The Guardian has apologised after a cartoon depicting BBC chairman Richard Sharp was criticised as antisemitic.

I think its a great paper on the whole it gives access to a POV not found elsewhere. We need a breadth of newspapers to get a full picture - and its free online unlike others.

I did consider that Maizie cartoons always exaggerate but we can't avoid current debates and the need to be thoughtful about what's published. It also surprises me you say Abbot's letter wasn't anti semitic. It was utterly up front racist.

Retracting or withdrawing something when OTHER PEOPLE point out how grossly offensive it is, is hardly a sign of sensitivity to anti-semitism. Sensitivity to anti-semitism would have meant1) the cartoonist not drawing the cartoon the way he did and 2) Someone on the editorial staff seeing the problem and making sure it wasn't published.

Of course I think the Observer should not have published Diane Abbott's letter. They make decisions every week about what to publish and what not to publish on the letters page and I am sure they turn down many a letter because it is offensive to one sector of the population or another.

There was nothing special about DA's letter, just the usual casual anti-semitism. her brand is nothing exceptional. She is just one more anti-semitist in the Labour Party, with so many, it doesn't really matter whether she specifically is outed or not.

Deeply unpleasant.
One wonders at the person who drew it, and the paper which published it.

Iam64

Like Wyllow3, I’m a leftie but I’m not anti semitic. It’s shocking that this cartoon could be drawn, never mind published. Casual antisemitism is so deep rooted that it often goes denied or unnoticed. As shown on many discussions on gransnet

Same here 👍🏻
The comment by MaizieD tho, demonstrates the leftie mindset regarding anti-Semitism that many do have, as Pooter and others say. The cartoon and the letter by DA are both disgraceful and show the leadership from the top down at The Guardian don’t care about showing the country who they are.

I'm in the Labour Party and yes the far left (and further left out of the Labour Party for example the SWP) do have some whom I would consider anti-semitic,
Abbot is one of them but the majority of us have no truck with it. Please be specific as I do not wish to be tarred with an inaccurate brush.

We on here may not be Wyllow3 or the majority of us anyway, but we have to recognise that many are, you only have to look at the Party under Corbyn’s leadership and what went on. Those people are still there.

The comment by MaizieD tho, demonstrates the leftie mindset regarding anti-Semitism that many do have

No, it just demonstrates that I'm not hysterical about a cartoon or a very stupid letter. I don't see antisemitism in every aspect of political life in the same way that I don't see reds under the bed.

Oreo

We on here may not be Wyllow3 or the majority of us anyway, but we have to recognise that many are, you only have to look at the Party under Corbyn’s leadership and what went on. Those people are still there.

Oh, I've noticed, Oreo. I've intervened.

However it seems to me that as long as we have FPTP any major party will always have a very wide range of views - its the same on the right.
You stay in to say what you think is right.

Oreo

We on here may not be Wyllow3 or the majority of us anyway, but we have to recognise that many are, you only have to look at the Party under Corbyn’s leadership and what went on. Those people are still there.

I agree. This is precisely why I fail to understand why Monica believes that the Observer publishing Diane Abbott’s letter was wrong. I’m a firm believer in the expressed views of all politicians whatever party they represent, and however shocking those views are, being published.

Grammaretto

I'm bemused by Martin Rowson's apology.
Thoughtless? Really?
He is so infected by "unconscious bias" that it has left him entirely oblivious and whatever the opposite is of empathetic.

Has Richard Sharp commented?

To say that he forgot that Richard Sharp is Jewish even though they were at Merchant Taylors School together is utter nonsense.

Wyllow3

Rowson's statement on Twitter:

www.martinrowson.com

if you red in denial it would appear the image that I referenced by GB news was cropped (surprise, surprise) so we didn't see the whole image, just mainly the face: the complete cartoon referenced other matters..

I still feel the same however.

Thank you for this Wyllow3. I don't think the cartoonist has done himself any favours with this..... The full carton is available further down the GB News article and is profoundly, shudderingly shocking......

Yes it wasnt just a rant in green ink from anyone, it was an elected politician from a section of the labour party that has been accused of anti semitism previously, I think not to publish would have been deeply worrying.

Oh and always be really wary of those who classify themselves as the 'good guys'. In my experience it's very rarely true.

