A cartoonist whose anti-Hamas cartoon was pulled by the Washington Post ripped critics Monday, saying the cartoon about the radical Islamic terrorist group was “straightforward.”
The Washington Post pulled a cartoon by Michael Ramirez depicting a caricature of a Hamas terrorist with children tied to him and serving as human shields Thursday, citing claims from readers in letters to the editor that the cartoon was “racist.” The cartoon was initially published Nov. 6, according to Ramirez’s newsletter on Substack, prior to being pulled. (RELATED: Rashida Tlaib Doubles Down On Debunked Hospital Bombing Claim, Says She Can’t ‘Uncritically Accept’ Israel’s ‘Denials’)
“When I was with the L.A. Times for seven years, I would go on USO tours to Afghanistan during wartime and I felt safer on tour in the war zones than I did walking through the newsroom of the L.A. Times,” Ramirez told “The Bottom Line” co-hosts Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy. “This, these modern journalism culture and this kind of woke censorship that is going on is, is, a danger to freedom and liberty.”
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“Now I stand behind the cartoon,” Ramirez continued. “I also stand behind the critics that want to criticize my cartoon, I understand that, but we need to have this debate. It is better to expose all these issues in the daylight of the public forum and debate them out in the open than have them circulating in the darkness. I think that’s what makes America extraordinary, we can have these debates and find consensus in the fiery forum of, you know discussion.”
Israel launched military operations in response to the Oct. 7 attack carried out by the radical Islamic terrorist group that killed over 1,400 people. Israel urged residents of Gaza to evacuate, citing the potential for ground operations against Hamas by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
“This cartoon is straightforward. Hamas is a terrorist group. I labeled the person Hamas,” Ramirez said. “We know who he is. He is a guy who wept on television said not only do I celebrate October 7th, the October 7th attack, but I would do it over and over again until Israel is removed. If you can’t criticize that, then what can you? How ironic is it that people accusing me of overgeneralizing it and stereotyping people but they can’t seem to distinguish between a known terrorist and innocent Palestinians?”
Ramirez is selling copies of the cartoon online.
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