Middle East and Conrad

I opened my Los Angeles Times on June 5th at 6:30 a.m. and found my day ruined.

It is my custom to open the Metro Section first to read the editorials, the Op-Ed Page and to see what Conrad’s latest “shot” is all about. This time it was too much for me. His desecration of the Israeli flag, the Mogen David, the symbol, not just of the state of Israel, but of the Jewish people wherever they are is, to my mind, the most blatant form of anti-Semitism yet perpetrated by this clever political cartoonist.

Surely, there is a way to criticize the Israeli government handling of the intifada without deeply insulting the entire people of Israel and the Jewish people here in the U.S. Surely, there is another side to the story that must be told and perhaps Conrad should do some research in that direction, too.

Conrad’s continued, one-sided, Israel-bashing has reached the height of calumny with this, his latest attack on the symbol of the Jewish people worldwide.

As president of the American Zionist Federation of Greater Los Angeles, representing 16 membership organizations and 10 affiliated organizations, running the political and religious spectrum from extreme right to extreme left, I deplore Conrad’s latest insult and call upon The Times to repudiate this insult to Jews and Judaism.

NORMAN I. EICHBERG

President

American Zionist Federation

of Greater Los Angeles