© Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo
It's taken only about a month for many Americans seemingly to forget who instigated the war between Israel and Hamas.
On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists descended on Israel, slaughtering hundreds of innocent civilians, including at least 31 U.S. citizens. More than 1,200 Israelis were killed, and over 240, including children, are still being held hostage in Gaza.
Israelis have a right to defend themselves against terrorists who have said that they won't stop until Israel is wiped off the face of the earth.
There also have been many Palestinian civilian casualties. An estimated 11,000 have died.
Comment: Nice of Jacques to give the appalling Palestinian death toll a mention. Notice the passive "have died". Israelis are "killed" but somehow Palestinians just happen to "die". A standard MSM tactic of minimization.
A major reason so many civilians are caught in the crossfire, however, is that Hamas uses Palestinian lives as human shields. That fact has been well documented, and it's a disgusting tactic of Hamas terrorists to hide behind women and children.
Comment: Two million-plus Gazans were squashed into an area of 10 square miles which Israel has since reduced by a third. Palestinians aren't human shields, they are people caught in an Israeli-made cage. That Hamas is in proximity makes the propaganda so much easier. Besides:
Washington Post retracts accurate cartoon
The image in question, pulled by the Washington Post editors
After David Shipley, editorial page editor of The Post, signed off on running the cartoon, backlash from readers and staff led him to apologize for doing so - and to pull the cartoon from the paper's website.
Comment: As well he should.
A Washington Post news story on the incident said "the drawing was criticized as racist and dehumanizing toward Palestinians" and said the Hamas spokesman was caricatured as having a "large nose and snarling mouth."
Exaggerated features have long been a common part of the artform among editorial cartoonists, and Ramirez is no exception. He has given similar treatment to dozens of prominent people, from former President Donald Trump to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Comment: If Ramirez had illustrated an individual with the "common exaggerated features" used to denigrate Jews, the howls would have been ten times louder, if the cartoon had even been green-lit at all. Double standards reign.
No journalist, even one on the opinion side who draws cartoons, should intentionally set out to mock or harm anyone's identity.
Did the cartoon make me cringe? Yes. But that was because of the ugly truth it highlighted. That's the whole point.
Comment: Shallow, not to mention ignorant virtue signalling. What ugly truth?
Israeli hostage, 85, shown shaking hands with Hamas captor after release
vs.
Hannibal Directive: Israel's forces responsible for Israeli civilian & military deaths following October 7 attack, testimony reveals
As the headline on Washington Post writer Jason Willick's column Tuesday stated: "We can't ignore the truth that Hamas uses human shields."
No, we can't. Or, at least, shouldn't. Yet, the Post's decision to retract Ramirez's cartoon obscures that fact.
The cartoon represented something much bigger - and more important - than how a terrorist organization was portrayed. Not only was it a pertinent political perspective that fell victim to cancel culture. It's also a sign that free speech is at risk.
Media should set an example of free speech
Comment: Well, two-thirds into this puff piece, Jacques has finally gotten something right. Now if only it was applied across the board.
The press is the only vocation expressly listed in the First Amendment. While self-censorship does not fall under the purview of the government, the news media should uphold the values and spirit of free expression.
In silencing Ramirez's voice, The Washington Post is giving power to those in the newsroom and out who disagree with his point of view - and his view is that Hamas terrorists intentionally put Palestinian civilians at risk.
Comment: What about the Palestinian side's voice? Jacques doesn't seem to notice its absence.
As we've seen in protests on elite college campuses and the streets of big cities, it's popular to stand against Israel - even soon after the Hamas attack happened, Israel was the one that was blamed.
And when progressive college students who have been trained in that environment head into our country's newsrooms, it's no surprise that they bring their political and social viewpoints into the workplace with them.
The Post's decision to retract a factually accurate cartoon reminds me of what happened in 2020, after police in Minneapolis murdered George Floyd. Articles published about the violent protests that followed led to the firing of at least two prominent newspaper editors. And much like what recently transpired, much of the pushback came from within news organizations.
In 2020, free speech advocates across the political spectrum warned against what was happening. It's equally alarming today.
The Washington Post should take a closer look at its own motto: "Democracy dies in darkness."
Ramirez thinks it should, too. As he told Fox News, "When the protests and rancor of a distressed newsroom offended by a cartoon exposing the truth causes adults to retreat to their safe spaces, clutching their participation trophies and cancel the freedom of speech, these are truly dark days."
The world is in the midst of turbulent times. We need more speech and open debate - not less.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques
Comment: So, the Zionists can and will complain about the slightest whiff of insult (and sic the ADL on you to ruin your life with lawfare and worse), but the Muslim world must take whatever the cretins in the West dish out. And to be seen as qiving quarter is to be abridging "free speech". Got it.