This as far as I am concerned is a back-handed apology.
We apologise: publishing cartoon in original form was wrong.
EDITORIAL
There has been widespread reader and community reaction during the past 10 days over a cartoon that was used to illustrate an opinion piece by columnist Mike Carlton on the conflict in Gaza.
Much of that concern was borne out publicly on our letters pages – and there has continued to be commentary and correspondence that has sought to make sense of the conflict.The Herald has drawn opinions from a wide variety of sources to help readers to understand the causes of, and the possible ways to end, the war between Hamas and Israel.
Deeply critical exchanges have taken place over the opinions expressed in Mr Carlton’s column, and properly so, as we invite debate over any column we publish.
But the Herald has also fielded a number of accusations of racism over the cartoon.
Today, the Herald wishes to apologise for this distress, draw a line under the debate about the cartoon, and return focus back to the events in Israel and Gaza.
The cartoon showed an elderly man, with a large nose, sitting alone, with a remote control device in his hand, overseeing explosions in Gaza. The armchair in which he was sitting was emblazoned with the Star of David, and the man was wearing a kippah, a religious skullcap. A strong view was expressed that the cartoon, by Glen Le Lievre, closely resembled illustrations that had circulated in Nazi Germany. These are menacing cartoons that continue to haunt and traumatise generations of Jewish people.
In addressing individual and community concern after the publication of the cartoon on July 26, the Herald looked to the fact that Mr Le Lievre’s distinctive drawing style routinely sees old people depicted with large noses and pronounced facial features. It is the way he draws and his visual archive, dating back many years, confirms this.
It was also significant that the cartoon had its genesis in news photographs of men seated in chairs and lounges, observing the shelling of Gaza from the hills of Sderot. One of those photos depicted an old man, wearing a kippah, reclining casually as part of a group – with Mr Le Lievre seeing comparisons between this and someone watching their television; hence the remote control. Another photo portrayed a lone man on a large couch – and thus the cartoon blended these two images.
The Herald deeply regretted the upset the image had caused, but felt – not least because the cartoonist lacked any intent and that actual photographs influenced the setting and physical depiction of the character in the cartoon – that no racial vilification had occurred.
However, this newspaper accepts that this position was too simplistic and ignored the use of religious symbols
The Herald now appreciates that, in using the Star of David and the kippah in the cartoon, the newspaper invoked an inappropriate element of religion, rather than nationhood, and made a serious error of judgment.
It was wrong to publish the cartoon in its original form.
We apologise unreservedly for this lapse, and the anguish and distress that has been caused.
Our commitment remains to reporting in a fair and balanced way on the appalling events in Israel and Gaza, where our correspondent, Ruth Pollard, is currently based, witnessing daily the horrors of war. The devastation being inflicted on innocent men, women and children, on livestock and property, has shocked a world that has become all too comfortable with its own indifference – with all sides in the conflict being condemned by the United Nations for unconscionable practices.
All the while, the world earnestly hopes and waits, so far in vain, for a lasting ceasefire; and a sustainable peace – a resolution that will stay the blood and the tears.
Carlton rears his ugly, Anti-Semitic head again and again and again…….The SMH’s apology is pathetic!
“It was wrong to publish the cartoon in its original form”
Sorry, SMH, it was wrong to publish such a vile cartoon in ANY form.
When will the world ‘wake-up?’
‘fair and balanced,’ ruth pollard has never been either when it comes to her middle east propaganda, as far as the herald goes, it’s a lost cause, clutching at straws. those people were watching iron dome protect them, not gaza burn. the last thing isreal wants is war. they want someone they can make peace with. the smh is staffed by idiots who are quite happy to sink the newspaper that carries them, no wonder they identify with hamas.
This is the feedback I gave the SMH today:
Publishing the cartoon in ANY form was wrong. It displays deep lack of understanding on the part of the cartoonist and the SMH of the issues at hand in Gaza. Where’s the anti-HAMAS cartoons? Why always imbalance in your newspaper? I’m glad you’ve lost many subscribers as a result of your blatant racism, and I hope you lose many more over your half-arsed attempt at an apology.
well said, it’s an appalling apology. they should apologise for the apology, not that anyone will read it except for the idiots who continue buy it.
