Cartoon Implies Israel is a Police State

The cartoon above appears in The Times of London (subscription only). Ostensibly it makes fun of UK cabinet minister Theresa May, who is responsible for legislating anti-terror measures to protect British citizens.

However, it also, in its satirical way, implies that May is getting her inspiration from foreign intelligence agencies. The Stasi was the feared Communist East German secret police while the KGB was responsible for subterfuge on behalf of the Soviet Union.

So why is Mossad, an intelligence agency that cooperates closely with its Western counterparts such as the CIA and MI6, lumped together with the Stasi and KGB? This is particularly inappropriate given that Israel and the UK are on the same side when it comes to defeating jihadist terrorism.

Ultimately, while the focus of the cartoon is not Israel, it still succeeds in falsely portraying the country as a police state.

[sc:graybox ]You can ask The Times why it considers this cartoon to be acceptable satire – [email protected]