French cartoonist acquitted of anti-Semitism

Alan Gardner February 25, 2009 1 minute 1 comment

Maurice Sinet, a French cartoonist/satirist, has been acquitted of anti-Semitism. He was charged with the crime after a July article he authored poked fun of Jean Sarkozy, son of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who allegedly converted to Judaism to marry a Jewish heiress. Maurice was fired from the magazine after he refused to apologize after which The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism pressed charges. The judge’s decision found that it did not violate “freedom of expression on religious sentiments” and even if the opinion is shocking, “it does not necessarily incite hatred.”

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Jack Cayless

I believe it was Dave Kellett who said that a nation jokes about what it’s most uncomfortable with, which I thought to be very accurate. I think if a cartoonist makes fun of everything, religion, politics, teenagers, what have you – as a lot of us do -, than the most offensive thing to do would be to leave a group of people out of his or her comics. Poking fun at Judaism means that they are only another topic to laugh about, rather than ignoring their existance entirely. I think Mr. Sinet is on the right track about not apologising.

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French cartoonist acquitted of anti-Semitism

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Jack Cayless

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