Falling into the pro-Israel trap: the La Presse cartoon scandal
JVL Introduction
A cartoon in the Montreal paper La Presse, with its portrayal of Netanyahu as Nosferatu, has drawn the fury of the pro-Israel lobby with accusations that it is antisemitic.
Is it? Larry Haiven, draws attention to the wider context in which this accusation has been made, one in which attempts to shut down criticism of Israel and solidarity with Palestinians are routinely hounded and branded as antisemitic.
He then turns to the cartoon itself which he has no doubt is “over-the-top”, exaggerated, caricatured. But, as he points out, “that’s what cartoons are supposed to do, unless they are wildly malicious or slanderous”.
He gives a careful analysis of the objections to the cartoon and assesses them critically, observing helpfully that “Something can be obtuse or crude or perhaps even counterproductive without being susceptible to the label of antisemitic.”
Readers will judge for themselves. Your web editor has no doubt that this is just another crude attempt to shut down criticism.
RK
This article was originally published by the Bullet on Tue 2 Apr 2024. Read the original here.
Falling into the pro-Israel trap: the La Presse cartoon scandal
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Is Murder of children, women, aid workers, journalists, doctors, nurses, Starvation by blocking food supplies, Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide practices that command an attack of Anti-Semitism when it is the Israel State and Zionist Right Wing that are carrying these out in the name of revenge on a population in whole or in part? and not about Judaism or its followers
This is elegant , wittily written – let’s read more from Larry Haiven! I totally agree with the positions he’s laid out here — it’s utterly wrong to spread panic and persecution mania and give a false impression that we are surrounded by antisemitism. . Unfortunately , though, I don’t share his view of the two cartoons when seen in reality. And that also applies to the earlier murals under attack, I’m afraid. All four of these artworks do seem to me to be fairly offensive.
I don’t agree with censorship, probably never even agreed with ‘no platform for fascists’ back in the day, and certainly oppose zero tolerance for current political differences on the left. I liked both Steve Bell’s and Martin Rowson’s cartoons and defended them when they came under fire. (It is fair to say that my partner found the second of these to be antisemitic and nasty, though I strongly didn’t and still don’t.)
This brings us back to the issue raised by Brian Klug’s piece in JVL: how do we “live in difference”? Saying that these images have a right to exist is fine. Saying that we can’t see any problem with any of them is to risk turning ourselves into hacks.
Perhaps they think it is anti-semitic because that is how many subconsciously see themselves. I’m a Jew, but I don’t think that because I know I’m not like that.
“This article is the personal opinion of the author alone”
Not so – it reflects my opinion too.
It’s a duck-rabbit, isn’t it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit–duck_illusion and the world is full of frightened but malevolent opportunist duckshooters so why give them an easy target? The thing about cartoons like this, and there’ve been several, is that it can be impossible even with fairly long and erudite essays to dissipate that first impression. The image hits and activates the emotional brain and the rational brain either sits helplessly by or thrashes about, desperately seeking intellectual rationalisations, but always too late.
If I wanted to be antisemitic I’d ensure this image went viral in all the dank sewers of the web. And if I were a hypervigilant rooter-out of antisemites, I’d get my gang out to make a helluva noise about its blatant Judaeophobia.
In the end, maybe, it’s not an either/or duck-rabbit thing, but imparts a both/and message: it is indeed antisemitic because Israel and its rulers make the world an antisemitic place. Consequences usually matter much more than intentions. I may well not be antisemitic but what I say and write could be, however innocent my original motivation and fact-based I deem my utterance.
Or as an exasperated non-Jewish pro-Palestinian friend of mine once exclaimed, ‘With Jews, you’re always walking on eggshells.’
wow – speech so free that it feels scary even to read quietly at home
This weaponisation of antisemitism brings to mind the boy who cried wolf. I don’t know if everyone saw reported in many news outlets the antisemitic cuddly toy octopus 🐙. As far as I’m aware all the news outlets were incredulous. Perhaps we will now see people, organisations etc ignoring antisemitism claims or, what they should be doing, properly assessing the claims. The Jerusalem Declaration needs to be widely promoted so there is an alternative guide for people and organisations to turn to.
This cartoon is not anti semitic. It is a caricature of Netanyahu as a despotic leader of his country and has nothing to do with his religion but his actions . There are many such caricatures of other leaders that exaggerate their individual features and have nothing to do with their religions but reflect their actions. It’s time to have some common sense .