prompted the Israeli Embassy in London to protest against an editorial cartoon depicting him biting the head of a Palestinian baby.
The row came as Sharon won despite continued violence in which at least 7 Palestinians died on election day and a shattered economy. His Likud picked up 37 seats in the 120-member parliament, up from 19.
Sharon has urged for a new unity, amid apparent signs of growing anti Semitism, reports said late Wednesday, January 29.
In London, Britain’s Independent newspaper published a cartoon with Sharon which with the UK’s third annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemorating the 57th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Auschwitz death camp.
APACHE
Set against the background of Apache helicopters firing missiles and blaring the message "Vote Likud," a monster-sized Sharon indignantly sneers, "What’s wrong? Have you never seen a politician kissing a baby?", the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) News Service reported.
Shuli Davidovich, the embassy’s press secretary said in a letter that "as Britain commemorates National Holocaust Day, I am shocked that Independent has chosen to evoke an ancient Jewish stereotype. (This) "would not have looked out of place in ‘Der Sturmer’, and which can unfortunately still be found in many Arabic newspapers."
Pictures of Jews biting babies were part of the anti-Semitic propaganda in 1930’s Nazi Germany, and recognized by most historians as having helped prepare the way for Hitler’s ‘Final Solution,’ the ICEJ said.
6 MILLION
Over 6 million European Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime, including at least 600-thousand Hungarian Jews.
Cartoonist Dave Brown was suggested that Sharon specifically ordered a dangerous raid on Gaza’s weapons factories over the weekend as part of a "policy of escalation" in the run-up to the election, to attract right-wing voters to his governing Likud party.
However Israeli officials said that the raid, in which twelve Palestinian combatants were reportedly killed followed the launching of 16 Kassam rockets at Israeli Negev communities over the weekend.
CAREFUL
"One must be extremely careful to draw the line between legitimate criticism, and the anti-Semitism that often parades as such," said Davidovich in the letter quoted by the ICEJ News Service.
"That the mainstream British media could publish such a vile depiction of the Israeli leader speaks volumes about the anti-Israel climate sweeping Europe today."
Sharon suggested Tuesday, January 28, that Labor was needed at this time of crisis. However the party, which suffered its biggest defeat ever, said it was not interested to cooperate with Sharon, who has been criticized for allegedly embracing Jewish settlers.
The Palestinian Authority has said it expects more suffering for Palestinians under a new Sharon Government.
