NY Times Deletes Anti-Semitic Cartoon After It Sparks Outrage
The New York Times Opinion backtracked Saturday morning on Twitter following the printing of an anti-Semitic political cartoon this past week.
The cartoon, which went to print in the Times’ international issue on Thursday, showed newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s face on the head of a seeing-eye-dog.
In the image, Netanyahu wears a dog collar adorned with a Star of David and his leash is held by a blind President Donald Trump, who wears black-framed glasses and a yarmulke.
The Times Opinion acknowledged pushback generated by the cartoon two days later, admitting that it “included anti-Semitic tropes” in a pictured Editor’s Note attached to a tweet.
An Editors’ Note to appear in Monday’s international edition. pic.twitter.com/1rl2vXoTB3
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) April 27, 2019
“The image was offensive, and it was an error in judgement to publish it,” Times Opinion wrote.
“It was provided by the New York Times News Service and Syndicate, which has since deleted it,” they continued.
A formal apology was never made, however, and the Times’ main Twitter account neither retweeted the Editor’s Note, nor addressed the cartoon or the ensuing backlash.
Readers worldwide were outraged, and the partial apology was not well received — numerous social media users took the time to rebuke the cartoon and the Times’ response.
The lack of a “sorry” or “we apologize” says a lot
— Carlos ?? (@_CarlosRSL) April 27, 2019
“error in judgment” = “we thought we’d run with it and see what happened. It didn’t turn out like we planned.”
— Patsy Jones (@pjones59) April 27, 2019
It’s sad that @nytopinion would publish this anti-semitic filfth but when two of the youngest Jewish American Congressional candidates send you an op-ed calling on #Congress to get serious & act immediately to fund #Holocaust #Education– you won’t publish it. Priorities…..
— Bryan E. Leib (@LeibforPA) April 27, 2019
“It’s sad that the @nytopinion would publish this anti-semitic filth but when two of the youngest Jewish American Congressional candidates send you an op-ed calling on #Congress to get serious & act immediately to fund #Holocaust #Education- you won’t publish it,” Bryan E. Leib tweeted. Leib is a member of the American Israeli Council.
Though the prime minister did not himself respond, the cartoon did catch the eye of Netanyahu’s son Yair.
You are anti Semitic news paper! The New York Times deliberately hid the news about the extermination of millions of Jews in Europe in WW2!
— Yair Netanyahu ?? (@YairNetanyahu) April 27, 2019
“You are an anti Semitic news paper! The New York Times deliberately hid the news about the extermination of millions of Jews in Europe in WW2!” he wrote.
Another response even came from Imam Mohamad Tawhidi — a Muslim peace advocate — who went so far as to accuse the Times Opinion of printing content that served the “ISIS agenda.”
Serving an ISIS Agenda
If you’re wondering what type of photo ISIS’ Al-Baghdadi would hang on his wall, look no further than the @nytimes cartoon displaying Jewish people as dogs. Militant Islamist texts refer to Jewish people as “the ancestors of pigs, monkeys and dogs.”
Shame pic.twitter.com/V1DjfPMuxt
— Imam Mohamad Tawhidi (@Imamofpeace) April 26, 2019
“If you’re wondering what type of photo ISIS’ Al-Baghdadi would hang on his wall, look no further than the @nytimes cartoon displaying Jewish people as dogs. Militant Islamist texts refer to Jewish people as ‘the ancestors of pigs, monkeys and dogs,'” Tawhidi wrote. “Shame.”
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