The picture apparently refers to Western allegations that Hamas makes use of Palestinian kids and girls as human shields.
A cartoon within the Washington Publish’s opinion part has triggered controversy and sparked anger over its “racist” and “orientalist” depiction of Arabs and Palestinians.
Titled, Human Shields, it depicts a person in a darkish, striped swimsuit, which has Hamas in daring white letters emblazoned on it, for the Palestinian group.
The person’s eyebrows are arched, his nostril is comically giant. He has 4 kids strapped to his physique, together with a child positioned on his head. A girl – veiled and docile – and meant to characterize Palestinian girls, cowers behind him.
The person is lifting a finger and the thought cloud above him reads: “How dare Israel assault civilians?” In accordance with the cartoon, printed on November 6, he’s Hamas.
The title in addition to the depiction of youngsters and a girl tied to him, seem to reference allegations by Israel, which are sometimes repeated by Western leaders and echoed by many mainstream media retailers, that Hamas makes use of human shields.
Subsequent to the person, girl and kids, who’re flanked by a Palestinian flag, is a partial portrait of the Dome of the Rock in occupied East Jerusalem and beneath is an oil lamp.
The cartoon was printed as greater than 10,000 Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, together with 4,000 kids, have been killed in Israeli army assaults for the reason that battle began on October 7.
Two days after publication, the outrage on social media, in addition to the Washington Publish’s web site was rising.
On X, previously Twitter, a person referred to as the picture “past vile, bigoted and dehumanising”.
Others stated the dehumanisation was harking back to anti-Semitic cartoons that depicted Jews in a damaging mild.
“I can’t recover from how this appears precisely like a conventional antisemitic character, simply with a number of modified options”, posted one person, whereas one other wrote: “Notably that is precisely how they used to depict Jews in European newspapers within the Nineteen Thirties.”
On the Publish’s web site, one reader commented: “Disgrace on Washington Publish for utilizing racist tropes which can be at present getting used to justify a genocide the place majority killed are kids. Dehumanizing any peoples paves a means for injustices to happen. Unlucky to see The Washington Publish gasoline that racist hearth. This cartoon and the truth that it was printed is appalling.”
The cartoon is harking back to these featured within the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo which have been derogatory to the Prophet Muhammad.
Protests have erupted throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds over these photographs in previous years.
The cartoonist, Michael Ramirez, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has attacked Palestinians earlier than. In one other cartoon, he performs on the slogan “Black Lives Matter”, to make it “Terrorist Lives Matter”, implying that the help that Black folks in the US have proven for Palestinians is tantamount to siding with Hamas.
