The New York Times came under intense fire over the weekend after the newspaper’s international edition published a vile anti-Semitic cartoon that was widely condemned across the political spectrum. The newspaper was ripped again late Saturday for failing to apologize in their initial statement on the anti-Semitic cartoon.
In an op-ed published in The Times on Sunday, Bret Stephens criticized his own newspaper for promoting anti-Semitism with the publication of the cartoon.
“The Times wasn’t explaining anti-Semitism. It was purveying it,” Stephens wrote. “It did so in the form of a cartoon…in which a guide dog with a prideful countenance and the face of Benjamin Netanyahu leads a blind, fat Donald Trump wearing dark glasses and a black yarmulke. Lest there be any doubt as to the identity of the dog-man, it wears a collar from which hangs a Star of David.”
“Here was an image that, in another age, might have been published in the pages of Der Stürmer,” Stephens added. “The Jew in the form of a dog. The small but wily Jew leading the dumb and trusting American. The hated Trump being Judaized with a skullcap. The nominal servant acting as the true master. The cartoon checked so many anti-Semitic boxes that the only thing missing was a dollar sign.”
“The image also had an obvious political message: Namely, that in the current administration, the United States follows wherever Israel wants to go,” Stephens added, noting that the message was false.
Making matters even worse for The Times, the leftist newspaper did not apologize for the anti-Semitic cartoon in a statement released on Saturday:
A political cartoon in the international print edition of The New York Times on Thursday included anti-Semitic tropes, depicting the prime minister of Israel as a guide dog with a Star of David collar leading the president of the United States, shown wearing a skullcap. The image was offensive, and it was an error of judgment to publish it. It was provided by The New York Times News Service and Syndicate, which has since deleted it.
Israeli cartoonist Shay Charka mocked The Times in a cartoon on Sunday that depicted the newspaper “as the blind one being led by a dog labeled ‘The Protocols’ [a reference to “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”] an anti-Semitic book that claims Jews were trying to take over the world. The collar around the dog’s neck read ‘BDS’, or boycott, divest, and sanctions, which is an anti-Israel movement with anti-Semitic roots,” NewsBusters’ Nicholas Fondacaro reported.
The Times faced increased backlash after their non-apology and was forced to issue a new statement claiming the paper was “deeply sorry” after a white nationalist terrorist opened fire at a synagogue in California on Saturday, killing one and injuring three others.
“We are deeply sorry for the publication of an anti-Semitic political cartoon last Thursday in the print edition of The New York Times that circulates outside of the United States, and we are committed to making sure nothing like this happens again,” The Times said in a new statement. “Such imagery is always dangerous, and at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, it’s all the more unacceptable.”
“We have investigated how this happened and learned that, because of the faulty process, a single editor working without adequate oversight downloaded the syndicated cartoon and made the decision to include it on the Opinion page,” The Times claimed. “The matter remains under review, and we are evaluating our internal processes and training. We anticipate significant changes.”
Here are some of the notable responses The Times received for publishing the anti-Semitic cartoon and for their non-apology:
The American Jewish Committee tweeted: “Apology not accepted. How many @nytimes editors looked at a cartoon that would not have looked out of place on a white supremacist website and thought it met the paper’s editorial standards? What does this say about your processes or your decision makers? How are you fixing it?”
David Harris, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, tweeted: “The ‘cartoon’ is beyond shocking. Antisemitic in the extreme. No, ‘apology’ isn’t adequate. Rather, @nytimes owes readers an explanation of how this happened — after all, decision to print it involved more than one person — & what it says about the paper’s view of Israel & Jews.”
Harris continued: “The more I think about the @nytimes ‘cartoon,’ the more appalled I am. While #Antisemitism is rising…synagogues are attacked & Jews killed…democratic #Israel is demonized…& Jewish institutions are forced to bolster security… The ‘paper of record’ pours oil on the fire.”
In a final tweet, Harris quoted Max Frankel: “‘And then there was failure: none gtr than staggering, staining failure of @nytimes to depict Hitler’s methodical extermination of Jews of Europe as a horror beyond all other horrors in WW2′ – Max Frankel (11/14/2001) NYTimes failed Europe’s Jews. Now is it Jewish state’s turn?”
CNN’s Jake Tapper tweeted: “This just as easily could have appeared in neo-Nazi or ISIS propaganda.”
Yashar Ali tweeted: “How does one single editor have the power to get something into the print edition of the most influential newspaper in the world?”
Republican strategist Arthur Schwartz tweeted: “When are you going to apologize for running interference for Reps. Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the congressional bigot squad?”
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: “Disgusting. I have no words for flagrant anti-Semitism on display here. Imagine this was in something other than a leftist newspaper?”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair Netanyahu, tweeted: “Some reports say that the shooter of the Chabad synagogue in CA was saying that Trump is the slave of the Jews. I’m sure this cartoon in the NYT have nothing to do with it.”
Alan Dershowitz tweeted: “The anti Semitic cartoon published by the @nytimes is a symptom of a deeper problem on the left. It’s acceptable to many on the left to employ anti Semitic tropes as long as they’re directed against Israel. Anti Zionism is becoming an acceptable cover for anti Semitism.”
Andrew Pollack tweeted: “Apology unaccepted, @nytimes. This anti-Semitic cartoon should’ve been caught long before it was published. This is also the same newspaper who believes President Trump is spreading hate when, in reality, it’s them!”
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted: “We stand with Israel and we condemn antisemitism in ALL its forms, including @nytimes political cartoons.”