Yielding to pressure, Comedy Central removed a video game with anti-Semitic stereotypes from its website last week.
“I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack,” which earlier in the week was renamed “Drawn Together: The Movie: The Game,” was removed from the Comedy Central site after Honest Reporting mounted a campaign to press the television network to remove the game based on an animated series that had run on Comedy Central. Honest Reporting is a media-watchdog group looking for fair coverage of Israel.
The game, which previously had started when a character stated, “You lied to me, Jew Producer,” centers on the Intelligent Smart Robot Animation Eraser Lady (I.S.R.A.E.L.), who is sent to murder children and wreak destruction.
“We believe that it would have been correct for Comedy Central to comment publicly and acknowledge its initial mistakes, perhaps even to make a public apology for the offense caused,” Honest Reporting said in an e-mail to its supporters. “After all, retractions and corrections are an accepted norm in the media business.”
As part of the campaign to remove the offensive game, a number of bloggers — including some that have no link to Israel or Jewish causes — joined in pressing Comedy Central, according to Honest Reporting. As of May 27, the Facebook group “Comedy Central-I.S.R.A.E.L. Attack game is offensive. Remove it” had nearly 3,000 members. – jta