New York, NY, November 26, 2007 … On the eve of the United States-hosted international conference in Annapolis, MD, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a sampling of editorial cartoons printed in newspapers across the Arab world and in Iran that exhibit "a malevolent view of Israel" and attribute nefarious motivations to its participation in the conference. 

"These caricatures have a basic theme: that while Israel may be attending the Annapolis meeting, Israel has no intention of making peace," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Rather, these caricatures depict Israel as using the Annapolis conference to manipulate the Arab world and the international community to further its own so-called belligerent agenda.  It is apparent that the message being sent to the masses is still one of a malevolent view of Israel."

The caricatures appeared in newspapers in countries participating in the Annapolis conference, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Jordan, and in those controlled by Hamas and Iran, who are opposed to Arab-Israeli reconciliation. 

Many of the caricatures include blatantly anti-Semitic images and motifs of anti-Semitic canards such as Jewish control of the United States and the world and of conniving Jews hoodwinking the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Arab world and the international community. 

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.