The editor of the New York Times issued a retraction on Monday for a blatantly anti-Semitic political cartoon published in the international print edition on Thursday but many are saying the response was not sufficient. Drawn by Portuguese cartoonist Antonio Antunes Moreira of the Lisbon-based Expresso newspaper, the cartoon depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a guide dog for a blind yarmulke-wearing President Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s collar features a blue Star of David.
An Editors’ Note to appear in Monday’s international edition. pic.twitter.com/1rl2vXoTB3
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 27, 2019
The cartoon immediately attracted criticism, including from Donal Trump Jr., the president’s son, who tweeted: “Disgusting. I have no words for flagrant anti-Semitism on display here. Imagine this was in something other than a leftist newspaper?”
Seth Frantzman, op-ed editor for the Jerusalem Post, tweeted a breakdown of all the antisemitic elements of the image.
The NYT #antisemitic cartoon numerous clear antisemitic elements:
1. Putting a yarmulke on the US President in negative way
2. Putting the face of the PM of the Jewish state on a dog
3. Using a Star of David on the collar
4. Implying the US is “blindly” led by Jews and/or Israel pic.twitter.com/kLjlLYddrB— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) April 27, 2019
The American Jewish Committee responded that an apology was insufficient.
Apology not accepted. How many @nytimes editors looked at a cartoon that would not have looked out of place on a white supremacist website and thought it met the paper’s editorial standards? What does this say about your processes or your decision makers? How are you fixing it? https://t.co/HD5LdeZ9z3
— AJC (@AJCGlobal) April 27, 2019
Naked antisemitism such as in this image is not “an error of judgment.” We have to wonder if the @nytimes editors would’ve published a similar cartoon depicting any other country or people. pic.twitter.com/qSyVXqqLOW
— AJC (@AJCGlobal) April 27, 2019
