Sydney Morning Herald reprimanded for ‘gratuitous’ Jewish link in Gaza cartoon
The Sydney Morning Herald breached Australian Press Council standards by publishing a controversial cartoon about Israeli rocket attacks on Gaza which was “likely to cause great offence to many readers” by placing “gratuitous emphasis on the Jewishness of its subject”.
When it was published in July the cartoon by Glen Le Lievre was likened to Nazi propaganda. It showed an elderly man with a large nose sat in an armchair with a remote control pointing at an exploding cityscape, implied to be Gaza, wearing a traditional Jewish headdress with a Star of David over the back of the seat.
It was run alongside an editorial by columnist Mike Carlton on the conflict. Carlton quit Fairfax a week later after being suspended for sending abusive messages on social media to people who had complained about the column.
In today’s ruling the APC says while “a linkage with Israeli nationality might have been justifiable in the public interest” the “same cannot be said of the implied linkage with the Jewish faith that arose from inclusion of the kippah and the Star of David”.
The ruling noted the 650 word apology carried by the paper the week after over the cartoon, and said the editor-in-chief, Darren Goodsir, and news director had attended seminars by the Jewish Board of Deputies around imagery that could be considered anti-semitic, whilst it has also changed procedures so extra layers of approvals are needed for cartoons.
In its response to the APC’s inquiries the SMH agreed the cartoon “had placed gratuitous emphasis on the Jewishness of its subject”.
The ruling concludes: “The Council welcomes the prominent, extensive and closely-reasoned apology by the publication and its subsequent action to reduce the risk of repetition. The Council commends this approach to other publications.”
http://www.theguardian.com/wor.....za-bombing
Were the pics in the above article faked?
And isn’t the star of david essentially the Israeli flag?
The cartoon seemed like valid satire to me…..
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The cartoon would have been suitable in the Berlin Morning Herald in 1938. Not the Sydney Morning Herald in 2014.
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Didn’t we just see hundreds of thousands of people march in Paris for the right to free speech and the right to offend in cartoons?
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Hang on, aren’t we all Charlie at the moment?
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Not seeking to excuse the cartoon – but it’s a bit rich to have a go at a cartoonist for having depicted the Star of David in his cartoon while supposeldy not having properly directed his cartoon at the state of Israel (as compared to the Jewish people), when the Israel national flag basically is a Star of David
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Agree with David.
Really curious that the Jewish lobby can exert so much pressure and guilt.
A caricature is all about highlighting pronounced features and making a comment.
Glen Le Lievre is a smart guy.
He like many people see the hypocrisy of Israeli attacks in Palestine.
If Jews don’t like it, why don’t they just cop it?
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Je suis Le Lievre
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Je suis Mike
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Je suis un rockstar
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The hypocrisy is shameless.
“one cannot defend the right to blaspheme without defending the practice.”
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Not only bad decision, but terrible timing in the wake of the Charlie Habdo massacre.
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I would have thought marketing experts such as yourselves could appreciate the distinction between a satirical piece targeting Israel’s military machine vs a cartoon that targets Jews by invoking German propaganda aimed at inciting unprecedented hatred and bloodshed against that group in ww2. Isn’t it a bit like blaming Mohammed for the specific actions of ISIL – which countless Muslim groups have protested with the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, and which, by the way would be banned in this country due to our racial vilification laws . No?…too subtle?
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