Sounds like the guardian wanted to get rid of him for a while. Apparently he has been involved in antisemitism incidents in the past. They don’t need the controversy he brings.
OrlandoDoom ( @OrlandoDoom@feddit.uk ) English21•8 months agoThe description of the comic didn’t sound anti-semetic, unless there’s some anti semetic trope that I’m unaware of. Being against the state of Israel, apartheid, ethno-states and genetic cleansing of Palestinians isn’t anti-semetic. Self surgery with boxing gloves actually seems rather apt imagery.
There’s no mention of past anti-semetism in the article either as far as I can see, something about Tories which I don’t quite understand the reference, nose rings? Is that a trope I don’t understand?
Help me out here.
HipPriest ( @HipPriest@kbin.social ) 21•8 months agoI mean I always found his cartoons annoyingly unfunny but I don’t think there’s anti-Semitism in this one. The general state of newspaper political cartoons actually being funny is pretty pathetic, they’re still about as good as The Day Today’s physical cartoonist Brandt.
But back on topic I it certainly looks like there’s no grounds for anti-Semitism for this one.
TQuid ( @TQuid@beehaw.org ) English14•8 months agoSounds like a crock of shit to me.
JoBo ( @JoBo@feddit.uk ) English8•8 months agoThe Daily Mail has helpfully republished the cartoon to report on the story. Link to image, not the paper
sub_ubi ( @sub_ubi@lemmy.ml ) English3•8 months agoCriticizing hardcore Zionism isn’t anti-semitic. Equating Jewish people with these genocidal maniacs is though.
ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝 ( @Emperor@feddit.uk ) English3•8 months agoAnd the Lyndon B Johnson cartoon referenced.
I can see the issue as it’s not Johnson operating on himself.
This alone doesn’t seem bad. I can only assume the guardian had a growing file on him and this image tipped them over the edge.
AllNewTypeFace ( @AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space ) English5•8 months agoHe could always sue The Guardian for libel; that’s the traditional way of clearing one’s name in England.
jtb ( @jtb@feddit.uk ) English4•8 months agoPerhaps he can get a job at the Daily Mail.
The Guardian was started by Unitarians who are supposed to be open to ideas, but now it fully embraces cancel culture and censorship, like any orthodoxy.
Hyggyldy ( @Hyggyldy@sffa.community ) English3•8 months agoFucking lol. Say more things, I’ve still got popcorn left.
jtb ( @jtb@feddit.uk ) English2•8 months agoTake it to a witch-burning.
Hyggyldy ( @Hyggyldy@sffa.community ) English3•8 months agoAh, a conservative favorite. No thanks, I’m not in to mindless cruelty like right-wingers.
jtb ( @jtb@feddit.uk ) English2•8 months agoCareful with that pitchfork, Eugene. Free speech is a civil liberty, not right wing.
Hyggyldy ( @Hyggyldy@sffa.community ) English2•8 months agoYeah and it’s within everyone’s free speech to say they don’t wanna platform you any more. Whine more.
Ooof. Very brave of you to say this. RIP your inbox.
jtb ( @jtb@feddit.uk ) English2•8 months agoThat’s how far democracy has gone down the drain, that even criticising cancel culture is ‘brave’.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Long-serving Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell has been sacked by the newspaper in a row over a drawing he created of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bell said the cartoon was spiked after a phone call from the paper suggested it may reference Shakespeare’s Shylock’s “pound of flesh” line.
Moneylender Shylock, from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, is considered to be one of the most notorious Jewish stereotypes in English literature due to his greedy nature.
Bell told the BBC that the interpretation by the Guardian "made no sense to me, as there is no reference to that play in my cartoon, which shows Netanyahu, poised to perform a surgical operation on himself while wearing boxing gloves, the catastrophic consequences of which are yet to be seen.
The issue has arisen during a time of heightened tension following the Hamas attacks on Israel earlier this month and the subsequent retaliatory strikes on Gaza.
In the same year, senior Conservative MP Sajid Javid tweeted that Bell’s cartoon - depicting former Home Secretary Priti Patel and ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson as bulls with rings through their noses - was “incredibly offensive”.
The original article contains 475 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!