The Berliner Zeitung newspaper apologized for printing a caricature deemed anti-Semitic on its front page.
In a Jan. 15 open letter to readers, the editors of the Berlin daily said they were sorry for the “regrettable error,” publishing a cartoon by Joe Lecorbeau on Jan. 8, one day after the terrorist attack on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo that killed 12.
According to the Deutsche Welle news service, the illustration — a fake Charlie Hebdo cover — shows an Orthodox Jew with an enlarged nose under the banner “Shoah Hebdo.” He is saying, “1 million rebate out of six, for Palestine.” The Israeli Embassy in Berlin contacted the paper to complain about the cartoon.
“We are all deeply sorry for any offense caused,” the newspaper’s statement said.
The cartoon in question was printed with others from Charlie Hebdo to illustrate how the magazine criticized various religions. But the editors, who had wanted to show their respect to the murdered journalists and cartoonists, “failed to recognize that one of the cartoons was a fake,” something they would have noticed had they translated the caption, they noted. A correction was posted the following day. — jta