Their “apology” is as sincere as Hamas’s “ceasefire” “pledges.”
Let’s face it: “The Sydney Morning Stormtrooper” is a Hamas ally.
Is there any one who didn’t work that out long ago?
Remember years ago when it called Begin’s government “a menagerie”? Hamas didn’t exist then, but the PLO is just as evil.
When I spoke to the then-editor, a certain Dr Osmond, pointing out that the implication was that his publication considered the Israeli government members to be sub-human, a Nazi attitude, this Dr ( Mengele was also a Doctor) gave me the usual nonsense.
Let’s face it: “The SM Stormtrooper” consciously, deliberately, in a calculated policy, is pitching its content to a segment of this country’s population, and that segment comprises not only “people of Middle Eastern appearance.”
This war has given the SMS’s following a golden opportunity to settle personal scores with Jews-
perhaps a landlord who expects rental payments, an unreasonable expectation, I admit; perhaps a debtor who draws cheques on a bank account which he previously closed; perhaps a disgruntled customer of a retail store that refused to give him a refund on a pair of shoes which he had worn for a year etc etc etc
And, of course, we can NEVER forget that self-important windbag whose prime ministerial ambitions were frustrated by the powerful Jewish lobby’s inordinate power. He will never forgive us for his own miserable failures.
We’ve been there before!
Can you ever imagine the outcome if Fairfax slandered Arabs & Muslims and fed their readers Lies about the Palestinian Terror- tories nearly every day of the week .
I always find it fascinating how these racist, left wing Editors, Journalists and Cartoonists are so brave at having a go at Jews knowing full well the most they will have to endure is a few angry emails, Letters to the editor or the odd apology . No need for body guards or looking over their shoulder thats for sure!
that’s fer sure!
Rachel
Surname please. Friend or no friend I will delete you if you do it again.
It is one of the rules of the site.
that’s fer sure!
That’s OK Rach!?
It defaulted to the previous time I commented which was without surname. Don’t beat me massa!!!
did you see the mike carlton exchange with his critic. what a spiteful twisted man he is, as far as ruth pollard goes she may as well be on the hamas payroll.
What is truly offensive is all those Israelis who put out lawn chairs and watched all those people die, like it was some kind of spectacle staged for their amusement. The moral degeneracy of Israelis society could not be cast into starker relief, and you people reveal yourselves to be absolute monsters in the way you defend this hideous evil. The wonder is that God does not strike you dead where you stand.
Germany!! Fancy a German making such an antisemitic comment. Wonders will never cease.
Not that I need to justify that action to you, but just to put you in your place, that photo was a stunt, to copy what the Arabs in Judaea and Samaria did.
What is truly offensive is you daring to come onto this website and making a filthy antiSemitic remark like that. How dare you, you racist Nazi pig.
Dan, what really offends you is :
1. Jews survived despite your countrymen’s and other Europeans’ efforts.
2. Israeli Jews know how to handle your allies, Hamas.
3. Jews have national self-determination, a truly offensive, nay, horrifying reality for a brownshirt or a blackshirt.
thank you Leon for your astute and spot-on commentary.
Dan, I defer to your superior judgment on moral degeneracy. After all, as a German, whose parents were no doubt as anti-Semitic as you are, you would have lived your whole life surrounded by such degeneracy.
I actually feel quite sorry for you having such a bigotted view about a country which has made such a vast contribution to civilised values and to the betterment of humanity in medicine, science, the environment, arts and much more.
Mind you, the Jews in Germany also made an enormous contribution to their country – yes, they were citizens there and very patriotic. It was people like you who demonised these people, and drove them in concentration camps to be tortured and killed. The fortunate ones were able to escape the clutches of these Nazis. So I think by talking about ‘monsters’ maybe you are projecting your own justifiable shame and self-disgust at your country’s sordid past onto Israel.
I know you’ll delete that last comment but it needed to be said even if it isn’t politically correct…
Seeing as to how we of know your history and connection to the Nazi death camps, we wouldn’t presume to silence you and it is the reason this comment wasn’t trashed.
