There is such a thing as “fog of war”, but it can be artificially generated. Observers may be forgiven for believing half of what they see and none of what they hear.
The Guardian (declined) to publish a depiction of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by cartoonist Steve Bell, reportedly telling him the artwork perpetuated an anti-Semitic trope.
Bell posted the blocked cartoon to Twitter/X on Monday, saying that after he filed it that morning he received a “cryptic message” from Guardian editors saying: “pound of flesh”.
In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice the antagonist, Jewish moneylender Shylock, demands “a pound of flesh” as security for a loan made to his Christian rival, Antonio.
Bell said he responded to the desk saying he did not understand the allusion, “and received this even more mysterious reply: ‘Jewish bloke; pound of flesh; anti-Semitic trope’”.
Bell’s drawing includes a note referencing a cartoon by David Levine from the 1960s, picturing then-US president Lyndon Johnson with a scar on his belly shaped like the map of Vietnam.
(Joe Biden) is in a proxy war in favor of a country that jails opponents and cancels elections. His party sues to keep rival political parties off the ballot. He refuses to debate challengers. He insists on running even though most members of his own party don’t want him to. Democracy begins at home, Joe.
