Sunday Times Publishes Apology For Offensive Cartoon
February 3, 2013 13:57 by Simon Plosker
The Gerald Scarfe cartoon published in The Sunday Times on Holocaust Memorial Day provoked a wave of almost unprecedented outrage. HonestReporting weighed in on the issue, joined by many other organizations and concerned individuals and the image, here on the right, was just one response that we produced.
An opinion piece by Managing Editor Simon Plosker was also published by The Algemeiner where we asked the question:
But what would have happened had this same cartoon, portraying a crude caricature of Israeli PM Netanyahu building a wall using blood for mortar while crushing Palestinians, been published on any other day than International Holocaust Remembrance Day?
To its credit The Sunday Times sent emails of apology to everyone who wrote complaints and has published an apology. As it’s behind a pay wall, we are reproducing it in full here:
Last week we published, as we have almost every week since 1967, a cartoon by Gerald Scarfe. His works are brutal and bloody and his opinions are his own, not those of this newspaper. The Sunday Times has always understood and reported the legitimate security concerns of the state of Israel.
It is one thing to attack and caricature a leader — and it is as legitimate to attack Israeli leaders in cartoons as anyone else. But it is another thing to reflect in a caricature, even unintentionally, historical iconography that is persecutory or anti-semitic.
The image we published of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, which appeared to show him revelling in the blood of Palestinians, crossed a line. The image would have been a mistake on any day but the fact that last Sunday was Holocaust Memorial Day compounded the error.
We realise that we caused grave offence, however unintended, which detracted from a day that marks one of the greatest evils in human history.
The Sunday Times abhors anti-semitism and racism of any type and we would never set out to offend the Jewish people — or indeed any other ethnic or religious group. The publication of last week’s cartoon was a very serious mistake.
We apologise unreservedly.
We certainly hope that lessons have been learned and not only on the part of The Sunday Times and the media at large. This result is incontrovertible proof that when enough people take action, a model promoted by HonestReporting, it can achieve a positive outcome.
Alicia
5:32 pm
Feb 03, 2013
Sorry Sunday Times.. Apology not accepted. The editors knew and promote the cartoon for the holocaust day memorial, they provide the match for antisemitic link between a humanity horror day to a country policies .
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theo musikanth
8:14 pm
Feb 03, 2013
The drawer of the reprehensible cartoon is a member of the Sunday Times staff The editor therefore cannot distance himself from a team member His apology just does not wash !
In an article in 2005 Paul Johnson called antisemitism” a disease “in his essay on the subject
Today it has morphed into something more lethal – a poison
And to the eternal shame of Britain this poison has attached itself to her – more so than to some other lands
It is but a short step from here to gas chambers and worse when you choose to dehumanise through a poison quill ,those you target !
History will take note your style and the many in Britain like you
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Jonathan
7:51 pm
Feb 03, 2013
I appreciate the apology. It would have been better had they not published the cartoon to begin with. It is not important but I did not receive an apology by e-mail or any other response to my complaint to the Times.
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Heather Kennedy
2:32 am
Feb 04, 2013
While I, too, appreciate the apology I can’t get past the fact that this newspaper published the cartoon in the first place.
No editor worth his salt would be unaware of the significance of the day — nor would he allow that filth to run in his newspaper without personally approving it.
Without wishing to add in any way to the controversy I can’t help wondering whether the Sunday Times would have published something equally offensive to any other group.
And no — whether this matters or not (& I personally think it has nothing to do with anything) I am not Jewish.
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Sunday Times wegen beleidigender Karikaturen: Öffentliche Entschuldigung « Medien BackSpin
2:32 pm
Feb 04, 2013
[...] HonestReporting Media BackSpin, 4. Februar 2013 [...]
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martin
11:53 am
Feb 06, 2013
Heather, do you really believe that a really dirty piece of cartoon against Muslims would be made in the first place? Britain betrayed the Jewish people immediately after the san Remo Declaration in 1920, ahortly after the Balfour Declaration. It has been anti Israel all this time, regardles of which party was/is in power. The Home/Foreign Offices, staffed by Jew haters for many years and continue to appease the Arabs at all costs, even to the UK becoming dhimmified as an expectant Islamic state in the future. These days, to speak honestly and truthfully can land one in prison if it even condemns any Islamic practice. I hoped the Times group would not return to hate Israel as before.
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EthanP
4:27 pm
Feb 06, 2013
The apology will only mean something if, and only if there are no more like it. Lets look back in a year.
I agree, Martin. They wouldn’t dare print such filth about a Muslim leader. Even Assad is treated with more respect. But then, we Jews don’t blow up busses, cut out tongues, cut off heads, shoot little girls in the head or throw acid in there faces. And thats just news in the last week.
