Students Regret but Won’t Retract Anti-Israel Article

Editors of the student newspaper at Orange County’s Saddleback College, under fire for publishing an opinion piece that attacks Israel, vowed Wednesday not to bow to pressure for a retraction from administrators and local Jewish leaders who said the article was anti-Semitic.

Staff members of the Lariat, however, have agreed to print a two-paragraph “editor’s note” in today’s edition of the weekly that expresses “regret (over) any emotional distress (the) commentary and illustration have caused.”

Lariat Opinion Editor Lee McCormack said that aside from the editor’s note, the staff was standing behind the piece on First Amendment grounds.

“We are not apologizing for anything,” McCormack said. “We are just regretting the fact that we seemed to offend a lot of people. But I guess people can interpret (the editor’s note) as an apology.”

Students, Jewish residents and top administrators, including the college president, have condemned the article and political cartoon by journalism student Michael S. Boren, charging that the piece was anti-Semitic and lacked understanding of Jewish history and culture.

“I think this piece showed extremely poor taste and we were extremely offended by it,” said Elizabeth Gale, Orange County director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. “It’s disturbing to see a student publish something that is full of inaccuracy.”

Richard J. Sneed, chancellor of the Saddleback Community College District, said the editor’s note does not go far enough, and has hinted that district administrators may consider changes in the school’s highly regarded journalism program. Sneed did not rule out the possibility that the Mission Viejo school’s award-winning newspaper could lose its funding.

The article, under the headline “Israel Enters Nuclear Arms Race,” was harshly critical of Israel for stockpiling nuclear warheads. It also charged that Israel is a “fanatical government” that “will resort to any means to protect their religious claim on (Palestine).”

The piece ended by stating that if Israelis “are indeed God’s chosen people . . . it would seem that God might have made a better choice.”

The article was accompanied by a political cartoon that depicted a Hanukkah menorah tipped with singing nuclear warheads instead of candles. The smiling warheads, which are engraved with Stars of David, are singing: “We Wish You a Happy Holocaust.”

Since the article and cartoon were published in the Dec. 7 edition, administrators of the 23,000-student college said they have received more than 100 calls from people who complained that the opinion piece was anti-Semitic.

On Wednesday, Boren, 26, said he was not prepared for the immense outcry over his work.

Boren has received numerous awards for his illustrations, which he said are often controversial, “but not like this.”

While the writer-artist said he is “sorry if I offended anyone,” he also said that he stands by his article and cartoon.