Cartoonist suspended from YesCymru after posting “blatantly antisemitic caricature” of fellow member
A cartoonist, known as Mumph, has been suspended from YesCymru, an organisation that campaigns for an independent Wales, after posting a cartoon on Twitter which has been described as a “blatantly antisemitic caricature” of a fellow member.
The incident was initially raised on Twitter by the group “Labour for an Independent Wales.” It stated that one of its members, who also sits on the YesCymru Central Committee, was the subject of antisemitic abuse and labelled the cartoon “a blatantly antisemitic caricature” that was “evocative of the darkest of the last century.”
The group continued: “As members of the Labour Party we’re acutely aware of how pernicious and dangerous antisemitism is and, as human beings, we’re shocked by its prominence in the indy movement. We are unequivocal in our opposition to any individual or organisation that tolerates antisemitism.”
The cartoon in question depicts the YesCymru member with exaggerated facial features, which one Twitter user described as “uncomfortably similar to Nazi antisemitic propaganda,” and is also shown carrying a sign that says “Yes But No” above a silhouette of Wales.
According to the Labour-affiliated group, the cartoon insinuated that the YesCymru member was “behind a conspiracy to bring down the independence movement internally due to a ‘dual loyalty’.”
The charge of dual loyalty and disloyalty is among the most widely held antisemitic slurs. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations” is an example of antisemitism.
YesCymru released a statement in which the group announced Mumph’s suspension from its organisation. The statement read: “This morning YesCymru’s attention was drawn to a cartoon attacking a member of CC by a former service provider and member of YesCymru. We believe that this illustration repeats antisemitic tropes and is designed to cause hurt to the CC member.
“While YesCymru encourages debate and discussion amongst its members, supporters and the wider community, we cannot tolerate bullying, harassment or antisemitism and need to take action by suspending the member with immediate effect and withdrawing his work from our welcome pack while pending investigation.”
While Mumph has not released a statement of his own regarding the suspension, he has retweeted a post from a Twitter user which appeared to dismiss the allegations of antisemitism.
Campaign Against Antisemitism continues its robust engagement with social media companies over the content that they enable to be published, and we continue to make representations to the Government in this connection.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has long called for tougher regulations on social media sites and that social networks proactively search for and remove hate speech from their platforms.
