Cartoons offensive to Jewish people

I have always regarded Derrick Nesbit’s cartoons as a worthwhile contribution to the newspaper, but no more.

The effort in The Herald on January 15 is a disgrace and borders on pure antiSemitism.

First the enlarged nose on the face of the Israeli man shows a throwback to the Nazi interpretation and propaganda against Jews of the 1930s and 40s; it is biased, inciteful and hateful.

This cartoon is like one from the Nazi propaganda newspaper Der Sturmer.

Who is saying “we respect SA’s move against Israel”?

It is not the USA , whose president has been clear in his support for Israel.

By not indicating the actual origin of the quote you are leaving a lot to speculation.

The meaning of genocide is not one country defending an attack on her, it is the concerted effort of one nation to destroy an innocent people because of their ethnicity.

Hamas is a terror group who murdered in an unprovoked manner for no reason other than their hatred.

They must not be surprised at the Israeli response.

Derrick Nesbit replies:

I note the negative response to the two cartoons illustrated pertaining to the charges levelled against Israel by the SA government.

Before explaining the thought process behind the cartoons, I would like to point out that the exaggeration of features was simply cartoon and by no means were they meant as an intentional slight on the Jewish population.

I accept that during these troubled times, one must be sensitive and I have taken note of this for future reference.

In the first cartoon (January 9), the SA delegation is on its way to the criminal court.

It is no secret that they have ties to Iran, China and Russia (spurring them on).

They of course expect a fall-out from the West.

A cross Jewish delegate awaits them at the ICC. The Western allies do not look happy about this decision.

No antisemitic intent was intended in this, more that I was questioning the logic behind the SA government’s decision to pursue the case (our standing with AGOA being at risk).

The second cartoon (January 15) refers to the fact that the SA government and Israel had now presented their cases to the ICJ and the court would now weigh up the evidence supplied by both parties.

Once again the nose illustrated has absolutely no intended reference to Nazi or holocaust doctrine.

I found it interesting that the US, a long time supporter (hence US propping up Israel) of the Israeli government, made the following comment:

In the Sunday Times January 14, the following statement is attributed to US Embassy spokesprson David Feldmann: “The US mission in SA says Washington respects Pretoria’s decision to take the the Israeli government to the ICJ on charges of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.”

As a cartoonist I accept that I cannot get it right every time and I do appreciate both positive and negative responses.

I appreciate being given the opportunity to explain and rest assured will continue to supply cartoons to the best of my ability.