A prominent newspaper in the US state of Philadelphia apologised for publishing an editorial cartoon that pushed “antisemitic tropes”, according to Fox News. After facing severe backlash online, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board later expressed regret for posting cartoonist Monte Wolverton’s illustration on Tuesday.
The cartoon earlier rebuked Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack that led to the killing of over 1300 people. “It is clear this cartoon was highly insensitive, particularly at the current moment when antisemitism is on the rise. We hear the outcry and apologize for the pain it caused,” the editorial for the big city paper declared.
US media reports said the image created by the Cagle Cartoons-syndicated artist depicted a massive black military boot emblazoned with a Star of David about to step on a crowd of Palestinians that contained multiple Hamas militants scattered throughout.
“A speech bubble attributed to the boot wearer – a representation of the Jewish state about to crush its enemy – stated, “Distance yourselves!” The crowd of Palestinians and Hamas militants was drawn scattering under the approaching boot, which appeared poised to crush most of the people depicted,” the Fox News report said.
Wolverton had shared the drawing on X, where many users lashed out at the daily. “This cartoon is shameful,” one of the users on the social media platform said. Another agitated user claimed, “Monte supports baby killers.”
The editorial on Wednesday read that “The Inquirer Editorial Board regrets the publication of an editorial cartoon by Monte Wolverton of the Cagle Cartoons syndicate that appeared in Tuesday’s editions.” It added, “In hindsight, the cartoon depicting an oversized Israeli military boot stepping on Hamas terrorists hiding among civilians in response to the Oct. 7 attack should not have been published.”
The newspaper said, “Regardless of the interpretation, the illustration reinforces pernicious antisemitic tropes about Israeli aggression.” Furthermore, the board also pledged that it will better vet cartoons for the outlet so as to “to prevent failures like this one from occurring again.”