Sunday, January 27, 2013

Sunday Times Contradicts Itself Trying To Defend Its Holocaust Day Antisemitic Cartoon

In its infinite wisdom, the Sunday Times decided to commemorate Holocaust Day with the following cartoon drawn by Gerald Scarfe:

Gerald Scarfe's Cartoon About Israeli Election

The obviously evil intent ascribed to Netanyahu is reminiscent of decades of both Nazi and Muslim antisemitic cartoons -- leading to an uproar against the paper.

It also led to the absurd attempt of the Sunday Times to defend the viciousness of the cartoon:
This is a typically robust cartoon by Gerald Scarfe,” said a spokesperson for The Sunday Times, adding, “The Sunday Times firmly believes that it is not anti-Semitic. It is aimed squarely at Mr Netanyahu and his policies, not at Israel, let alone at Jewish people [emphasis added].
The problem with this attempted excuse is that the cartoon is clearly not aimed only at Netanyahu.

After all, Scarfe himself makes very clear that the target is the Israeli elections -- which represent all Israelis who voted. He labels the cartoon at the bottom of the page: "Israeli Elections", adding "Will Cementing Peace Continue?"

Also keep in mind that these are the very same Israeli elections which:
  • Include Arab parties
  • Have sent Arab MK's to the Israeli Knesset, where they are known to speak their mind and visit terrorists
  • Resulted in a loss of 10 seats for Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu party
  • Resulted in the strong showing of the new centrist party Yesh Atid
Mr. Scarfe's cartoon is a reflection of the many pundits who in the weeks leading up to the Israeli election assured us that the Israeli elections would lead to a major rightward shift leading to who knows what sinister results.

Apparently, it is not only pundits whose analysis about the Israeli elections has exposed their ignorance.

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2 comments:

Stefan said...

We must never forget the inhumanities of the Holocast. But we shall aswell illuminate the inhumanity done by the Israeli goverment. The pick of day is inappropiate, thouh the subject is very relevant.

Daled Amos said...

What a copout.

If what you say were actually true, the spokesperson for the paper would not have been reduced to rattling off nonsense about how the cartoon was targeted only at Netanyahu, and then turn around and admit that the cartoon was targeted at the elections -- meaning it was targeted at Israelis.

Since Scarfe attacks the Israeli elections -- in which Arabs vote and have elected Arab MK's to the Knesset, where they have never missed a chance to criticize Israel or meet with terrorists -- when can we see him attack the Palestinian Arabs, where Abbas is now serving the 9th year of his 4 year term.

One might have thought that to be a target big enough for Scarfe to notice and address.

Instead, he posts an attack that even the people at the paper are not sure what his target is.