Oof. Looks like both Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib shared this awful Carlos Latuff cartoon in Instagram stories yesterday. In 2006, Latuff came in second in Iran's International Holocaust Cartoon Contest, which is a thing that exists, in case you thought the TL couldn't get any worse.
A lot of people asking what is problematic here. If the artist placing 2nd in a Holocaust denial competition isn't enough for you (!), consider how Trump is drawn as an instrument of Israel, when we know Israel barred the Congresswomen at Trump's behest.
Jews controlling and subverting world leaders is a classic anti-Semitic trope. So is Jews silencing critics. But no one has silenced the Reps. The ways in which it gets the story wrong fits into an aesthetic designed to give anti-Semites pleasure.
Maybe this was an honest mistake (posting to Insta stories where it would disappear suggests otherwise). But if you're the face of the view that Jews don't need an army to protect them, by golly, you can't make this kind of mistake. Jews, Americans, & Palestinians deserve better.
Israel was still wrong to deny the Congresswomen entry. A truly shameful moment, esp as it was part of Trump's racist 2020 campaign strategy to target the Squad. But partnering with an org that published blood libels & neo-Nazi materials & now sharing Latuff is beneath the office
It's sad to me how many people are proud that they don't see anything wrong with the comic. Go educate yourself. This isn't something to be proud of. Every single Jew you know has lost family members because of these kinds of comics. That's why we recognize them.
Gonna end with what I think is the most important part of this whole saga: Palestinians who live in the West Bank face what Rep. Tlaib faced every single day. They are stateless and their lives are controlled by an occupying force they cant vote for. Raise up your voice for them.
For those still wondering if the Latuff comic is a dogwhistle, here's one many similar responses in my mentions: a classic of the white supremacist/ neo-Nazi genre about Jews being expelled from 109 countries. This is how you know something's a dogwhistle: It calls out the dogs.
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