Canada’s two major Jewish advocacy groups are clashing over a cartoon.
Just as B’nai Brith Canada condemned an editorial cartoon in an Ontario newspaper as anti-Semitic and demanded an apology, the Canadian Jewish Congress came to the cartoonist’s defense.
Published in the Sept. 20 issue of Le Droit, an Ottawa-based French-language daily, the cartoon depicts the Peace Tower — an iconic part of Canada’s Parliament buildings — with what resembles a Star of David in the face of the tower’s clock.
In a statement issued the same day as the cartoon, B’nai Brith called the drawing “outrageous” because the Star of David “insinuates the false and offensive allegation that Jews control the government of Canada.”
Cartoonist Guy Badeaux, known as Bado, countered that his illustration was misinterpreted. He said he was only trying to depict the geometric design on the clock face, which resembles a star.
The CJC’s chief executive officer, Bernie Farber, an Ottawa native, said he believes that explanation.
“There is a Star of David on the face of the Peace Tower clock,” Farber told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “This has nothing to do with anti-Semitism and everything do with a cartoonist who was trying to depict the Peace Tower. It was very legitimate.” — jta