It’s really too bad that advocates of what some have deemed a human rights issue are resorting to anti-Semitic attacks to garner attention for their cause. The individuals behind these comic books conveniently leave out some important facts: in 2005, 56% of newborn boys were circumcised before they left the hospital (that’s 1.2 million procedures).  The entire Jewish population in the United States is a mere 5.2 million – making up about 1.7% of the U.S. population. Safe to say therefore that 98% of circumcisions in the U.S. are being performed by non-Jews.

There’s no doubt that some folks are advocating against circumcision for the wrong reasons. The people on the same side of the issue who truly believe this is a human rights issue need to strongly denounce anti-Semitic attacks or risk losing all legitimacy.

The following article was cross-posted from AOL News, by JULIE WATSON  on 06/18/11.

SAN DIEGO — His fists clenched and muscles rippling beneath a tight blue suit, the yellow-caped character appears poised to take on evil-doers.

But as his name suggests, “Foreskin Man” is not a typical comic-book superhero, and neither is his choice of adversaries: doctors who practice circumcision and Orthodox Jews who support the religious ritual.

San Diego activist Matthew Hess says he conceived the Internet comic series last year as a way to boost his budding national effort to outlaw circumcision, an effort that has led to a measure on San Francisco’s ballot in November that would make it illegal to perform a circumcision on a boy under 18.

Recently, though, the series has drawn criticism from those who deride Hess’ imagery as anti-Semitic and liken Foreskin Man’s confrontation with a sinister-looking Monster Mohel to 1930′s Nazi propaganda.

In the comic’s second issue, the mohel (a specialist in Jewish ritual circumcision) barges into a San Diego home, snatches a baby boy from his mother, and proceeds to circumcise the infant on a pool table before being stopped by Foreskin Man.

“The (Monster) mohel has a dark complexion, hook nose and is practically drooling at the thought of apparently doing harm to a child,” said Nancy Appel, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League. “He even has claws on his fingertips. He is blood thirsty just like the grotesque Jewish stereotypes that appeared in Nazi propaganda. It’s absolutely a direct parallel.”

Hess is the founder of MGMbill, a national organization pushing to outlaw circumcision on boys under the age of 18. MGM stands for Male Genital Mutilation, and the bill refers to proposed legislation drafted and submitted to state and federal lawmakers to consider passing.

The organization succeeded in getting the measure on San Francisco’s ballot that would make it a misdemeanor to circumcise males younger than 18 without “medical need.” Hess had hoped to get a similar measure on Santa Monica’s ballot but the campaign’s leader dropped those plans because of the backlash.

Continue reading this article here.