Join in and exchange blogs to ALT+SHIFT for a better world
Editor's Pick: Cartoon of the week: 5 April 2009
Source: by Oliphant© - Published in various newspapers, March/April 2009
Oliphant’s latest Gaza cartoon has reignited the firing lines between antisemitism and the political all over again.
Some suggested reading links to this include:
• Have a look at the comments to Anthony Lerman, “Antisemitic, or just offensive?” guardian.co.uk, 2 April 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/02/tony-lerman-oliphant-cartoon-israel
• A short visual analysis comparing cartoons and representation of Israel, by Benjamin Kerstein, “The Awful Anti-Semitism of The Washington Post’s Pat Oliphant” newledger.com, 31 March 2009
http://newledger.com/2009/03/the-awful-anti-semitism-of-the-washington-posts-pat-oliphant/
• Throw the words “oliphant cartoon” into a search engine and scan the reactions.. (say for example ninja.com and yahoo )
Selected in the roundup of the best of this week’s editorial cartoons online, please feel free to sign in and chuck your comment on it below or email for guest comments to be added
Login to your member account if you have one, or create an account if you are a guest. Alternatively, you can comment without an account by simply filling in the details below:
I’m responsible for approving member-submitted content and maintaining the interactive exchange section of the UCLSHRP site.
If you have any comments or queries, feel free to contact the editors at . Whether through art, photography, cartoons or the written word, this is our member-guided arena for thought and discussion: so get involved!
3 Comments:
This cartoon is definately offensive. Whether it is anti-Semitic is open to debate.
I think the issue resolves around confusion over what actually is anti-Semitism. You can be accused of being anti-Semitic by conflating the state of Israel with Judaism. Conversely, supporters of Israel argue that it deserves special dispensation, as the state of Israel is founded on the belief that Jews need a safe haven from the eternal hatred of gentiles. Accordingly, we should respect that Israel is a Jewish state and therein lies its reason for existence.
So, either Israel and Judaism are one and the same or they aren’t. However, organisations such as AIPAC refuse to acknowledge this issue and as such, have a free reign to render any criticism of Israeli policy as anti-Semitic.
I agree this cartoon is offensive, but isnt that the point of this type of cartoon? I think upon looking at the cartoon in detail, it is anti-Israel, rather than anti-Semitic. Oliphant deliberately created lines both at the top and bottom of the cartoon, I can only asume this is to create the image of the Israeli flag, and not just the Star of David. I think he quite clearly illustrates who he is targeting.
I think people need to stop being so hyper-sensitive when it comes to issues such as this, and concentrate on the issue at hand…
Sorry, that should read anti-Israeli state, not anti-Israel.