Once there was once a cartoon printed in Europe that offended a religion that was a minority in the West, but not necessarily so in other areas of the world such as the Middle East ..... there was condemnation from practitioners of the religion and claims of racism, and even the words "Blood Libel" cast about.
The newspaper concerned had to apologise, the owner of the newspaper concerned had to apologise, and the cartoonist had to 'explain' himself. He claimed that he wasn't against the religion or its practitioners, but rather the member of that group that the cartoon depicted, and that it was only the timing of the release of the cartoon that he regretted, not its content.
Now normally in such a story, the end result would be mobs on the streets of Middle Eastern cities, and any other places where the religious leaders could whip out a mindless gang. Western embassies would be under siege, flags would be burning and a death sentence on the cartoonist, newspaper proprietor called for, which would no doubt be financed by the government ministers in some nation far away that was supposed to be our ally.
BUT ...... and here's the rub, the middle eastern religion concerned wasn't the group you may have thought, not the group who often threaten death after any cartoons, videos and teddy bears offend them .... No it was the 'Jewish religion' who were 'offended' by the cartoon printed in the Sunday Times Newspaper, and its respected cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, which portrayed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a brick wall, containing the blood and limbs of Palestinians ..... to compound the 'offence', the cartoon was released by some bright spark on 'World Holocaust Day'.
So, because it was Jews, and not some other group, the newspaper concerned has not had to lock the doors, the owner of the newspaper concerned has not had to lock his doors, and the the cartoonist concerned has not had to go into hiding. In fact apologies given and accepted all round and this story will be dead by tomorrow, and not a mob, burning flag or death sentence in sight.
Another lesson that others could learn from .....
The newspaper concerned had to apologise, the owner of the newspaper concerned had to apologise, and the cartoonist had to 'explain' himself. He claimed that he wasn't against the religion or its practitioners, but rather the member of that group that the cartoon depicted, and that it was only the timing of the release of the cartoon that he regretted, not its content.
Now normally in such a story, the end result would be mobs on the streets of Middle Eastern cities, and any other places where the religious leaders could whip out a mindless gang. Western embassies would be under siege, flags would be burning and a death sentence on the cartoonist, newspaper proprietor called for, which would no doubt be financed by the government ministers in some nation far away that was supposed to be our ally.
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| Anti Netanyahu or Anti Semitic? |
BUT ...... and here's the rub, the middle eastern religion concerned wasn't the group you may have thought, not the group who often threaten death after any cartoons, videos and teddy bears offend them .... No it was the 'Jewish religion' who were 'offended' by the cartoon printed in the Sunday Times Newspaper, and its respected cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, which portrayed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a brick wall, containing the blood and limbs of Palestinians ..... to compound the 'offence', the cartoon was released by some bright spark on 'World Holocaust Day'.
So, because it was Jews, and not some other group, the newspaper concerned has not had to lock the doors, the owner of the newspaper concerned has not had to lock his doors, and the the cartoonist concerned has not had to go into hiding. In fact apologies given and accepted all round and this story will be dead by tomorrow, and not a mob, burning flag or death sentence in sight.
Another lesson that others could learn from .....
