The Economist Pulls ‘Anti-Semitic’ Cartoon on Barack Obama and Iran
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The Economist removed a cartoon from an article on its internet edition that has been characterized as anti-Semitic.
The cartoon was removed Tuesday from the weekly publication, where it ran alongside an article published on Jan. 18. The cartoon appears in the print edition of the magazine.
An editor’s note appended at the end of the article titled “Negotiating with Iran: A Big Gap to Close,” about the difficulties between the United States and Iran over negotiating changes to Iran’s nuclear program, read: “The print edition of this story had a cartoon which inadvertently caused offense to some readers, so we have replaced it with a photograph.”
The cartoon shows President Obama with a leg shackled to the seal of the U.S. Congress, which is covered with Stars of David. He is reaching out to shake the outstretched hand of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is followed by extremists burning an American flag. The cartoon seems to indicate that Congress is run by Jews or Israel.
The Anti-Defamation League called on the Economist to issue a “full-throated apology” for publishing the editorial cartoon.
“The Economist cannot repair the damage of publishing an anti-Semitic image with only half-measures. They owe their readers a full-throated apology, which not only acknowledges the offensive nature of the cartoon but explains to readers why this image implying Jewish control was so outrageous and hurtful,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said in a statement.
“The Economist already has a credibility problem when it comes to Israel. The fact that this cartoon passed editorial muster without raising red flags raises serious questions about its editorial judgment and the possibility of a more deeply ingrained bias against the Jewish State,” he concluded.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
