Quebec newspaper La Presse removes cartoon denounced as antisemitic
MONTREAL — Quebec newspaper La Presse has removed a cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the vampire from the film “Nosferatu” after criticism that the caricature used antisemitic imagery.
The image published online this morning portrayed Netanyahu with pointed ears and long sharp fingers, evoking a sequence in the 1922 silent film in which the vampire Count Orlok hides away on a ship in pursuit of his human prey.
Text overlaying the cartoon identified the caricature as “Nosfenyahou” on his way to the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
Several commentators and politicians denounced the image as an expression of antisemitic tropes, with some noting the German film’s echoes in Nazi propaganda and ties to historic depictions of Jewish people as vampires.