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| Guardian 'fires' veteran cartoonist over Netanyahu sketch | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Steve Bell’s work was reportedly deemed to be perpetuating an anti-Semitic trope | Steve Bell’s work was reportedly deemed to be perpetuating an anti-Semitic trope |
| British newspaper The Guardian has ended its four-decade working relationship with cartoonist Steve Bell, who said his work criticizing the Israeli government’s stance on Gaza was rejected for using a supposedly anti-Semitic trope. | British newspaper The Guardian has ended its four-decade working relationship with cartoonist Steve Bell, who said his work criticizing the Israeli government’s stance on Gaza was rejected for using a supposedly anti-Semitic trope. |
| “The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell’s contract,” a spokesman for the outlet told The Telegraph on Sunday. | “The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell’s contract,” a spokesman for the outlet told The Telegraph on Sunday. |
| The offending picture depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preparing to perform surgery on himself. He is seen wearing boxing gloves and holding a scalpel, poised to make a Gaza-shaped incision. | The offending picture depicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preparing to perform surgery on himself. He is seen wearing boxing gloves and holding a scalpel, poised to make a Gaza-shaped incision. |
| “Spiked again. It is getting pretty nigh impossible to draw this subject for the Guardian now without being accused of deploying ‘antisemitic tropes’,” Bell wrote on X (formerly Twitter) last week. | “Spiked again. It is getting pretty nigh impossible to draw this subject for the Guardian now without being accused of deploying ‘antisemitic tropes’,” Bell wrote on X (formerly Twitter) last week. |
| He claimed he received “an ominous phone call from the desk” after submitting the cartoon and was told: “Jewish bloke; pound of flesh; antisemitic trope”. | He claimed he received “an ominous phone call from the desk” after submitting the cartoon and was told: “Jewish bloke; pound of flesh; antisemitic trope”. |
| Just to explain. I filed this cartoon around 11am, possibly my earliest ever. Four hours later, on a train to Liverpool I received an ominous phone call from the desk with the strangely cryptic message "pound of flesh"... pic.twitter.com/kSfmfzlmhy | Just to explain. I filed this cartoon around 11am, possibly my earliest ever. Four hours later, on a train to Liverpool I received an ominous phone call from the desk with the strangely cryptic message "pound of flesh"... pic.twitter.com/kSfmfzlmhy |
| The cartoon was apparently perceived as an allusion to Shylock, the Jewish antagonist in Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’, who demanded a pound of flesh from his Christian rival if he failed to repay a debt. | The cartoon was apparently perceived as an allusion to Shylock, the Jewish antagonist in Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’, who demanded a pound of flesh from his Christian rival if he failed to repay a debt. |
| Bell said the comparison made no sense to him. The image included the caption “After David Levine,” referring to the late cartoonist of The New York Review of Books. | Bell said the comparison made no sense to him. The image included the caption “After David Levine,” referring to the late cartoonist of The New York Review of Books. |
| Levine’s 1966 work ‘Johnson’s Scar’ parodies a contemporary photo, in which then-US President Lyndon Johnson demonstrated the mark left after having his gallbladder removed. The cartoonist depicts the scar shaped as Vietnam, in reference to the US invasion. | Levine’s 1966 work ‘Johnson’s Scar’ parodies a contemporary photo, in which then-US President Lyndon Johnson demonstrated the mark left after having his gallbladder removed. The cartoonist depicts the scar shaped as Vietnam, in reference to the US invasion. |
| Most of us can barely scratch at a knowledge of one let alone both!It took me ten minutes Googling before I could find David Levine's 1966 'Johnson's Scar' cartoon that I was previously unaware of. (Some of us are not reading Robert Caro's LBJ biography!) pic.twitter.com/yji8bXyge7 | Most of us can barely scratch at a knowledge of one let alone both!It took me ten minutes Googling before I could find David Levine's 1966 'Johnson's Scar' cartoon that I was previously unaware of. (Some of us are not reading Robert Caro's LBJ biography!) pic.twitter.com/yji8bXyge7 |
| Bell was previously accused of anti-Semitism over a 2020 cartoon, in which Labour Party leader Keir Starmer was shown holding the decapitated head of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn on a platter. It was a commentary on the withdrawal of Corbyn’s party whip for his refusal to accept accusations of anti-Semitism. | Bell was previously accused of anti-Semitism over a 2020 cartoon, in which Labour Party leader Keir Starmer was shown holding the decapitated head of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn on a platter. It was a commentary on the withdrawal of Corbyn’s party whip for his refusal to accept accusations of anti-Semitism. |
| The cartoon was perceived as an allusion to Salome in the Bible, who when her father King Herod II offered her anything, demanded the head of John the Baptist. | The cartoon was perceived as an allusion to Salome in the Bible, who when her father King Herod II offered her anything, demanded the head of John the Baptist. |
| The incident comes at a tense political time, with the UK government fully supporting Israel in its campaign against Hamas. The IDF is currently bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a deadly raid by the Palestinian militant group earlier this month. | The incident comes at a tense political time, with the UK government fully supporting Israel in its campaign against Hamas. The IDF is currently bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a deadly raid by the Palestinian militant group earlier this month. |