middle east

Thursday December 7, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 7, 2017

Defiant Trump confirms US will recognise Jerusalem as capital of Israel

Donald Trump has defied overwhelming global opposition by declaring US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but insisted that the highly controversial move would not derail his own administration’s bid to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a short speech delivered at the White House, Trump directed the state department to start making arrangements to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a process that officials say will take at least three years.

“I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel” Trump said. “While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.”

Trump said: “My announcement today marks the beginning of a new approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, announced his officials would “immediately begin the process to implement this decision by starting the preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem”.

Trump’s announcement provoked condemnation from US allies, and a furious reaction from Palestinian leaders and the Muslim world.

Trump insisted that his decision would not derail his own administration’s attempt to make peace, stressing that he was not stipulating how much of Jerusalem should be considered Israel’s capital. Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their own future state, and Trump did not rule out a future division of the city. (Source: Guardian)

 

Friday July 25, 2014

Friday July 25, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 25, 2014

Does Hamas use civilians as human shields?

“Hamas is using them, Palestinians, as human shields.”
Benjamin Netanyahu, 20 July 2013

There is no dispute that Palestinian civilians tend to suffer disproportionately when the Arab-Israeli conflict boils over into violence.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014At time of writing, more than 700 Palestinians have died in the latest fighting, compared to 35 on the Israeli side, 32 of them members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The lop-sided human cost of this conflict is entirely in keeping with previous outbreaks of fighting.

More than 7,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis have died since the outbreak of the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising) in 2000, according to the Israeli human rights information centre B’Tselem.

All of this is often used as evidence of the brutally disproportionate nature of the military action Israel periodically launches in the occupied territories.

But the Israeli military has blamed high Palestinian casualty rates in the recent fighting Gaza on Hamas, saying the Islamist group that runs the enclave has a deliberate policy of placing its own civilians in harm’s way.

Actually Hamas has made no secret of advocating the use of civilians as human shields to try to face down Israeli aggression.

A senior spokesman for the group, Sami Abu Zuhri, gave an interview on Palestinian station al-Aqsa TV earlier this month.

He said: “This attests to the character of our noble, jihad-loving people – who defend their rights and their homes with their bare chests and their blood.

“The policy of people confronting the Israeli warplanes with their bare chests in order to protect their homes has proven effective against the occupation… we in Hamas call upon our people to adopt this policy in order to protect the Palestinian homes.”

Credible reports from journalists in Gaza suggest some civilians are choosing to stay in their homes, ignoring warnings of imminent destructions that the Israeli military gives via telephone calls or empty shells “knocking on the roof”.

On the same day as Mr Abu Zuhri was broadcasting Hamas’s message, the New York Times reported the fate of a Palestinian man, Salah Kaware, who received a telephone warning that his house in Khan Younis in south east Gaza was about to be hit by the IDF.

The newspaper reported that another warning came as the occupants were leaving, when an Israeli drone fired a flare at the roof of the three-storey home. (Continued: Channel Four News)

 

FEEDBACK

I just wanted to tell “Mackay” that I feel his editorial cartoon in friday’s paper is very inappropriate. He is either very naive/ignorant, or very biased. With the public platform provided him by The Spec, he needs to educate himself before spouting off. Khalid Mashaal in his public conversations explains the Palestinian side, and some of the roots of the ongoing conflict. Gaza is a prison, and Israel is the jail guard. However there are obviously other opinions. As I said he needs to educate himself on the issues pro and con, and then maybe he could better express a view that is more balanced. This cartoon is a disgrace to ALL who have died over the years. Shame on you.

Anonymous

 

 


 

Post by Graeme MacKay – editorial cartoonist.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday August 28, 2013

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday, August 28,

Will Canada strike Syria over Chemical Weapons Use?

Cronut’ burgers were voluntarily pulled off the menu at the Canadian National Exhibit on Tuesday, after Toronto Public Health officials identified the maple bacon jam topping as the ingredient that led to more than 79 cases of foodborne illness.

Results of tests conducted by Toronto Public Health showed that the jam – a topping on the cheeseburger with a hybrid doughnut-croissant bun served up by Epic Burgers & Waffles – was contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus toxin, which is a recognized cause of food borne illness. Source.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed today that Syria’s recent actions call for a “firm response from the international community,” as Western countries appeared to edge toward a possible military intervention against the regime in Damascus.

Chatting by phone on the escalating crisis, Harper “made it clear that he shares the view that the recent chemical weapons attack was carried out by the Syrian regime and described the use of these weapons as an outrage,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Both leaders concurred that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appeared to try to “obscure evidence” of the attack, the statement said.  (Source: CBC News)

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January 3, 2007

I received word today that this cartoon won a Ranan Lurie Citation for Excellence Award from the United Nation’s Correspondence Association. Quite a mouthful, but a great honour to be lumped among some of the world’s best editorial cartoonists. I never win anything… so this is very nice.

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Spectator cartoonist wins prestigious international award

The Hamilton Spectator (Jan 3, 2007)

Spectator editorial cartoonist Graeme MacKay has been honoured for political satire by the United Nations Correspondents Association.

MacKay, whose works have pricked Spectator readers’ consciences and often tickled their funny bones for 10 years, has been chosen one of the association’s 2006 winners of the prestigious Ranan Lurie Political Cartooning Award.

MacKay, the only Canadian in the international winners’ circle, was awarded a citation of excellence for his entry. First place went to Alfredo Sabat of La Nacion in Argentina. Cartoonists from the U.S., France, Australia, Brazil, Greece and China were honoured.

“It’s great to be in the company of these guys,” MacKay said.

“We’re really lucky to have Graeme here with us,” said Spectator Opinions Editor Kevin Cavanagh.

“When it comes to opinion, writers might have a whole column to make their points but it is entirely different for a visual satirist,” said Cavanagh.

“He has to push a lot of emotional buttons in one panel.”