Scarfe touches a raw nerve

[Mr Pee]

PC World

Quite so Gongers. It's not being anti semitic, for instance, to be against the Israeli nuclear arsenal, and the threat that it poses.

Conveniently ignoring the fact that Iran has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map."

What do you expect them to do? Defend themselves against such a threat with feather dusters? It's called deterrence.

[Barbirollians]

We do not know that Scarfe drew that cartoon for Holocaust Memorial Day; personally I doubt.

The decision to publish such a cartoon last Sunday was that of the newly-appointed Editor. And who appointed this new Editor? Step forward Rupert Murdoch, who with typical management flair, has disowned the whole thing

The cartoon is a big dig at Netanyahu around the time of the Israeli election. It makes no reference to the Holocaust, I'd say it was highly critical of Israel's political leaders.

Since when have political cartoonists offered balanced comment?

We know the opposite Scarfe was plain he had no idea they would publish it on that day .

[teamsaint]

Conveniently ignoring the fact that Iran has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map."

What do you expect them to do? Defend themselves against such a threat with feather dusters? It's called deterrence.

Iran don't have nuclear weapons.

[amateur51]

Conveniently ignoring the fact that Iran has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map."

What do you expect them to do? Defend themselves against such a threat with feather dusters? It's called deterrence.

Mr Pee we have been through this business about Iran & Israel & nuclear weapons and the mistranslation of Iram's threat to Israel many times before. You are in danger of trolling.

[scottycelt]

Sorry that is utter nonsense- political correctness is a caricature invented by the Right to lambast anyone who objects to prejudice and discrimination . The vast majority of stories about PC behaviour are inventions .

As for these cartoons I find them distasteful and the publication of the Scarfe cartoon on Holocaust Memorial Day was crassly insensitive .

On the other hand , the playing of the Anti Semitic card every time Israel is criticised is extremely cynical . There is unfortunately still far too much real anti-semitism in the world and criticising in particular the Israeli right every time they want to take more Palestinian land or kill Palestinians in disproportionate responses to smallish scale Hamas and Islamic jihad mortar strikes - is not anti-semitic.

I agree that the Scarfe cartoon was distasteful and insensitive, but then I've never particularly liked his cartoons, tbh.

Both the Right and Left are guilty of caricaturing.

If 'political correctness' is a term misused by the Right against the Left/Centre then so is 'fascist' when hurled by the Left at the Right/Centre

However, that does not mean that 'political correctness' and 'fascism' do not actually exist.

[french frank]

There have been two complaints about the OP. As long as people can engage thoughtfully wih the issues it can continue for the moment. Barbirollians Msg 15 pretty much sums up my dilemma.

The fact that today is Holocaust Memorial Day shouldn't be obscured by present-day wrangling.

[MrGongGong]

There have been two complaints about the OP. As long as people can engage thoughtfully wih the issues it can continue for the moment. Barbirollians Msg 15 pretty much sums up my dilemma.

The fact that today is Holocaust Memorial Day shouldn't be obscured by present-day wrangling.

I think it was on Sunday

(Mozart's Birthday ...... and mine as it happens )

I think that the way that some folk suggest that somehow objecting to Israel's behaviour towards the Palestinians implies denial of history is extremely offensive indeed.

[amateur51]

The left invented the noxious culture of 'political correcnesst' which Rupert Murdoch has made use of (presumably to appease any of his Jewish investors who may have taken offence). Leftists therefore have no right to complain about his apology as he is simply using tactics that they have devised themselves.

Please explain this term, Mandy. You been hitting the Emva Cream again?

[french frank]

Statement from the Editor of the Sunday Times:

"I'm grateful so many community leaders could come together at such short notice. You will know that the Sunday Times abhors antisemitism and would never set out to cause offence to the Jewish people – or any other ethnic or religious group. That was not the intention last Sunday. Everyone knows that Gerald Scarfe is consistently brutal and bloody in his depictions, but last weekend – by his own admission – he crossed a line. The timing – on Holocaust Memorial Day – was inexcusable. The associations on this occasion were grotesque and on behalf of the paper I'd like to apologise unreservedly for the offence we clearly caused. This was a terrible mistake."

[MrGongGong]

Statement from the Editor of the Sunday Time:

"I'm grateful so many community leaders could come together at such short notice. You will know that the Sunday Times abhors antisemitism and would never set out to cause offence to the Jewish people – or any other ethnic or religious group. That was not the intention last Sunday. Everyone knows that Gerald Scarfe is consistently brutal and bloody in his depictions, but last weekend – by his own admission – he crossed a line. The timing – on Holocaust Memorial Day – was inexcusable. The associations on this occasion were grotesque and on behalf of the paper I'd like to apologise unreservedly for the offence we clearly caused. This was a terrible mistake."

I heard this on the radio
but I'm not sure that even though this could be seen as insensitive or a case of bad timing that it has anything to do with antisemitism ?

[Frances_iom]

There have been two complaints about the OP..

that was I - please point out the factual errors in my post - as far as I know the Palestinians played no part in the Holocaust but a bunch of extremists (eg Stern gang) murdered enough + threatened many more that when open violence erupted they like civilians the world over tried to escape - the ethnic cleansing was by the refusal to allow the original owners of land to move back to their homes from the refugee camps - the land grabs have been the subject of many UN condemnations yet each time the palestinians are criticised for attempting to recover what was rightfully theirs, if anything the Israeli settlers are the anti-semites of the area - the body count in the recent uprisings etc have generally stood near to 100 Palestinians killed for each Israeli - the Israeli state is very dependent on US aid and has been the open sore that has provoked much of the current violence in the Islamic world.

[Bryn]

I heard this on the radio but I'm not sure that even though this could be seen as insensitive or a case of bad timing that it has anything to do with antisemitism ?

Quite. I do, however, detect a certain crocodilian taint to the editor's lamentation. If Scarfe's cartoon is now seen to be so "inexcusable", how come none of the Sunday Times staff saw it as such on that edition of the paper's way to bed? Was nobody at the Sunday Times aware of the date? Sorry, not good enough Mr. Editor. It does not wash.

[Resurrection Man]

Iran don't have nuclear weapons.

What's that got to do with things?

[Resurrection Man]

.....

So to balance it up who here will want to reproduce the Danish cartoon of Mohammed with guns in the headscarf? Thought not.

Did you mean this one ?

[Bryn]

Any chance of a Mod. correcting the spelling mistake in Mr. Scarfe's name in the thread title?