The Press would like to apologize for the caricature entitled “Nosfenyahou, en route to Rafah” published on Wednesday. The drawing focused on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is considering an offensive in the town of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where many Palestinians have taken refuge.
The drawing was intended to be a criticism of Mr. Netanyahu’s policies. It targeted the Israeli government, not the Jewish people.
It was unfortunate to depict the Prime Minister as Nosferatu the vampire, since this movie character was used in Nazi propaganda during the Second World War, as readers pointed out to us after publication.
We never intended to convey anti-Semitic remarks or harmful stereotypes. On the contrary, The Press has already loudly denounced the deplorable rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the war, in Quebec as elsewhere in the world. 1 Today we reiterate the importance of combating hatred against the Jewish people.
The cartoon has been removed from all our platforms. Our apologies to anyone who was offended.
1. https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/editoriaux/2023-11-18/n-importons-pas-la-haine.php