Fatah resurrects Le Lievre cartoon
A CONTROVERSIAL Glen Le Lievre cartoon that was slammed as anti-Semitic when it appeared during the 2014 Gaza war has resurfaced two years later on an official website run by Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority.
A CONTROVERSIAL Glen Le Lievre cartoon that was slammed as anti-Semitic when it appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald and in the online version of The Age during the 2014 Gaza war, and which prompted a public apology from the newspaper, has resurfaced two years later on an official website run by Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority.
The image, which depicts a stereotypically Jewish man sitting in arm chair with the Star of David on the back and detonating a bomb by remote control, originally accompanied a vehemently anti-Israel column by Mike Carlton.
The cartoon was condemned by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry at the time, claiming, it “attributes to Jews generally a collective blood guilt for the deaths and suffering in Gaza”, prompting editor Darren Goodsir to state, “I deeply regret the offence this cartoon has caused for members of your community.”
However, as the backlash against Fairfax escalated with readers cancelling subscriptions, businesses threatening to pull advertising, and ECAJ together with the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria considering legal action, the paper published an unreserved apology.
Last week, the cartoon was posted in the website of Fatah’s Mobilisation and Organisation Commission.
According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), “Fatah’s choosing to publish the cartoon now, without any reference to Gaza, is clearly their statement about today’s international conflicts.
“Fatah regularly portrays Jews/Israel as behind the world’s terror attacks, wars and calamities.”
PMW noted that “In the past, Palestinians have accused Israel of being behind the terror attacks in Brussels (March 2016), Paris (November 2015), Nice (July 2016) and even 9/11 (New York 2001).”
AJN STAFF
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