Lets face it people. The savages have got us frightened and on the run.
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Jayson Rex
4:51 pm
Feb 06, 2013
The appology is accepted provided Sunday Times does not repeat this or any other type of antisemitic offense ever again.
As far as the so-called “Palestinians” are concerned, they have been more than clear that they will NEVER accept Israel as their neighbour. The Hamas boss was honest enough to declare about a month ago that it is the aim of ALL Palestinians to destroy the State of Israel.
This is why there will never be peace in the Holy Land as long as a single Palestinian is left standing, ready to blow himself up among inocent and unarmed Israelis. Sorry but this is the inconvenient truth Europeans have a hard time understanding and accepting.
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Dallas
4:52 pm
Feb 06, 2013
It was no “error” as the Sunday Times claimed.
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ReuvenF
6:58 pm
Feb 06, 2013
Let the Sunday Times prove its sincerity by never using a Scharfe cartoon again. And those who approved its publication should be fired.
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ReuvenF
7:03 pm
Feb 06, 2013
I wrote to the Sunday times, expressing my anger about its publishing the anti-Semitic cartoon. I received no reply or apology.
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Mary
7:17 pm
Feb 06, 2013
Anti-Semitism is the reason my husbands family fled Germany, now they have fled Britain for the very same reason. You guys really want to down this road again? Really?
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Arley Steinhour
7:39 pm
Feb 06, 2013
Perhaps I am seeing more in the atrocity than is intended, but, consider that there are twelve rows of brick shown, with two partial rows, that could indicate the Twelve Tribes of Israel, with the Two ‘partial’ representing Joseph’s Sons, each receiving a portion, Then, there is the ‘blood mortar,’ and the ‘Seven’ bodies, protruding between the brick (seven the number of fullness), with the deeper thought that the bodies, perhaps, weakens the structure of the Twelve rows, enough to collapse the wall, in short order… This symbol of ‘hatred’ appears to me to be too well thought out to be mended by apology, bandaged, perhaps, but with little healing ‘balm,’ to the wound they inflicted. AMEN
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Clarabella hp
9:23 pm
Feb 06, 2013
Quite right and so they should. However, one thing puzzles me and I quote from the article from the link above ” Last week we published, as we have almost every week since 1967, a cartoon by Gerald Scarfe. His works are brutal and bloody and his opinions are his own, not those of this newspaper”. If his opinions are his own and not the newspaper, then why on earth did such an inflammatory cartoon appear in the Sunday Times? Surely his work is overseen and approved by an editor prior to it being included? Is this cartoonist so important and his work above being….. erm edited?
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Okey
10:37 pm
Feb 06, 2013
antisemitism is in Europe’s cultural DNA.
For a few decades after the Holocaust it lay dormant.
It has resurfaced with a vengeance.
So powerful and insidious and irrational is it that Europe prefers to appease its mortal foe, Jihadism, rather than accept that Jews have national rights in The Land of Israel.
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Rich L
11:12 pm
Feb 06, 2013
HR did a great job of identifying this issue and marshalling supporting its position. Well done.
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HaroldT
2:19 am
Feb 07, 2013
The apology is not worth the paper it was written on.
The damage has been done.
The only way to make amends to to publicly fire the “cartoonist”
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martin
12:11 pm
Feb 07, 2013
I appreciate the HR is mainly interested in the English speaking media. I would go to the seminar in London if I lived in the great metropolis.
Simon, you need to check the Norwegian media, it is far more hatful towards the Jews in general and israel in particular. Perhaps, you might contact MIFF (Translation “with Israel in peace”) it is an excellent blog and growing all the time. That and Israelwatch (Norway Israel and the Jews) really rock the elitist communist etsablishment boat. you might also wish to view Senter mot antisemittisme. This last sight is also very good, it spoke too clearly and upset the leftleaning leaders of the Jewish community. (Rabbi Melchior, need I say more?)
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downtown dave
12:37 am
Feb 08, 2013
How could the Sunday Times be apologizing unreseverdly when they insinuate the offense of the cartoon could have been unintentional. It wasn’t unintentional. They need to stop being a conduit for anti-semitism.
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One heckuhva Davidson
9:15 pm
Feb 08, 2013
Bibi profits in fame from all this antisemitism from the “world” press. not the “world”, but the turd, the nazi swine press. the press of antisemitism is what much of non-israeli press is. fuck them.
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Shlomo Pissberger
10:21 am
Feb 25, 2013
The jews are all just cunts, and have been since they crawled out of what ever shit hole cess pit they evolved from. “israel”must burn in hell!
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