But then asked myself is it really antisemitic? Is it not just fair comment on Israel-US relations? The sighted leading the blind or ignorant? Bibi influencing T. Just sharp observation, then, nothing antisemitic, right?
Well, no. First up there's Bibi as a dog. A sausage dog. This made me think immediately of hot dogs, and hot dogs are usually made of pork. So an insult to a Jew.
And then there's the fact that Muslims often refer to Jews as "apes and pigs" and sometimes add "dogs" for good measure.
Then there's T wearing a yarmulke. So he's Jewish, then? So he's doing Israel's bidding — bringing to mind the ancient trope about Jews' insidious influence on world affairs. The Protocols, and all that.
So I decided, yes it's antisemitic.
Since then there's been an avalanche of criticism of the cartoon, and the Times has issued an apology, though it's more like an explanation than a mea culpa. Still, it's long and up-front.
There's been some comment on the dog being a dachshund. German. More insult to the Jew.
No one has made the hot-dog connection that jumped out at me…
Alan Dershowitz this morning noted that the cartoon echoed those of nazi-era Germany. That, I did not know from the comments to date.
The Times has been in hot water a lot recently. It does indeed seem to print a lot of stuff that is not just pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, but also out-and-out antisemitic. Ben Shapiro notes that the Times don't let a Jewish holiday pass(over) without printing something antisemitic. This Passover, for example, they ran a piece "Jesus was Palestinian". No, he wasn't. If only for the simple reason that there was no place called "Palestine" until around the 7th century. IIRC, and in any case centuries after Jesus the Jew wandered the Levant.
