Iranian health ministry holds antisemitic coronavirus cartoon contest

“At a time when it should be focused on saving lives, Iran’s health ministry sponsored a cartoon contest on COVID19."

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Volunteers from Basij forces wearing protective suits and face masks spray disinfectant in the streets, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fears, in Tehran, Iran April 3, 2020 (photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/ALI KHARA VIA REUTERS)
Volunteers from Basij forces wearing protective suits and face masks spray disinfectant in the streets, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fears, in Tehran, Iran April 3, 2020
(photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/ALI KHARA VIA REUTERS)
BERLIN — The senior vice president for international affairs for the Anti-Defamation League, Sharon S. Nazarian, blasted Iran’s health ministry for squandering time on stoking antisemitism instead of combating the massive outbreak of the deadly coronavirus disease.
Sharon S. Nazarian tweeted on Monday: “At a time when it should be focused on saving lives, Iran’s health ministry sponsored a cartoon contest on COVID19. As you could imagine, some of the submissions we found were horrifically and sadly unsurprisingly antisemitic.”
Her tweet contained images of the antisemitic cartoons tinged with anti-Americanism.

One cartoon shows the deadly virus dancing on top of a hat with a Star of David while a hook-nosed US Uncle Sam representative appears to have released the disease.
The National Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, told a US congressional hearing on antisemitism in January that the Islamic Regime of Iran is the top state-sponsor of Holocaust denial and antisemitism.
The US government classified Iran’s regime as the worst state-sponsor of terrorism. Iran's regime is the epicenter of the coronavirus in the Middle East.
According to Iran's health ministry, the most recent coronavirus death toll Iran’s death has reached 4,683. The real number of deaths is believed to be well over 10,000, according to international security sources cited in the German paper Die Welt. Iran has 74,877 infected people suffering from the virus. The number of infections is also believed to be played down by the authorities in Tehran.