Jewish Funds for Justice laid the smackdown on Fox News this morning. The nonprofit advocacy group ran a full page ad in the “Wall Street Journal” calling on News Corp to end Fox’s frequent, inappropriate references to Nazis and the Holocaust.

The ad is signed by the heads of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements as well as Orthodox rabbis, and targets three specific infractions.

First referencing Glenn Beck’s ludicrous special in which he accused George Soros of “helping send the Jews to death camps” during WWII, they wrote, “It is not appropriate to accuse a 14 year-old Jew hiding with a Christian family in Nazi-occupied Hungary of sending his people to death camps.”

Second, they attacked Roger Ailes for an interview with The Daily Beast regarding NPR’s firing of Juan Williams, writing, “It is not appropriate to call executives of another news agency ‘Nazis.’”

And finally, regarding countless Fox commentators and correspondents they wrote, “And it is not appropriate to make literally hundreds of on-air references to the Holocaust and Nazis when characterizing people with whom you disagree.”

It’s good to see Jon Stewart has a little backing in his crusade against Holocaust-exploiting sensationalism. Stewart indiscriminately criticizes Republicans and Democrats for baselessly labeling the opposite party “nazi.”

Is “Nazi” kind of becoming the new “N” word?

It sure is derogatory. But unlike the real “N” word, it’s doubtful any minority group will want to reclaim “Nazi,” drop a letter, and use it to empower themselves. (I can almost picture Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour addressing Ohio House hopeful Rich Iott as, “Whut up, Naz,” but not quite.)

The rabbi coalition suggested specific actions for News Corp to take to curb their damaging anti-Semitic content and interview flubs. “We respectfully request that Glenn Beck be sanctioned by Fox News for his completely unacceptable attacks on a survivor of the Holocaust and that Roger Ailes apologize for his dismissive remarks about rabbis’ sensitivity to how the Holocaust is used on the air.”

The content of this ad is timely considering the events in Arizona, which have been tied to out of control political rhetoric. It’s also incredibly ballsy to use one arm of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch’s prized “WSJ,” to criticize another— his money-maker, Fox. It almost conjures an image of Murdoch sitting behind a giant mahogany desk repeatedly punching himself in the shoulder, which is sad because he’s so old, but also kind of funny.

[Via The Washington Post]