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The Guardian has apologised to the Jewish community and Richard Sharp after publishing a cartoon that has been described as \u201cantisemitic\u201d.<\/p>\n
The newspaper removed a drawing which depicted Mr Sharp \u2013 who announced his resignation as BBC chair earlier in the week \u2013 by Martin Rowson from The Guardian website, saying it \u201cdid not meet our editorial standards\u201d on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It follows a review finding that Mr Sharp, a former Tory donor, broke the rules by failing to disclose that he played a role in getting then-PM Boris Johnson an \u00a3800,000 loan guarantee.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the newspaper said: \u201cWe understand the concerns that have been raised. This cartoon does not meet our editorial standards, and we have decided to remove it from our website.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Guardian apologises to Mr Sharp, to the Jewish community and to anyone offended.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cartoon featured a depiction of Mr Sharp with a box marked Goldman Sachs, where he used to work, that contained what appears to be a puppet of the current prime minister Rishi Sunak, an animal that looks like a squid and a CV \u2013 while a Mr Johnson figure sits on money.<\/p>\n
Cartoonist Mr Rowson also apologised, saying: \u201cSatirists, even though largely licenced to speak the unspeakable in liberal democracies, are no more immune to f****** things up than anyone else, which is what I did here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Richard Sharp is Jewish; actually, while we\u2019re collecting networks of cronyism, I was at school with him, though I doubt he remembers me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis Jewishness never crossed my mind as I drew him as it\u2019s wholly irrelevant to the story or his actions, and it played no conscious role in how I twisted his features according to the standard cartooning playbook.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cartoon has been described as having \u201cantisemitic imagery\u201d such as \u201coutsized, grotesque features\u201d alongside \u201cmoney and power\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Rowson added: \u201cThe cartoon was a failure and on many levels: I offended the wrong people, Sharp wasn\u2019t the main target of the satire, I rushed at something without allowing enough time to consider things with the depth and care they require, and thereby letting slip in stupid ambiguities that have ended up appearing to be something I never intended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Posting on Twitter on Saturday, author David Rich said: \u201cThe depiction of Richard Sharp in today\u2019s @guardian cartoon falls squarely into an antisemitic tradition of depicting Jews with outsized, grotesque features, often in conjunction with money and power. It\u2019s appalling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Rich, who is the author of Everyday Hate: How Antisemitism Is Built Into Our world \u2013 And How You Can Change It and The Left\u2019s Jewish Problem, also explained how the animals that have tentacles are used in negative drawings.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe problem is that a squid or octopus is also a common antisemitic motif, used to depict a supposed Jewish conspiracy with its tentacles wrapped around whatever parts of society the Jews supposedly control. Especially money. Are those gold coins in the box with Sharp\u2019s squid?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might argue that outsized facial features and tentacles are common to other topics too, so it\u2019s just a cartoon thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcept where something has a long and familiar antisemitic history, it takes on a different meaning when you apply it to Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lord Austin of Dudley, who was a Labour MP before he quit the party over what he called a \u201cculture of extremism, antisemitism and intolerance\u201d in 2019, described the cartoon as having \u201cantisemitic imagery\u201d and said the newspaper should be \u201cashamed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Former chancellor and health secretary Sajid Javid also wrote on Twitter: \u201cDisappointed to see these tropes in today\u2019s Guardian. Disturbing theme \u2013 or at best, lessons not learned?\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian Smith MP also wrote: \u201cThe depiction of Richard Sharp in @guardian is deeply depressing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnti-semitism should be relentlessly challenged, day in day out. Lots to write about re the report this week, but why this?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines email The Guardian has apologised to the Jewish community and Richard Sharp after publishing a cartoon that has been described as \u201cantisemitic\u201d. The newspaper removed a drawing which depicted Mr Sharp \u2013 who announced his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n