Tarnished its image
To the Editor:
We, the undersigned write to express our shock and revulsion following your publication on June 1st of an abhorrent caricature by notorious anti-Semitic cartoonist, Carlos Latuff.
While we favour a broad marketplace of ideas, those which contribute to hatred against the Jewish people have no place in a publication like The Nelson Daily.
The cartoon, which accompanies commentary by David Livingstone, depicts an Israeli sword stabbing the back of an innocent Palestinian woman marked “Gaza.”
An American policeman looks on with a smile implying tacit U.S. approval for this incident, saying “Blame Hamas!”
The implications of this message are clear. The cartoonist portrays Israelis as intentionally targeting innocent Palestinians, specifically women in densely populated urban areas, all while America gives its smiling approval.
The cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, is well known for his anti-Israel and anti-Semitic cartoons. Latuff proudly claimed second prize in the 2006 Iranian International Holocaust Cartoon Competition, an exercise that intentionally made a mockery of Jewish death and suffering during the Holocaust.
Former Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan, condemned the event and the U.S. State Department called the competition an attempt to “denigrate the horror that was the Holocaust.”
It’s worth noting that comparing Israeli policy to the Nazis fits the European Union and U.S. State Department’s working definition of anti-Semitism.
Time and time again, Latuff has continued to employ Nazi-like imagery to portray Israel’s defensive actions against Hamas terrorists from Gaza.
His cartoons mirror classic anti-Semitic propaganda of 1930s Nazi Germany which encouraged millions to hate, helping to lay the foundation for the Nazi genocide.
In publishing this abhorrent cartoon, The Nelson Daily has tarnished its reputation by shamefully providing a platform to those who wish to wage a demonization and deligitimization campaign against Israel.
Signed,
Dr. Michael Elterman, Chairman Canada-Israel Committee – Pacific Region
