Philadelphia newspaper apologizes for ‘highly insensitive’ cartoon criticizing Israel’s response to Hamas’ terrorist attack that killed 1,400 people
- The Philadelphia Inquirer has withdrawn a cartoon by illustrator Monte Wolverton
- The image showed a military boot branded with the Star of David about to crush the Palestinians
- The editors admitted that the cartoon contained ‘anti-Semitic’ tropes and ‘should never have been published’
A Philadelphia newspaper has apologized for publishing a “highly insensitive” cartoon criticizing Israel’s response to Hamas’ terrorist attack.
The Philadelphia Inquirer admitted that Monte Wolverton’s illustration contained “anti-Semitic tropes” and “should never have been published.”
The incendiary image shows a black military boot branded with the Star of David, representing the state of Israel about to step down in front of a crowd of Palestinians.
An arrow labeled Hamas appeared to point to a minority of people on the ground.
A speech bubble coming from the trunk ordered the crowd to “stand back” as they looked ready to crush everyone.
The Philadelphia Inquirer admitted that Monte Wolverton’s illustration contained “anti-Semitic tropes” and “should never have been published”
Illustrator Monte Wolverton’s cartoon criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas attack, portraying the state as a huge military boot about to crush Gaza residents
Shortly after receiving massive backlash, the newspaper’s editors published an apology for the cartoon
The drawing was published on Tuesday, days after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,400 people and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 Gazans in reprisal attacks, according to the Health Ministry.
Almost immediately after the cartoon appeared, the newspaper received strong reactions.
Now the newspaper’s editorial staff has issued a groveling apology stating: ‘In retrospect, the cartoon, which depicts an oversized Israeli military boot stepping on Hamas terrorists hiding among civilians in response to the October 7 attack, should not have may be published.
“Regardless of interpretation, the illustration reinforces pernicious anti-Semitic tropes about Israeli aggression.”
It continued by saying that the administration had condemned the terrorist attacks days after they occurred and that it had expressed the “unequivocal belief” that Israel should be able to defend itself.
The statement added: “It is clear that this cartoon was deeply insensitive, especially at the current moment when anti-Semitism is on the rise. We hear the outrage and apologize for the pain it caused.”
The board also promised to review its artwork selection processes, “to prevent such failures from happening again.”
The cartoon received a lot of backlash online, but artist Monte Wolverton has not yet removed it from his social media page
The cartoon appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday, just days after the Hamas terrorist attack that killed about 1,400 people.
About 3,785 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Israel since the attack, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Wolverton shared the image on his social media page on October 13 and it remains there, despite other X users calling it ’embarrassing’.
One person said: ‘This is disgusting.’
Another wrote: “Nice propaganda, you anti-Semite Jew.”
And someone said, ‘You don’t even have the decency to delete this crap? A newspaper has already apologized for printing this waste.’
Wolverton describes his work as ‘biting political commentary’ and has been producing Caglecartoons drawings for 25 years.
His website describes him as one of the world’s most widely distributed editorial cartoonists.’