After the Holocaust denial cartoon contest, Iran’s Cultural-Art Masaf Institute has now announced a “Zionist Caliphate” cartoon contest, JNS.org reported Tuesday, citing Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency.
According to the Cultural-Art Masaf Institute, the latest contest’s themes focuses on “Zionism, terrorism and racism” and “ISIL (Islamic State) terrorism and genocide in the name of religion and to the benefit of the Zionists,” according to Fars.
The contest reportedly has a category for caricatures depicting Theodor Herzl and the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II.
The submissions for the contest are sent to a group called “Cartoons Clan,” which describes itself as a “group of cartoonists and caricaturists from all over the world who have gathered together to fight against any kind of racism and terrorism.”
“In our point of view, Zionism is the worst kind of racism and is the enemy of the world’s big religions,” the Cartoons Clan said on its website, according to JNS.org.
The winning entry will be awarded a $5,000 prize.
The Holocaust denial contest which was recently held in Iran was organized by non-governmental bodies with support from Iran's hard-liners, though the government distanced itself from the contest.
UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body, strongly condemned the contest, with its chief Irina Bokova saying, "Such an initiative which aims at a mockery of the genocide of the Jewish people, a tragic page of humanity's history, can only foster hatred and incite to violence, racism and anger."
Germany also condemned the Holocaust cartoon contest, saying it sows hatred and deepens divisions in the Middle East.