In his essay "Anti-Semitic Cartoons on Progressive Blogs", Adam Levick refers to a cartoon by Ben Heine published on Daily Kos (he was eventually barred from posting on the site):
"In a post entitled "Zionism was and remains a racist ideology," Daily Kos blogger Ben Heine - who also participated in the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Competition [see "Welcome Home" cartoon below]- shows Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman as Adolf Hitler. Any pretense that this cartoon only vilifies Lieberman can be refuted by the word Zionism colored in blood in the background, along with the vicious-looking skull in Lieberman's hand wrapped with the Israeli flag. Though the image, and accompanying text, was removed from Daily Kos, merely citing "copyright reasons," the post attracted 564 comments, many of them defending the cartoon. One such comment suggested that "the artist was not claiming Jews are Hitler. He was [merely] comparing the behavior of Avigdor Lieberman to Hitler."" (Heine's blog: "The Artwork That Ate Israel" note the clever use of the word "Ate Israel" or "Hate Israel")
Ben Heine's "mighty pen against IsraHell's war crimes"
Following his ousting from Daily Kos, due of course to the dirty tricks of the racist Zionists, Latuff promptly came to Heine's rescue. Heine wrote, with his usual arrogance, on Flickr.com (2007) :
"This is a drawing by the talented Brazilian cartoonist and friend of mine Carlos Latuff. Latuff actually drew this image to take my defence after my portrait of Avigdor Lieberman was censored at Daily Kos, one of the most popular North American Websites, considered to be progressive, which I now think is not so true... [Adam Levick on Latuff: "Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian political activist and cartoonist with a staggering portfolio of political cartoons, many of which openly express antisemitic themes. He advances the narrative that Israel is a unique and immutable evil in the world. His work includes imagery clearly indicating moral equivalence between Israel and Nazi Germany, which he has explicitly acknowledged to be his view. The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism noted that Latuff's "portrayal of [former] Israeli Prime Minister Sharon is reminiscent of the antisemitic caricatures...in Julius Streicher's [Nazi publication] Der Sturmer."[...] Latuff participated in the 2006 Iranian International Holocaust Cartoon Competition, and won second place for his cartoon comparing Israel's West Bank barrier with the Nazi concentration camps. Ian Black, writing for The Guardian, a daily not known for its philo-Semitic tendencies, noted that Latuff was among those cartoonists "drawing, without inhibition, on judeophobic stereotypes in the service of the anti-globalisation movement Latuff also has employed antiblack racist themes in criticizing President Barack Obama."]
Here is what Carlos Latuff wrote : "Ben Heine is another artist who dares to produce art on behalf of the Palestinians, encouraging their resistance and exposing Israeli atrocities. And, as any pro-Palestine artist, he's been targeted by Zionists, with all those notorious allegations of "anti-Semitism" and stuff. Not a big surprise. Harassment of critics is a standard procedure by Israeli apartheid supporters. But, as I said to Ben, who's a good friend of mine and a brother-in-arts, slurs and defamation against him are nothing if compared with the suffering Palestinians are facing for decades. Be sure Ben will keep raising his mighty pen against IsraHell's war crimes. He's a friend of Palestine."
James Bond = James Heine by Latuff - Ben Heine's page on deviantArt.
Heine submitted this drawing "Welcome Home" at the Teheran Holocaust cartoon contest:
- Ben Heine cartoon - Student website bans anti-Semitic group
- Ben Heine insults Christians and Jews
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