What people have to realise is that they can use a false name and an invented email address, but his computer leaves its own calling card which is traceable.
understood! so that’s how you knew he’s German, I did wonder….. absolutely brilliant!
I think it is an absolute tragedy about all the deaths of Israelis defending their country against Savages.
G- D forbid if the Palestinians ever got their own state ,Israel would have yet another racist ,violent intolerant failed state on it’s borders and surrounds. One only has to have a look at the map of failed Islamic/Arab countries to see what a ‘Islamic State of Palestine [ as per the Hamas Charter] would end up like.
I am astounded at the moral equivalence by some morans between Hamas and the IDF . Australians should now better after all we have had our own people murdered by the same savages only a different brand Jemaah Islamiya (JI) Hamas, Al-Qaeda , ISIS all the same just a different franchise>
I have a question for you regarding this. The cartoon was obviously based on a photo that ran in the New York Times that shows Israelis sitting on couches and armchairs on a hill overlooking Gaza, gleefully cheering as bombs and missiles exploded amongst the entrapped civilian population. Seeing as Arabs are also Semitic people, could the actions of the cheering crowd be seen as anti-semitic? Or does it only refer to Jews. Seems odd and surely racist would be a more accurate term to avoid confusion.
The cartoon was not necessarily based on the photo in the NY Times, though in saying that, seeing as to how the NY Times is notoriously antisemitic and anti-Israel, it probably was.
BTW that photo was a stunt, to copy what the Arabs in Judaea did.
Yes Arabs are also Semites, but antisemitism is the term used specifically to describe hatred against Jews.
The term ‘antisemitism’ was coined by Wilhelm Marr in Germany in 1879 as a scientific approach to the subject, and a positive alternative to the more confronting expression, ‘Jew-hatred’.
The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) adopted a working definition of antisemitism, developed by a small number of NGOs, which provides a useful starting point for dealing with antisemitism:
Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.
Beyond this, antisemitism is involved when Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity, is singled out from the world’s nations.
Antisemitism is racism.
David, I suggest that you look up the term “antisemitism” in a good dictionary.
Its meaning is one of those semantic quirks, a product of historical circumstances.
David, the Jews who were cheering were cheering the Israel Defence Forces’ destruction of Hamas military targets. That you assume otherwise is a window into your own psyche.
Do you think maybe the bombs were dropping on Hamas military targets?
Oh, that’s right, Hamas does not have combatants.
As for the Hamas tunnels, it was fairies at the bottom of the garden that emerged from them, armed to the teeth. One of the fairies managed to set off a suicide belt and killed 4 Israeli soldiers.
You are superlatively unconvincing, Daoud al-Mubarak.
Thank you for the explanation. I think it is fairly obvious that it was based on the photograph but I guess that is down to personal interpretation. But it seems that any criticism of Israel’s actions can be deemed anti-semitic in this heated situation. I don’t agree that the NYT is anti-semitic or anti Israel…. full page pro-Israel ads in both the NYT & WSJ suggest otherwise.
Leon – I’ll be happy to have a look at the dictionary definition, thank you for the suggestion. I’d also suggest that you have a look at the definition of terrorism, and apply that definition to what the Israeli’s are doing to the Palestinians in Gaza . I saw a great letter in a U.K. paper recently “Didn’t the Jews under siege in the Warsaw ghettos dig a network of tunnels? Wasn’t their attempts at resistance and survival a source of great pride to Jewish people everywhere? Aren’t their books such as Mila 18 hailing their ingenuity and bravery in building the tunnels and defying the Gestapo attempts to control them? How can Israel now justify all the destruction and deaths after the Palestinians have been under siege for seven years?” – pretty sobering and well worth pondering.
The Jewish people have offered the world so much in the fields of science, the arts, literature, business and more. A proud people and I have many Jewish friends …. Israel is doing you a great diservice and uses religion as a subterfuge to hide political-military aggrandisement committing atrocities and war-crimes with the tacit support of another great nation the U.S…..who incidentally, since 1945,has tried to overthrow more than 50 governments, many democratically elected; grossly interfered in elections in 30 countries; bombed the civilian populations of 30 countries; used chemical and biological weapons; and attempted to assassinate foreign leaders…. fine bed-fellows.
