Murdoch apologises over 'anti-semitic' Israel cartoon in Sunday Times, published on Holocaust Memorial Day

Murdoch said cartoonist Gerald Scarfe doesn't reflect views of his paper Cartoon shows Israeli PM paving wall with blood and limbs of Palestinians Gerald Scarfe says he 'very much regrets' the timing of his cartoon Stephen Pollard from Jewish Chronicle says cartoon is 'disgusting' Steve Bell says state of Israel never acknowledges ethnic cleansing crimes
By Sean O'hare PUBLISHED: 08:54, 29 January 2013 | UPDATED: 09:44, 29 January 2013

Rupert Murdoch apologised for the for 'grotesque, offensive cartoon' by Sunday Tim es cartoonist Gerald Scarfe

Rupert Murdoch has offered a 'major apology' for a 'grotesque' cartoon in the Sunday Times that has sparked claims of anti-semitism. The media mogul took to Twitter to comment on the Gerald Scarfe image, which appears to show Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu paving a wall with the blood and limbs of Palestinians. Mr Murdoch said in his tweet: 'Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of the Sunday Times.

'Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon.' The political cartoon, which was published on Holocaust Memorial Day, shows Mr Netanyahu holding a trowel and carries the lines: 'Israeli elections. Will cementing peace continue?' In a message to the Jewish Chronicle, in which he denied the newspaper permission to reproduce the cartoon, he said he 'very much regrets' the timing of the cartoon. He said he had not been aware it was Holocaust Memorial Day. Jewish community leaders said they were disturbed by parallels they saw between the red-tinged drawing and historical anti-Semitic propaganda. Speaking to this morning's Radio 4 Today programme, Stephen Pollard of the Jewish Chronicle said: 'I think you have to separate the difference between the right to publish something, and whether you always have to be offensive. 'Clearly there was a mistake made in printing the cartoon. I think the cartoon itself is disgusting. Whether there is a right to publish the cartoon is a different issue, I think it was a misjudgement and News International have handled it absolutely right by apologising.' Steve Bell, cartoonist in the Guardian, jumped to the defence of Scarfe's cartoon. He said: 'For once, this wasn't a bad cartoon. The problem with the state of Israel and the Zionist lobby is that they never acknowledge the crime of ethnic cleansing on which the state was founded.' The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had lodged a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission.

Rupert Murdoch said Gerald Scarfe (pictured), political cartoonist for the Sunday

Tim es, did not reflect the view s of the paper

The deputies said in a statement that the depiction of a Jewish leader using blood for mortar 'is shockingly reminiscent of the blood libel imagery more usually found in parts of the virulently anti-Semitic Arab press'. In a statement, the paper's acting editor Martin Ivens said that insulting the memory of Holocaust victims or invoking blood libel was 'the last thing I or anyone connected with the Sunday Times would countenance'. 'The paper has long written strongly in defence of Israel and its security concerns, as have I as a columnist,' he said. 'We are, however, reminded of the sensitivities in this area by the reaction to the cartoon, and I will, of course, bear them very carefully in mind in future.'

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