Montreal: A Montreal daily in Canada faces accusations of anti-Semitism for its caricature depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire.
La Presse, a French-language digital newspaper, showed Netanyahu with pointy ears and claws. Netanyahu is shown standing in a long coat on the deck of a sailboat, reminiscent of the vampire from the 1922 film Nosferatu.
Below the drawing, there is a caption that says “Nosfenyahu on his way to Rafah”.
Long-standing anti-Semitic tropes, including those used by the Nazis, equate Jews with vampires. La Press management apologized and said the cartoon was intended to be a criticism of the Israeli government and not the Jewish people.
Concern is growing in Canada and around the world over the military conflict in Gaza, including Israel’s planned attack on the town of Rafah, where Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to a deadly attack by its militants on October 7.
Canadian politicians, Jewish leaders and others immediately criticized the caricature, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“It is unacceptable to bring back such anti-Semitism and such insinuations,” Trudeau reportedly said. Malaysian mail on Thursday March 21, 2024.
Several of Trudeau’s ministers also criticized the caricature, calling it “appalling” and an “anti-Semitic trope.” They even warned that the cartoon risked escalating already high tensions in Canada over the fighting in Gaza.
By midday, the caricature had been removed and La Presse published a press release apologizing.
Editor Stephanie Grammond said the cartoon was not directed at Jews, but was a criticism of the Israeli government.
“It was never our intention to promote anti-Semitism or harmful stereotypes,” Grammond said.
Montreal is home to a large Jewish community in Canada. (Nabila Ramadhanty Putri Darmadi)
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