It is a time, not for blind support of Israel, though your nationalism is to be admired, but to make a very honest appraisal of the situation and what the govt of Israel is doing in the name of the Jewish people. All the best.
Regarding tunnels, the Jews during the Holocaust built them for escape and survival, not to attack/kill/kidnap or terrorise the Nazis/SS. You seem like a smart guy, can’t you tell the difference?
Terrorism is not being done by Israel to Gaza. If you still don’t know the lengths Israel’s IDF goes to to warn Gazans of incoming attacks to take out HAMAS operatives, I don’t have time here to educate you. Just google “knock on roof” and see what comes up.
Israel isn’t doing anything in the name of religion. Israel’s acting for survival. Israelis are a race, not a religion. There are also 1.8M Arabs in Israel – in case you didn’t realise (how smart are you anyway?) and they’re not Jewish either, by the way.
If despite all the logic in the world you cannot see the difference between HAMAS and Israel, then I can’t see why anyone would waste any more time on you. If you, like the loony left, won’t recognise the truth when you see it, won’t take the time to investigate more thoroughly the history leading up to these events, but simply accept at face value the (censored) media reports coming out of Gaza, then you’re not worth engaging with any further. You won’t change your opinions no matter what anyone says, and that’s a great shame.
#thereisNOpalestine #IstandwithIsrael
We’re not going to convince one another.
We need to agree to disagree.
We live in parallel universes.
The tunnels were used to bring in food and weapons for the uprising but happy for you to convince yourself otherwise. The definition of terrorism seems to fit the Israeli actions to a tee? Israel is not acting for survival…..and you question my intelligence? Talking about wasting time, I have come to the conclusion that I won’t get any sense out of you, as you go straight on the attack and you seem unable to grasp certain logical and self-evident concepts. I wish you luck with both the re-calibartion of your obviously skewed moral compass and your failure to see through the cloud of your religion & national fervor. I’m certainly happy with the opinions I’ve formed, I too am a journalist albeit of a different kind, I’ve studied Middle East history & international relations, I am aware of the skewed media bias, much of it in favour of Israel but you, as a journalist will be aware of the recent ex-commercial media whistleblower that shed light on U.S. financial “incentives” to certain media outlets to provide a certain bias on stories that are in national interests? Good luck.
You are not the only one who has ” studied Middle Eastern history & international relations,” and better and brighter scholars than you have reached conclusions that are diametrically opposed to yours.
Incidentally, if the rockets don’t stop, then by definition, Israel has not yet used enough force. In your reading you must have come across that principle of the laws of war in international relations, right? Unless you studied at the Sydney University Peace Centre under those geniuses who take taxpayers’ money, for what?
You know what David the Palestinians think they have a monopoly on compassion.
Just like the Germans in the 1940,s elected their leaders and had to deal with the aggression and barbarity their leaders carried out so to do the Palestinians. They keep reminding us over and over about they democratically elected Hamas so let them deal with the consequences.
Quite frankly if the Pals ever do get their own state it will just end up like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Egypt another failed Islamic state on Israel’s door steps, that is obvious.
Unfortunately Israel’s home just happens to be in the wrong neighbourhood . If their neighbours were Hindus, Buddhists, or Christians we would not be having these problems.
Quite frankly the Pals are trying to bring Israel down to their standard all they ever do is have their hands out for charity , what have they ever produced, invented or discovered . The West are suckers for their victimhood,
and their Arab brothers use them as fodder to keep the Arab/Muslim war against the Jews going.
Whilst the Palestinians may have won the PR war in the West , Israel will still prosper, Israeli Jews will still add value to the world with their Brains and Ingenuity , the beaches and restaurants will be full and as long as the IDF remain strong Israel will survive with or with out naive western friends who will be inundated by Islamists from within in any case.
Firstly Leon – I totally agree. we live in different worlds and I will never understand apartheid, brutality and oppression and will always speak out against it.
