Cartoons and Cartoonists

LA Times runs Anti-Semitic Cartoon with Inflammatory Op-Ed

Los Angeles Times op-ed by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer spewed more of the authors anti-Israel inaccuracies and was accompanied by an anti-Semitic cartoon more at home in a neo-Nazi publication than a supposedly major newspaper.

Cartoon Double Standard at the Independent

Contrast comments from The Independent criticizing the publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed that are deemed offensive to Islam with the newspaper's defense of a cartoon it published showing Ariel Sharon eating a Palestinian child.

Toles in a Cartoon World of His Own

Editorial cartoons – political commentary in illustrated form, usually with some attempt at humor – are intentionally subjective. That being the case, they generally escape critical analysis. But when the cartoonist's premise contradicts the essential facts of his subject matter, criticism is mandatory. So it is with Tom Toles' editorial cartoon in the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune.

Oliphant Cartoon Crosses Line

The  political cartoonist Pat Oliphant's cartoons rely on classic images: Democrat as donkey; Republican as elephant.  Recently, however, he evoked a more distrurbing image—one more commonly associated with Nazi propaganda or anti-Semitic rants of extremist Islamist clerics, in his portrayal of Jews as dogs.

Your Image

USA Today Gets Unexpected Lesson

The February 13, 2004 edition of USA Today published as an advertisement a large editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon controlling the US media, a cartoon closely mirroring anti-Israeli, anti-American illustrations common in the Middle Eastern press and even neo-Nazi publications. CAMERA contacted the newspaper and was promised that future ads will be more closely scrutinized and vetted.

Evolution of a Cartoon

In recent months, many Americans have been dismayed to see mainstream media outlets publishing cartoons with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic images reminiscent of Nazi-era propaganda. The latest such drawing is one by syndicated cartoonist Tony Auth of United Press Syndicate in which a Star of David fences off Palestinians. Not only is the message about the purpose and impact of the fence completely inaccurate, its use of a Jewish religious symbol to excoriate the Jewish state evokes anti-Semitic cartoons popular in Nazi Germany and in the Arab press.