Only just see this thread and therefore only just seen the cartoon. To say I’m shocked is a huge understatement. I can barely believe what I’ve just seen. It’s appalling. At this moment, no words!

To say that he forgot that Richard Sharp is Jewish even though they were at Merchant Taylors School together is utter nonsense.

Why? Perhaps he's just not obsessed by people's racial origins and accepts them all as being members of the human race.

Diane Abbot was rightly condemned for implying that there is a hierarchy of racism. This whole fuss says to me that there is a hierarchy and Jews seem to be at the top of it.

Is there an outcry when other well known, non 'anglo saxon white' figures have their perceived racial characteristics emphasised in a cartoon?

In my opinion I think cartoonists believe they are not subjected to the everyday morals of the rest of the populace, their job is to satirise everyday occurrences, a bit like the shock-jocks in the USA.

I think this cartoon is in bad taste, as was the one with SNP members on crosses published over Easter. A couple of years ago there was also one of Priti Patel depicted as a Bull complete with a ring through her nose.

All of the above I find a step too far.

GrannyGravy I agree.
What has happened to society that it is thought okay by some, even some on here, to draw these grotesque cartoons which clearly demonstrate antisemitism in the main?

No, it just demonstrates that I'm not hysterical about a cartoon or a very stupid letter
Is taking exception to public expressions of racism or anti-semitism or any appalling prejudice to be dismissed as "hysteria" ?
If so there should be more if it and more accountability by public figures who seem to enjoy a "privileged" position .

MaizieD are you actually saying that Jews are fair game for cartoonists and racist insults as according to you

there is a hierarchy and Jews are at the top of it ?

That statement in itself is extremely insulting to many, I will go as far as says it is antisemitism in plain sight.

Hmm. At first sight, the cartoon looks dreadful, offensive and anti-semitic, but the selective cropping speaks volumes. I agree with the cartoonist in that he was trying to show yet another person brought down due to their association with Johnson, the man with the reverse of the Midas touch. This point could have been made without the grotesque caricature of Sharp.
The editorial team at The Guardian do seem to be laying themselves open to attack at the moment. I had no idea that Sharp was Jewish, why would anyone? Totally irrelevant to the scandal around his appointment. I am not excusing any of this, but I am wary of just who is stirring the pot about it.

Casdon Should The Observer print every letter it receives or every letter it receives from someone who may be known to a group of people in this country? if it should, itprobably woyld have no room on its pages for news. Newspapers have to make decisions about which letters to publish and I am pretty sure this letter would not have been published had it not had a well known name attached to it.

It might have been more approrpiate to have made a news item out of it rather than publish it in the letter column.

MaizieD it’s not just the exaggerated features. It’s the inclusion of the bloodied pig and the squid with their anti semetic meanings. If you read Wyllow’s link you will understand more as did I.

There is more than just the features of Richard Sharpmore that is antisemitic in this grotesque cartoon. There is the image of a vomiting pig, the octopus with it’s grasping tentacles into the box of gold and the image Johnson sitting on top of a pile of …… Is the implication that Jewish people will grasp anything or anyone that will reward them whatever …… they embroil themselves in?
It’s disgusting! Worse if anything than Diane Abbot’s antisemitic letter last week. At least that tells us clearly what a horrible person she is. What does this cartoon tell us? What the Guardian thinks of Jews? Is that what it tells us? This from so called liberal minded people who are actually not liberal at all!

Sky News report:

news.sky.com/story/the-guardian-pulls-cartoon-of-outgoing-bbc-boss-richard-sharp-after-antisemitism-backlash-12869197

The cartoon could not be more anti-Semitic if it tried! It contains several references which are offensive. This was not a mistake of exaggerating Richard Sharp's features.

It has really had the opposite effect to that which was intended, hasn't it!

maddyone

There is more than just the features of Richard Sharpmore that is antisemitic in this grotesque cartoon. There is the image of a vomiting pig, the octopus with it’s grasping tentacles into the box of gold and the image Johnson sitting on top of a pile of …… Is the implication that Jewish people will grasp anything or anyone that will reward them whatever …… they embroil themselves in?
It’s disgusting! Worse if anything than Diane Abbot’s antisemitic letter last week. At least that tells us clearly what a horrible person she is. What does this cartoon tell us? What the Guardian thinks of Jews? Is that what it tells us? This from so called liberal minded people who are actually not liberal at all!

Excellent post. Thank you.