News/Commentary

Washington Post removes cartoon mocking Hamas terrorists after backlash

November 10, 2023 | | Print Article

The Washington Post has bent the knee and removed from its papers a cartoon mocking the murderous terrorist organization known as Hamas.

The Post removed Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez’s drawing on Thursday after “woke” left-wing zealots complained that the cartoon was somehow horrifically offensive, racist, Islamophobic, etc.

As seen below, the cartoon merely depicted a Hamas spokesperson with Palestinian civilians tied to him complaining about Israel allegedly attacking civilians. The cartoon was clearly designed to mock Hamas for using civilians as human shields.

Yet despite the cartoon’s noble intent, the Post not only deleted it from its website but also published a grueling, lengthy apology to the public written by the paper’s opinion editor, David Shipley.

“A cartoon we published by Michael Ramirez on the war in Gaza, a cartoon whose publication I approved, was seen by many readers as racist. This was not my intent. I saw the drawing as a caricature of a specific individual, the Hamas spokesperson who celebrated the attacks on unarmed civilians in Israel,” the apology reads.

“However, the reaction to the image convinced me that I had missed something profound, and divisive, and I regret that. Our section is aimed at finding commonalities, understanding the bonds that hold us together, even in the darkest times,” it continues.

In concluding his apology, Shipley said the Post would not only be removing the cartoon but also publishing criticism of it, including from the paper’s comments section.

The published criticism is as pro-Hamas as you might suspect.

“Michael Ramirezā€™s Nov. 8 editorial cartoon depicting Hamas hostages with the Hamas character condemning Israeli attacks on civilians was full of bias and prejudice,” one critic wrote.

“I am a scholar of religion and media; I recognize a deeply racist depiction of the ‘heathen’ and his barbarous cruelty toward women and children when I see it again in Michael Ramirezā€™s Nov. 8 editorial cartoon. It is in no way informative, helpful or thought-provoking to look at this conflict through the glasses of 19th-century colonialists,” another critic added.

Evidently, it’s “racist” to depict terrorists as “heathens.” Who knew?

“The caricatures employ racial stereotypes that were offensive and disturbing. Depicting Arabs with exaggerated features and portraying women in derogatory, stereotypical roles perpetuates racism and gender bias, which is wholly unacceptable,” yet another critic griped.

You get the picture …

The irony is even Shipley’s apology prompted criticism, with the Post’s X viewers slamming the paper for doing “too little too late.”

Again, as a reminder, all the Post did was publish a cartoon mocking TERRORISTS.

Conservatives were, for their part, absolutely astounded by the paper’s decision to bend the knee and apologize for mocking terrorists.

“Imagine todays WaPo if it existed during WW2, issuing a long winded apology because some cartoonist made fun of the Nazis. It would look so stupid in hindsight,” one right-wing critic tweeted.

“Iā€™m certain that if there is a cartoon depicting Christians or Jewish people in a bad light, theyā€™d okay that without a second thought,” another wrote.

See more pushback below:

Vivek Saxena
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