Degrees of evil

Cartoonist Michael Leunig – yesterday defending his anti-war stance – has received further grief from Age letter writers:

Leunig’s complaint

Aside from the fact that it was falsely submitted on his behalf, it is hard to understand why Michael Leunig is so distressed that one of his cartoons that was rejected by The Age was so warmly accepted by the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri.

It clearly met the criteria that made him eligible for a prize in Hamshahri’s mock-the-Holocaust contest. Perhaps he should thank the person who submitted it for identifying a new self-evident market for his work.

Ian Farrow, Hampton

Fighting fascism

That Leunig sees himself as a warrior against fascism is a wonderful joke: he opposes fascism by opposing the overthrow of Iraq’s fascist regime and by viciously attacking Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. Go figure.

Leunig has a certain talent for whimsy and drafting cute wee duck thingies; why doesn’t he go back to this and leave fighting fascism to people such as Tony Blair, who can recognise real fascism when they see it.

Bill Anderson, Surrey Hills

It is clearly inappropriate for anybody to draw attention to Israel’s occupation. It is apparently not acceptable to draw parallels between the behaviour of the Nazi regime and the Israeli government. As leading American dissenter Norman G Finkelstein points out when writing about blind supporters of Israel, it is “acceptable and justified – one might even say de rigueur – to compare Palestinians and their leaders to Nazis.” After the recent Hamas victory in Palestine, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu compared it to the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany.

As for the laughable suggestion that Blair is leading the charge against fascism, perhaps Bill Anderson would care to discover how he misled the British people.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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