Punk's point of view changes from cartoon to cartoon: sometimes bemused, sometimes ironic, and sometimes trenchant, he does not always represent an opinion that can be assumed to be that of Oliphant himself. Courting controversy Oliphant's cartoons are very rarely warm to their subjects: Oliphant has often noted that his job is to criticize, and that he has avoided getting to know his subjects because he is afraid he will like them. He intentionally courts backlash, saying in Rolling Stone in 1976, "This really isn't a business ... it's a cause. I'm an outcast because of it. A writer can’t really say, 'This man's an idiot,' because the law holds him back. We can say it." Oliphant has often remarked on his intention to draw criticism from all political perspectives from his cartoons, and has indeed received strong criticism by ethnic and religious groups alike for particular drawings. In 2001, the Asian American Journalists Association accused Oliphant of "cross[ing] the line from acerbic depiction to racial caricature". In 2005, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee expressed concern that some of Oliphant's caricatures were racist and misleading. In 2007, two Oliphant cartoons produced a similar response. A cartoon about Israel's December 2008 offensive against Hamas in Gaza sparked criticism among some American Jews: the cartoon courted this criticism actively by showed a jackbooted, headless figure representing Israel in a goosestepping posture, looming over a small female figure holding a baby labeled "Gaza." The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center said the cartoon denigrated and demonized Israel and mimicked Nazi propaganda. It called on the New York Times and other media groups to remove the cartoon from their websites. A 2005 cartoon showing Condoleezza Rice as a parrot perched on George W. Bush's shoulder was criticized by some readers for presenting her with buck teeth and exaggerated lips. Oliphant's cartoons featuring Catholic scandals have been controversial: the Catholic League has called him "one of the most viciously anti-Catholic editorial cartoonists ever to have disgraced the pages of American newspapers." On Christmas Eve, 1993, Catholic readers were angered by a cartoon associating Michael Jackson and priests with child molestation. One of his most famous cartoons, "Celebration of Spring at St. Pedophilia's – the Annual Running of the Altar Boys," led to debates in print, radio, and television across the country when it was published on 28 March 2001—the day before Good Friday. The New York Times