Penn lecturer criticized for creating ‘reprehensible,' ‘antisemitic' cartoons

Concerns of antisemitism continue to hang over Philadelphia's University of Pennsylvania after a lecturer at the school posted cartoons online that the school president has called "reprehensible" and "antisemitic."

J. Larry Jameson, the interim president of the University of Pennsylvania lecturer, issued a statement on Sunday denouncing recent works by lecturer Dwayne Booth. The statement came after the Conservative publication Washington Free Beacon published an article critical of Booth's cartoons, which he published on social media under the pseudonym "Mr. Fish."

Jameson noted that the material in question was never taught in a classroom at Penn.

"I will not, and should not, respond to every event on our campus, but I want it understood that these political cartoons, posted on a personal website, were not taught in the classroom and do not reflect the views of the University of Pennsylvania or me, personally," wrote Jameson in a statement posted to social media.

Statement on political cartoons from J. Larry Jameson, Interim President, University of Pennsylvania https://t.co/be9r32piun pic.twitter.com/dwUOM05byt

— Penn (@Penn) February 5, 2024

"I find them reprehensible, with antisemitic symbols, and incongruent with our efforts to fight hate," Jameson wrote. "They disrespect the feelings and experiences of many people in our community and around the world, particularly those only a generation removed from the Holocaust. And, for me, it is painful to see the suffering and tragic loss of life of noncombatants in Israel and Gaza be fodder for satire."

Booth's Instagram page is filled with cartoons critical of Israel's response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks.

Some of the most provocative cartoons feature imagery such as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dressed as a butcher and covered in blood, a handgun marked with the Israeli flag as it's pointed at the head of a newborn baby, or an image of the Star of David -- a symbol of Jewish identity -- replacing a swastika in a Nazi-styled flag.

"At Penn, we have a bedrock commitment to open expression and academic freedom, principles that were unanimously reaffirmed last week by our Faculty Senate Executive Committee," Jameson's statement continued. "We also have a responsibility to challenge what we find offensive, and to do so acknowledging the right and ability of members of our community to express their views, however loathsome we find them."

"These core values are fundamental, but the boundaries are not absolute—they are defined by both the listener and the speaker. Not everything that can be said, should be said. This requires us to exercise judgment and demonstrate respect for other members of our community. In recent months, we have advanced important work to combat antisemitism and hate. We have strengthened security to support a safe environment for learning. We have created forums to discuss and debate the issues of our time.

"I call on the more than 50,000 members of the Penn community to redouble our efforts to be respectful and supportive of one another when exploring our differences through civil discourse."

In a response to Jameson's statements delivered following an NBC10 inquiry, Booth argued that his work could be misread and said that criticism of Israel and its actions during the war in Gaza should be considered separate from antisemitic rhetoric.

"[P]olitical artists have always had to grapple with the possibility that a misreading of their work, willing or otherwise, could disrupt the intention and usability of their commentary, thereby complicating the trajectory of whatever debate might follow," Booth told NBC10. "In such circumstances, an artist’s credibility will be questioned in place of a frank assessment of the work’s integrity, largely because it is easier to target the megaphone that one is speaking through than to seize control of the words coming out of it, which, in the case of an artist, are images rendered on paper, virtual, actual, or otherwise."

"In the case of the international conversation about the current war in Gaza, it will be impossible to have a substantive debate over the specifics and potential outcomes so long as there remains a lazy conflation that makes the State of Israel and the politics that guide its actions as a nation inseparable from Judaism, itself."

Booth also argued that there are "forces unfriendly" to open debate, freedom, justice and independent thought, who have been calling for the "eradication of my work and the termination of my professorship."

He argues that places where his work regularly appears -- like the progressive blog ScheerPost and the podcast The Chris Hedges Report -- and Penn's own Annenberg School for Communication should be "safe spaces wherein free thought and critical thinking can safely reside."

"[I]t is of utmost importance that we all wholeheartedly vocalize our disdain for censorship and smear campaigns targeting champions of free speech, advocates of fairness, and protectorates of every circumstance where a diversity of opinion is permitted unfettered access to all those wishing to participate. After all, without such proclamations being made in public forums there will be no proof that intellectual integrity and basic decency is a commodity worth preserving, nor will there remain any urgency to convince us that there exists a democracy worth saving," wrote Booth.

No administrative action has yet been taken by the school beyond Jameson's statement.

This incident follows a string of concerns over antisemitism at Penn's campus. Jameson took over as interim leader of the university after former Penn president Liz Magill and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Scott Bok, both resigned amid widespread criticism of the handling of reported antisemitism on campus.