the "Second International Holocaust Cartoon Contest" |publisher=UNESCO |date=13 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409201702/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/director-general/singleview-dg/news/unesco_director_general_condemns_the_holding_of_the_secon/ |archivedate=9 April 2017 |access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref>

=== Winners ===
On 31 May 2016, the French cartoonist Zeon was announced as the winner and received the first prize of US$12,000. He had been arrested by French authorities in March 2015 for [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] work that he drew in 2011.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} His winning work features what appears to be the entry gate of a Nazi-era death camp on top of a cash register with six million in cash inside.

The Indonesian artist Jitet Koestana won the second prize of US$7,000 while Mahmud Nazari from Iran won the third prize of US$5,000. As in the 2006 contest, Special prizes of three gold coins were awarded to several entries. One each of these went to [[Belgium]], [[Morocco]], [[Turkey]] and several other countries.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/403044/French-Iranian-artists-top-at-Holocaust-cartoon-contest |title=French, Iranian artists top at Holocaust cartoon contest |date=2016-05-31|newspaper=Tehran Times |access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>

The Belgian winner, Luc Descheemaeker, using the name O-sekoer, is a schoolteacher in a Catholic school in the Flemish city of [[Torhout]]. The school and the city felt very honored that he won a prize at that contest. The Flemish press defended him against Jewish organisations condemning the contest. The mayor of Torhout was the Flemish minister of education, [[Hilde Crevits]], who refused to condemn the cartoon.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://joodsactueel.be/2016/08/12/holocaustleraar-uit-torhout-verwijdert-snel-antisemitische-prijscartoon/ |title=Torhout fier op cartoonist die in Teheran prijs won |work=Joods Actueel |date=12 August 2016 |language=Flemish |trans-title=Torhout proud of cartoonist who won prize in Tehran |accessdate=6 August 2024}}</ref> Descheemaeker was consequently nominated cultural ambassador of Torhout.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/bleva_02662579 |title=O-sekoer, Torhouts culturele wereldambassadeur |author=Eric Vanhooren|date=7 January 2017 |access-date=8 July 2017 |language=Flemish |trans-title=O-sekoer, Torhout's world cultural ambassador who won a prize in Tehran}}</ref> Meanwhile, other antisemitic cartoons drawn by him were discovered.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/2016/08/25/news-opinion/world/how-my-jta-reporting-about-an-anti-semitic-cartoon-changed-my-views-of-belgium-for-the-worse |title=How my JTA reporting about an anti-Semitic cartoon changed my views of Belgium — for the worse |author=Cnaan Liphshiz |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=25 August 2016 |access-date=8 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2016/08/10/news-opinion/world/belgian-high-school-proud-of-teacher-honored-at-irans-holocaust-cartoon-show |title=Belgian high school 'proud' of teacher honored at Iran's Holocaust cartoon show |author=Cnaan Liphshiz |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=10 August 2016 |access-date=8 July 2017}}</ref>

After the contest, the Iranian House of Cartoon and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex announced another similar contest, this time calling for cartoon submissions on the "Zionist Caliphate" that would focus on "Zionism, terrorism and racism" and "[[ISIL]] terrorism and genocide in the name of religion and to the benefit of the Zionists".{{cn|date=August 2024}} The deadline for entries was set for 16 June 2016, with the winners to be announced at a later date with cash prizes of up to [[US$]]5,000.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://europe.newsweek.com/holocaust-cartoon-contest-iran-zionist-caliphate-competition-465256?rm=eu |title=After Holocaust Cartoon Contest, Iran Announces 'Zionist Caliphate' Competition |newspaper=Newsweek |author=Jack Moore |date=1 June 2016 |access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>{{needs update|date=August 2024}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Iran}}
*[[Council for Spreading Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Thoughts]]
*[[Everybody Draw Mohammed Day]]
*[[International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust]]
*[[Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest]]
*[[The Eternal Jew (art exhibition)]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061218153910/http://www.irancartoon.com/120/holocaust/index.htm The Winners of the Competition] [http://irancartoon.ir/news/archives/2006/11/post_586.php (mirror)]
* [http://irancartoon.ir/ The Iran Cartoon Organisation] (Persian)
* [http://irancartoon.com/ The Iran Cartoon Organisation] (English)

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Editorial cartooning awards|Holocaust Cartoon Competition]]
[[Category:2006 controversies]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial in Iran]]
[[Category:Antisemitic works]]
[[Category:Works about censorship]]
[[Category:Events relating to freedom of expression]]
[[Category:Antisemitic propaganda]]
[[Category:Editorial cartoons]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Iran]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in Asia]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy]]
[[Category:Cartoon controversies]]
[[Category:Far-right politics in Iran]]