UK cartoon: Naked Sharon eats babies

A cartoon that won first prize in Britain depicts Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon eating the head of a Palestinian baby with a burning city in the background.

Ariel Sharon depicted devouring a Palestinian baby in British prize-winning cartoon

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Published in the Independent newspaper of London, the cartoon was one of 35 entries in the British Political Cartoon Society's annual competition, reported the Israeli daily Haaretz.

The Cartoon of the Year competition is sponsored by the Independent.

The prize-winner depicts Sharon saying: "What's wrong? Have you never seen a politician kissing a baby?"

The cartoonist, Dave Brown, thanked the Israeli embassy in Britain for increasing the cartoon's publicity by its angry reaction.

In January, Shuli Davidovich, the embassy's press secretary, wrote to the British paper: "As Britain commemorates National Holocaust Day, I am shocked that The Independent has chosen to evoke an ancient Jewish stereotype which would not have looked out of place in 'Der Sturmer', and which can unfortunately still be found in many Arabic newspapers.

"The blood-thirsty imagery not only misrepresents the real reason for the IDF's [Israeli Defense Forces] operations in Gaza, but also feeds the hostility toward Israel and the Jewish people which lies at the very core of the Arab-Israeli conflict."

She adds: "One must be extremely careful to draw the line between legitimate criticism and the anti-Semitism that often parades as such."

Political cartoons in the Arab media often depict Jews as hook-nosed schemers seeking world domination.

From PA's largest daily, Al Quds

A political cartoon depicting the Palestinians and Iraqis as victims of crucifixion by the United States was published in the Palestinian Authority's largest daily, Al Quds.

In the cartoon, the figures are nailed to a cross back to back, with the Palestinian bearing the thought, "Brother from Iraq," and the Iraqi, "Relative from Palestine."