Iran Hosts Cartoon Contest Encouraging Holocaust Denial

Photo: Animation by Jaber Asadi for First International Holocaust Cartoons Contest

Credit: Iran Cartoon

In response to French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo's latest depiction of the prophet Muhammad, Iran is hosting an international Holocaust Denial cartoon contest, because, of course, Charlie Hebdo's 'blasphemous' behavior means it's time for some good old fashioned Jew-bashing.

Two Iranian organizations, Iran's House of Cartoon and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex, have joined forces to organize the competition, dubbed The Second International Holocaust Cartoons Contest, according to Masud Shojaei-Tabatabaii, the contest’s secretary.

Shojaei- Tabatabaii confirmed the event Sunday, as reported by the Tehran Times.

Also the director of House of Cartoon, Shojaei- Tabatabaii has informed the public that they have until April 1st to submit their anti-Semitic propaganda drawings. The winner will receive a cash price of $12,000, with second place taking home $8,000 and third taking home $5,000.

That's a lot of money to receive for drawing historically incorrect animations.

The first such Cartoons Contest took place in 2005, after Danish newspaper Jyllands-Postens published caricatures of the Prophet. This served as the catalyst for the Iranian competition, which called on participants to draw animations that blatantly deny the Holocaust, or compare it to the treatment of Palestinians today.

Why the Jews and Israel were the target of the Iranian organizations - surely, they know that neither Jyllands-Postens nor Charlie Hebdo are Jewish or Israeli institutions - remains to be seen, though it does confirm that age-old argument that's been gaining tremendous momentum as of late: when all else fails, blame the Zionists.

Or, according to the organizers of the contest, it's a way to challenge the West's "double standards" regarding free speech.

“Why is it acceptable in Western countries to draw any caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, yet as soon as there are any questions or doubts raised about the Holocaust, fines and jail sentences are handed down?” Shojaei-Tabatabaii once stated in an interview with the Observer.

Some of the better pieces of the anti-Semitic dribble cartoons drawn for the contest will reportedly be displayed at the Palestine Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran.