Peter Brookes Caricatures Jewish Politico, Accused of Antisemitism
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Last week two Jewish men were stabbed in a North London street. On taking the attacker down police took action according to that Guardian article:
An officer uses Pava spray to try to subdue him before the suspect is shot with a Taser.
The suspect falls to the ground and officers kick him in the head shouting repeatedly “drop the knife”, as they try to get the suspect’s hands behind his back to handcuff him.
Another Jewish man, Zack Polanski Green Party political leader, was critical of the police behavior.
From The Times:
The social media post shared by Polanski on X accused police officers of “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser”.
Polanski later apologized for posting the video “in haste.”
But the whole episode resulted in a Peter Brookes editorial cartoon for The Times.
That resulted in the offended Polanski and others accusing Brookes and The Times of antisemitism.
From Abbi Garton-Crosbie at The National (or here):
Zack Polanski calls out ‘vile antisemitic cartoon’ of him in The Times
Des Freedman, head of department and co-director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, shared the cartoon, writing: “The Times’ front page this morning: “British Jews face greatest ever threat”. A few hours ago, they published this cartoon with a vile representation of @ZackPolanski. The hypocrisy is sickening; the antisemitism [is] real.”
And, Dr Iain Darcy compared the cartoon of Polanski to one published in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
The London Economic is also covering the cartoon story:
With the 2026 Local Elections just a few days away, this whole affair could prove to be detrimental for the Greens. The backlash has been fierce – but the party believes that Peter Brookes, a cartoonist for The Times, have overstepped the mark in his criticism.
Shared on Saturday, Brookes’ animation shows Polanski kicking one of the officers as they arrest Suleiman. However, he stands accused of exaggerating certain features on the 43-year-old’s face, with some critics alleging that he’s accentuating Jewish tropes.
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