The Guardian 'sacks' Steve Bell over 'antisemitic' Netanyahu Gaza cartoon

Veteran cartoonist Steve Bell has been "sacked" by The Guardian after it rejected an illustration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preparing to etch a map of Gaza onto his torso, which some have interpreted as antisemitic.

Bell, a cartoonist with the British daily for four decades, said his editor informed him by email that his current contract would not be extended when it expires in April 2024.

Some have viewed the brutal Israeli response to Hamas's killing of 1,300 Israelis in a raid on 7 October as an act of revenge with nearly 3,000 Palestinians killed so far in the bombing including 1,030 children.

This, and the backlash to Netanyahu from the Israeli public over the biggest security failure in a generation, could be the inspiration for the cartoon. The New Arab has contacted Bell for comment on the cartoon and news of his sacking.

A spokesperson for The Guardian News & Media told The New Arab: "The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell’s contract. Steve Bell's cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years - we thank him and wish him all the best."

The sacking followed a "difference of opinion" over a cartoon Bell drew for The Guardian showing Netanyahu ready to carve the map of Gaza on his body with a scalpel, referring to the besieged Palestinian enclave which has been under heavy Israeli bombardment for more than a week and a blockade for 15 years.

"Residents of Gaza, get out," the headline above the cartoon, which was rejected by The Guardian reads.

An annotation says "After David Levine", referring to the political satirist of the 196os who made a similar illustration of non-Jewish US President Lyndon D. Johnson. That showed the former US president preparing to engrave a map of Vietnam onto his torso.

Steve Bell has this cartoon pulled by the Guardian tonight. pic.twitter.com/kUx4IlP9Om

— Political Cartoon (@Cartoon4sale) October 9, 2023

One Twitter commentator said that Bell's cartoon appears to compare the dilemma Netanyahu faces now, as Israel prepares for a ground offensive into Gaza, to Johnson's in Southeast Asia, where US intervention led to a meat grinder defeat to Viet Cong rebels.

Bell told Press Gazette that he received an email from his editor shortly after submitting the illustration which read: "Jewish bloke; pound of flesh; anti-Semitic trope."

This likely refers to the William Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice, where a caricatured Jewish character, Shylock,  demands a blood levy from a Christian man.

The cartoonist said Shylock had "nothing to with the cartoon" and he would never dream of depicting anti-Semitic tropes.

"I'm not going to apologise for the image but I think it’s a good one. I think it works," he told Press Gazette.

"There’s no point apologising if you feel you’ve offended someone."

Bell's cartoons, some of the best known in the UK, rarely shy away from targeting powerful global figures, with George W Bush depicted with simian features and former British Prime Minister David Cameron resembling a condom.

He has faced accusations of alleged antisemitism before, including for a cartoon, published by The Guardian, showing Netanyahu holding a puppet of former UK party leaders Tony Blair and William Hague.

Some people viewed this as feeding into racist tropes about Jewish people controlling world leaders, something Bell also strongly rejected.