National Review Under Fire For ‘Disgusting’ Cartoon About Rashida Tlaib and Pager Bombs
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The Detroit News and National Review faced harsh backlash for publishing a political cartoon connecting Rep. Rashida Tlaib (R-MI) to the pager bombs in Lebanon and Syria.
Earlier this week, hundreds of handheld pagers spontaneously exploded in a coordinated attack against members of the militant group Hezbollah. The attack injured thousands and killed at least nine — including two children. A day later, a second wave of explosions rocked the region when walkie-talkies and solar devices suddenly blew up.
It is widely believed that the attacks were carried out by Israel.
On Thursday, National Review published a cartoon created by Henry Payne of The Detroit News. In the cartoon, Tlaib is shown sitting at a desk. On the desk is destroyed electronic device, prompting Tlaib to say, “Odd. My pager just exploded.”
The cartoon implies that Tlaib — who’s been critical of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza — is a member of a Hezbollah.
Many labeled the caricature as racist.
“Absolutely disgusting,” Dearborn, Michigan Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud said. “Anti-Arab bigotry & Islamophobia have become normalized in our media. The National Review ran this dangerous cartoon of @RashidaTlaib. This garbage was created by Henry Payne with the @detroitnews. At what point will people call this out?”
A number of other elected officials — including Tlaib — slammed the publications for running the cartoon.
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