The cartoon hurts more

‘The Guardian’ sacked its longtime staff cartoonist Steve Bell for his drawing of Netanyahu. He drew blood for sure but then that was part of a robust editorial tradition

THIS PAPER’S LEGENDARY cartoonist Abu Abraham used to sign his work as Abraham till 1956. That was when he joined The Observer, London’s biggest Sunday newspaper. Editordavidastorhadaworry. Hewondered if “Abraham”, a telltale Jewish name, wouldcreate“afalseslant”. Then, asnow, relations between Israel and the Arab world weretense, all of which could wade intocartoons. To make sure readers saw the cartoon as political and not remotely faith-led, how aboutapenname?

The cartoonist picked what his school friends called him — “Abu” — and scribbled the ultra-short signature like a visual flourish. A great cartooning career began slantproofed. Anequallyillustriousonejustended on a perceived slant. The Guardian sacked its longtime staff cartoonist Steve Bell for his drawingofbenjaminnetanyahu. Thecartoon shows the Israeli leader as a surgeon in boxing gloves, readying for an abdominal incision on himself at a surgery site called Gaza.

Theeditorswerequicktodecidethatthe image was a direct reference to the “pound of flesh” demanded by Jewish moneylender Shylock in Merchant of Venice and, therefore, antisemitic and offensive. Bell said nothing Shakespearean crossed his mind. He had been alluding to a classic 1960s cartoon by David Levine on US President Lyndon Johnson. The star illustrator of The New York Review of Books, Levine was a master who brought context to caricature. He wouldn’t stopatgettingtheresemblanceandexaggeratingthefaceandtheform; hewouldimprovise to suit the occasion. President Johnson, havingrecoveredfromagallbladdersurgery, had shown the surgical scar to reporters. Levineworkedonthiswell-publicisedevent, changing the scar to the map of Vietnam.

Backthen, inthe1960sand’70s, cartoonists everywhere followed the Vietnam War from the same side. They found no merit in thenapalmbomb. Cartoonartshinesintimes ofsuchone-sidedclarityasitdidduringworld War II when greats like Britain’s David Low andamerica’sherblockledtheirreluctantappeasing nations into an unequivocal fight against Nazis and fascists. Cartoonists saw throughhitlerandmussolinisoonerthanthe punditswhomadepolicy.

Cartoon historians say that it is through theinter-waryearsandthegreatdepression inbetweenthatdisplaycartooninggothoned intoafineeditorialart. Whilethewarkeptthe leadersinthelimelight, cartoonistsneverlost sightofthebreadlinesthatfollowedthewall Street collapse. Breadwinners mattered as much as winners and losers. Soon after the war, theglobalcartooningcapitalshiftedfrom London to multiple American cities and American cartoonists became increasingly wary of their own elected governments. Herblockcoinedtheword“mccarthyism” in his1950cartooninthewashingtonpost.

At his lethal best in the Watergate era, he always drew President Nixon with a five o’ clockshadowandoncewentsofarastoshow the President crawl out of a sewer. The wily politician knew readers trusted the cartoonist more than the President and admitted he had to rid himself of the “Herblock image”.

Younger practitioners on both sides of the Atlantictookonsuccessivegovernmentsthat kepttweakingexternalthreatstomanipulate domestic politics. Cartoons were constantly voicingthethoughtthatelectedgovernments weren’t much better than autocracies when itcametowhattheydidbetweenelections.

Thiswashowadversarialtheworkpractice had gotten when Steve Bell joined the profession in late 1970s. He sharpened the wickedpencilevenmoreasrookiesarewont to. Visceral rather than cerebral, he distilled the image till it was grotesque enough to meet the acidity level he sought to achieve. He also employed recurring devices, what David Low called a tab of identity, to serially provoke. Therecipientofthisfavouredtreatmentwasjohnmajor, Britain’sconservative PM in the late 1990s. Major was always drawn as a sad Superman wearing spotted underpants over a grey suit.

Likethebestofcartoonists, Bellcameinto hisowninwar— Uspresidentgeorgebush’s war on Iraq. Packaged as a global campaign against terror, this conflict wasn’t as easy to cartoon as the World War or the one in Vietnam. How can you criticise an organised waronslyschemerswhoblewuppeopleand places? Cartoonists ignored the propaganda and focussed on the collateral damage to democracy. Practitionerslikemikeluckovich showedtheycouldnuanceaswellastheyexaggerated— enoughtodifferentiatebetween terrorandreligion. Cartoonscalledoutevery signof Islamophobia.

Bell himself was at his merciless best. He launched a double-barrelled assault on

Like the best of cartoonists, Bell came into his own in war — US President George Bush’s war on Iraq.

Packaged as a global campaign against terror, this conflict wasn’t as easy to cartoon as the world war or the one in Vietnam. How can you criticise an organised war on sly schemers who blew up people and places? Cartoonists ignored the propaganda and focussed on the collateral damage to democracy. Practitioners like Mike Luckovich showed they could nuance as well as they exaggerated — enough to differentiate between terror and religion.

Cartoons called out every sign of Islamophobia.

President Bush and his own Prime Minister Tonyblair. Itseemedhewasswimmingacross theatlanticeverycartooningdaytochronicle thiswar-mongeringduo. Thetwintargetsremind you of the wartime comic character David Low created, mashing Mussolini and Hitlerinto“muzzler”.

Bellwasadiligentpractitioner. Hewould attend party conventions and sketch at breakneck speed, perfect the caricatures of emergingleaders, sustainadifficultstylerich indetailanddistortionandsubmittheday’s artworkforeditorialclearance, cursingearly deadlines all along.

He has been no more of an offender than the best in the business. Cartoonists worth theirname, Davidlowtoabuabraham, have beenaccusedofcausingoffence. Editorstake itintheirstrideandpublisherskeeprunning cartoons. Strangely, itisalwaysthesinglecartoonlikebell’soneonnetanyahuthatispulled out to cite offence. In a newspaper art meant to be serially followed through days, weeks andyears, whatcouldbesodecisiveaboutan individualartwork?

Bell’s body of work spanning 40 years is very much part of The Guardian’s legacy. The newspaper was as much a beneficiary as the cartoonist. Bell drew blood for sure but then that was part of a robust editorial tradition. Indiaowesitscartooningandcricket tocolonialbritain. Post-colonialbritishpresshassent outasadmessage: Veteranbellisonlyasgood ashislastcartoon. Wasdonbradmanonlyas goodashislastinnings?

ep.unny@expressindia.com