A cartoon that appeared in this London’s Sunday Times this week depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall with blood-red colored cement, trapping in between the bricks Palestinian-looking figures, is causing the latest is-it-or-is-it-not-anti-semitism furor.
The usual suspects have all weighed in: the Anti-Defamation League, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, clamoring for the venerable cartoonist Gerald Scarfe’s head and asking how the pro-Israel Sunday Time’s proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, could allow such a travesty. …
Pillorying Scarfe and his cartoon cheapens a noble cause, as this was not anti-Semitic by any standard. Here are four reasons why:
Which you should go to Ha’Aretz and read. It’s a very nice piece and I thank Niels Peter Lemche for pointing it out.
At least, in contrast to those (in)famous Mohammed cartoons of a few years back, this cartoonist need not go into hiding or fear for his life any more than any other big city dweller. The piece in Haaretz furthermore shows that a civilized discussion can be had about cartoons, which, by their very nature, need to be uncivilized. It also shows where the fine line lies of what would be beyond permissible.
Quite true