Just darting back to the tunnel issue for a second for Rachael’s sake…. do you not think that these tunnels could have also been used to smuggle medical and food supplies across the closed border to what is the most foreign-aid dependent region in the world? We are talking about Gaza yeah? Where the Israel’s have worked out how many calories that the people need to subsist on and limit any food an medical supplies coming in. I’m sure that arms and rockets went through the tunnels as well but these are people without hope thanks to apartheid.
Hi Michael – I agree with a lot of what you have to say. I think all the Palestinians want is to be treated as equals and have their own land. And I know it is a lot more complex than that but it still it seems reasonable no? The vast majority of their demands for a ten year truce also seem reasonable? Naivety – now that is interesting slant. I think the stupefied publics belief in commercial media sources, a right-wing Zionist govt that has hijacked Judaism and the deep-reaching consequences of U.S. foreign policy are the greatest concerns. Pretty much everything boils down to U.S. foreign policy. From the turmoil throughout the Middle East to the U.S. sanctioned coup in the Ukraine (installing a neo-Nazi government?….now there is a great idea).
The distressing thing about the situation in Gaza is hate begets hate. The vast majority of the population in Gaza are young. You don’t forget IDF soldiers harassing and kicking you. You don’t forget your Grandmother dying at a checkpoint at a border crossing trying to leave to get medical aid. You don’t forget standing next to a slab that holds the shroud covered bodies of your brother and father killed in a bomb blast on a U.N. school. It is a cycle that can be broken.
Yes we do live in different worlds and yes we all here will also never understand “apartheid, brutality and oppression and will always speak out against it.”
It’s a well-known fact that there has NEVER been a shortage of food or any medical needs in Gaza. If you read questionable web sites and media, you will not get the truth. Those of us who have been following this for years have seen it.
If they are so short of the necessities of life, I doubt they would be spending US$30 for delivery + the cost of McDonald’s from El Arish in Egypt via ‘tunnel’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXLrVHFrrys
There are classic photos and a video of Lauren Booth, in a supermarket in Gaza, which is stocked to the hilt whilst she is complaining about the lack of food and the interview continues in on one Gaza’s 5 star hotels.
2008 Lauren Booth in a hotel in Gaza

The tunnels were used mainly to bring in consumer goods like cosmetics, and other luxury goods. At one stage a couple of years ago Hamas asked Israel to stop sending cars into Gaza as there was a glut of them. That’s why they are 1,700 millionaires in Gaza, also a few billionaires.
Khaled Mashal the head of Hamas has properties in the most exclusive upmarket areas in the ME and doesn’t live in Gaza , but Qatar.
The Gazans have never been short of food stuffs fresh produce or otherwise
“We are talking about Gaza yeah? Where the Israel’s have worked out how many calories that the people need to subsist on and limit any food and medical supplies coming in.”
OMG now I know you are following the Electronic Intifada, The News Matilda, +972mag and such leftist propaganda sites. The fact that you believe this trash is a whole other issue.
“ I’m sure that arms and rockets went through the tunnels as well but these are people without hope thanks to apartheid.”
I think you need a trip to Israel to see there is no apartheid or you don’t know what it is. Since the first Knesset there have been Arab MK. Currently I think there are 12. Some of the highest positions in the land are held by Arabs, doctors, lawyers, IDF and more.
A few reads for you, I don’t have the time to go through each point.
Corruption & mis-management in the PA – Who would have thought it?
http://jewsdownunder.com/2013/10/14/corruption-mis-management-in-the-pa-who-would-have-thought-it/
Apartheid Israel?
http://jewsdownunder.com/2013/11/16/apartheid-israel/
Israel: Separated for Security.
http://jewsdownunder.com/2014/05/16/walls-defend-protect-apartheid/
Apartheid?
http://jewsdownunder.com/2014/04/10/apartheid/
Luxury in the world’s largest prison !
http://jewsdownunder.com/2014/02/16/luxury-in-the-worlds-largest-prison/
I’ll try this link again. It wouldn’t post
Maccas in Gaza, home delivery via ‘tunnel’