The Shocking Anti-Semitic Illustration Presented at an Israeli University

A university student attending the prestigious Technion-Israel Institute of Technology this week presented a rendering of the famous illustration of evolution’s “March of Progress” modified to depict four stages of human development starting with an ape walking on four legs to an ultra-Orthodox Jew.

The Israeli new site Arutz Sheva which first reported on the shocking sketch Wednesday said that it was shown last week by a female Arab student to her architecture and urban construction class which was working on an “architectural intervention” project for a neighborhood in Haifa that has a large religious Jewish population.

Technion spokesman Amos Levav confirmed on Wednesday that Arutz Sheva’s report was accurate and told TheBlaze, “We condemn this kind of picture.” He would not provide any further information on the incident.

The modification on the evolution illustration that was presented to a university class showed an ape evolving into an ultra-Orthodox Jew. (Image source: Facebook)

The anti-Semitic meme of Jews descending “from apes and pigs” is often invoked by hardline Muslim clerics, which Arutz Sheva noted that the sketch evoked. The phrase was even spoken by Egypt's former Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi.

One Israeli Facebook user posted, “I wonder what would have happened at the Technion if the person depicted had been wearing a keffiyeh [Arab headdress] and not a shtreimel?” A streimel is a head covering worn by some ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.

“This is better than Goebbels' campaigns, is it not?” they added, referring to Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist.

Despite the intolerant message of the evolution picture, the university is sticking to its policy of openness and tolerance, welcoming Jewish and Arab students alike.

“We don’t look at our students in terms of race and gender. The only thing we are interested in is their achievements in their studying,” Technion spokesman Levav told TheBlaze.