The following letter has been submitted to the Age newspaper by Colin Anderson, Sydney Director of Deir Yassin Remembered:
“I hope all of those who wrote recently in defence of certain Danish cartoonists will speak out against those who have maliciously tried to set up Michael Leunig (Amid the pain, God puts his hand on my shoulder, The Age February 15). It’s instructive to note that those cartoons of Leunig’s which have drawn the most fire, including his January cartoon on Sharon, have invariably focused on Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinians. This phenomenon is not new. In 2003 one of New Zealand’s top cartoonists, Malcolm Evans, was actually fired for refusing an edict by his editor to stop submitting cartoons on Israel following pressure by those who believe in free speech – with one crucial exception.”