Paper Apologizes for Bloody Bibi Cartoon
The Sunday Times of London apologized for publishing an editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall on the bodies of Palestinians and using their blood as cement.
“We apologize unreservedly,” the paper said Sunday for the cartoon by regular Sunday Times cartoonist Gerald Scarfe printed a week earlier, on International Holocaust Memorial Day.
“It is one thing to attack and caricature a leader – and it is as legitimate to attack Israeli leaders in cartoons as anyone else. But it is another thing to reflect in a caricature, even unintentionally, historical iconography that is persecutory or anti-Semitic,” the Sunday Times wrote.
“The image we published of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, which appeared to show him reveling in the blood of Palestinians, crossed a line. The image would have been a mistake on any day but the fact that last Sunday was Holocaust Memorial Day compounded the error.”
Critics said the drawing was reminiscent of anti-Semitic blood libels.
The Sunday Times defended the cartoon the day after it was published, saying it was “aimed squarely at Mr. Netanyahu and his policies, not at Israel, let alone at Jewish people.”
Scarfe earlier had apologized “for the very unfortunate timing” of the publication.
The Sunday Times also said in its apology, “The Sunday Times abhors anti-Semitism and racism of any type and we would never set out to offend the Jewish people – or indeed any other ethnic or religious group. The publication of last week’s cartoon was a very serious mistake. We apologize unreservedly.”
Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns the Sunday Times through a subsidiary, said last week in a tweet that the paper owed a “major” apology for printing a “grotesque, offensive cartoon.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
