Thursday, September 23, 2010

'Toonist's Star Artistry Lands Him in Hot Water

A Quebec cartoonist named Bado (real name Guy Badeau) claims that by drawing a 'toon showing Parliament Hill's Peace Tower with a Star of David on it he did not mean to imply that the Joooos rule in Ottawa (and therefore in the land). The B'nai Brith, for one, isn't buying it. From the Ceeb (H/T BCF):
B'nai Brith Canada is asking an Ottawa-based newspaper to pull from its website a political cartoon that appears to depict the Star of David on the Parliament Buildings.

The Jewish community organization called the cartoon, which ran in the print edition of Le Droit and online at cyberpresse.ca, anti-Semitic propaganda. The group is also demanding an apology from the newspaper.

Frank Dimant, the executive vice-president of B'nai Brith Canada, said the caricature plays into a dangerous stereotype.

"The cartoon is disgusting," Dimant said. "It's the kind of classic cartoon that we saw through out the ages of Jews controlling government, Jews controlling banking institutions.

"It's a horrific cartoon. It's vile and it depicts an untruth."

The cartoon shows the front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, with what appears to be a Star of David on the clock face of the Peace Tower. At the gates of the hill is a road sign that warns of a slippery road ahead.

Long-time cartoonist Guy Badeaux, who signs his work under the alias Bado, said he never meant to offend anyone. He told CBC News that he never meant to draw a Star of David and was only trying to draw the clock in a simplified form.
The geometric pattern on the clock face includes lines that could make a Star of David...
Well, yes, now that it's been pointed out, if you look really closely and maybe squint a bit, you can kind of make it out. And, hey, I'd be willing to give Bado the benefit of the doubt here and accept that it was a purely accidental, erm, "simplification" were it not for the unfortunate fact that the 'toonist has purposely drawn Stars of David in the past--here and here (scroll down to July 18)--which were not exactly Jew-friendly.

7 comments:

Blazingcatfur said...

Jkay weighs in - http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/09/22/jonathan-kay-on-bnai-briths-latest-attempt-to-conjure-anti-semitism-out-of-thin-air/

Anonymous said...

Thank you BCF for the link. Scaramouche, the two cartoons from Bado that you supply doesnt tell us that much. For sure it does not absolve B'nai Brith from crying wolf as nicely described by Kay.

From everything I have seen thus far and guiven that Israeli cartoonists and the Montreal Jewish community has no issues with Bado as an anti-Semite, I have to agree here with Jon Kay

scaramouche said...

Sue 930--Allow me to interpret the two 'toons (one of which Honest Reporting saw fit to post as an example of an anti-Israel 'toon: In the first 'toon, Barack Obama is trapped in the Jewish star-shaped mazed, thereby implying that
there's a Jewish problem from which the prez can find no way out. In the second 'toon (the one I found on HR), Israel's and Jewry's symbol is about to set off a conflagration.

As for Montreal Jewry's having no problem with Bado--that don't impress me much since I know dhimmitude is rife and Jews don't necessarily know who their real friends are (and aren't).

Or maybe Bado's one of those "friends" who likes Jews but not their state.

scaramouche said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josephine said...

I'm curious about the prominent yellow road sign in the drawing which depicts a car hitting a slippery or icy patch on the road.

Is that true to life as well? I don't see it in any of these photos; do you?

Its placement draws the eye to what does look like a Star of David and its message could be interpreted as saying that the influence of Israel/Jews on Canada's Parliament may or will lead to disaster.

Art, eh? Isn't it supposed to get us talking? Aren't we allowed to interpret it ourselves? So why would anyone have a problem with someone interpreting it as antisemitic or anti-Israel (it looks that way to me, BTW, and I'm not Jewish or Israeli), if others are allowed to interpret it as having nothing whatsoever to do with the subject?

(I don't mean you, Scaramouche, I mean in general.)

And I'm sure it's a coincidence and I'm just being oversensitive when I experience at a gut level the symbolism of a prominent yellow patch.

scaramouche said...

Interesting point, Josephine. I wonder if those signs are yellow in real life. And under the circumstances (those being that the 'toonist is a lefty squish who has drawn Jewish stars in compromising positions in the past) no one should fault you for being "oversensitive."

Josephine said...

I'm pretty sure the real signs are yellow.