Arab media uses cartoons to blame Israel for Gaza infighting

Inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip has unleashed a barrage of virulently anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic cartoons in the Arab and Muslim media, according to the Arab Affairs desk of the Anti-Defamation League Israel.

Cartoons and caricatures in the recent Arab press depict Jews in stereotypical fashion, as manipulative and conspiratorial and with hooked noses, long beards and black hats.

Recent cartoons portray Israel and the Jews as encouraging, mocking and enjoying the conflict between Hamas and Fatah.

“Once again the Arab media have gone out of their way to accuse the Jews and Israel for their plight. In the part of the world when editorial cartoons have great impact, it is not surprising that there is so much animosity toward Israel and the Jews in the Arab street,” the ADL Israel office said in a statement.

One cartoon from Al-Watan in Qatar shows Israel, in the form of an orthodox Jew, laughing out loud as he reads a newspaper headline declaring “The Palestinian Struggle.”

Cartoon from Ar-Raya in Qatar

Another cartoon form Al-Khabar in Algeria shows a Jew rubbing his hands in delight as he watches the Palestinians fight. He says “May ’God’ give them health. This is the true diversity.”

A third from the Akhbar al-Khalij in Bahrain shows an American arm using an Israeli hammer to strike the head of a Palestinian, splitting it into two.

Cartoon from the Akhbar al-Khalij in Bahrain  

Another from Ar-Raya in Qatar shows the Jew as the winner standing on a podium with both Fatah and Hamas dead in second and third place.