The NY Times published an anti-Semitic cartoon featuring Trump and Netanyahu

Trump

The cartoon was published in the International edition of the paper and appeared in the opinion section. It depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog leading President Trump who is both blind and wearing a yarmulke.

The cartoon was published Friday, but some Jewish readers didn’t see it immediately because of the Sabbath.

The NY Times apologized for the cartoon and admitted it contained “anti-Semitic tropes.”

The Jerusalem Post ran a blistering piece saying this was the NY Times looking at the anti-Semitism of Ilhan Omar and saying “Hold my beer.”

You Might Like

At a time of rising antisemitism, when we have become increasingly exposed to the notion of dog whistles and tropes that are antisemitic, when there is a lively and active debate about this issue in the US, the New York Times International Edition did the equivalent of saying “hold my beer.”…

No other minority group is subjected to such unrelenting and systematic hatred by mainstream US newspapers. No one would dare to put an Islamic leader’s face on a dog, with Islamic symbols leading the US President. Of course not. The editor would stop that. They’d be sensitive to this issue. They would err on the side of not being offensive. The night editor, the duty editor or someone would say “this doesn’t look right.” Imagine the days when racists tried to depict US President Barack Obama as a closet Muslim. We know the tropes. So why put a yarmulke on Trump’s head? When it comes to Jews and Israel, there is no depth to which they will not sink. And an apology after the fact isn’t enough.

This cartoon didn’t end up in the International Edition of the New York Times by mistake. It was chosen, it was put on a page by someone, it was checked and re-checked. I know. I’m an Oped Editor. When I used to run cartoons in my section, no fewer than four people would see it before it goes to print. At the International Edition of the New York Times it should have been more than four. And they all thought it was fine? What that tells you is that there is a culture of antisemitism somewhere in the newsroom…

This is clear as day. This isn’t like some story of unclear antisemitism. This isn’t a dog whistle. This is a dog.

Writer Erielle Davidson argued this was part of a larger problem:

Are we going to have a national conversation about the growing problem of left-wing anti-Semitism now that it has touched the NY Times? I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *