UPDATED: MRC's NewsBusters Pulls Anti-Semitic Image It Used To Illustrate Blog Post

Written by Oliver Willis

Published

UPDATE: Sheppard has removed the offending image and added the following text:

Readers are advised that the original article included a doctored picture of Obama and others that turned out to have anti-Semitic imagery that I didn't notice when I incorporated it into the piece. Those familiar with my work know that's not something I would intentionally do. I apologize to anyone with better eyes than I have that noticed the imagery and was in any way offended.

The replacement image is one of the top Google Images results for the phrase “obama laughing,” as is the original anti-Semitic illustration.

The Media Research Center's NewsBusters blog is using an anti-Semitic image depicting Jewish control and influence over the U.S. government to illustrate one of its posts. The entry, written by NewsBusters associate editor Noel Sheppard, is accompanied by the following Photoshopped image:

In the picture, President Obama's tie has a Jewish Star of David design, and the Israeli flag has been added to the tie of Sen. Joe Lieberman. An Israeli flag pin has also been added to Obama's lapel.

Here is the original image of Lieberman and President Clinton:

The image is the work of The Dees Illustration Studio, which has several images with anti-Semitic and conspiratorial themes on its website.

These include:

  • An image labeling $100 bills, U.S. soldiers, and flag-draped coffins as “Goyim War”
  • A description of the Holocaust as a “scam”
  • Showing riot police wearing the Star of David tasering a woman reading a book questioning the existence of the Holocaust
  • Illustrating Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin as a multi-headed monster backed by groups like AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League
  • The U.S. Capitol shown flying the Israeli flag and labeled with a giant “Z” (apparently standing for Zionism)
  • A Jewish caricature overlooking scenes of combat in Libya, bracketed by images of Iraq and Afghanistan with the phrase “destroyed by Rothschild Zionist war”
  • Implicating the FBI and ATF in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City
  • President Obama with a note describing him as a “Born: in Kenya”

The Anti-Defamation League describes Dees' work:

David Dees, a Louisville, Kentucky-based graphic artist, has found a large audience for his anti-Semitic and conspiratorial art. This artwork has been circulated on extremist email groups, published on the Websites of 9/11 conspiracy theorists and turned into videos posted on YouTube and other Websites.