Hacktivist group Anonymous posts antisemitic cartoon by notorious Carlos Latuff suggesting that Israel and the United States use accusations of antisemitism to muzzle criticism of Israel

The hacktivist group known as Anonymous has posted an antisemitic cartoon on Twitter by the notorious Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff.

The cartoon shows two arms, one with an Israeli flag on the cuff and the other with an American flag, using a plaster labelled “antisemitism” to muzzle the mouth of a man wearing a “Free Palestine” bandana. The connotation is that accusations of antisemitism are being cynically used by Israel and the United States to muzzle criticism of Israel.

This notion is an example of the “Livingstone Formulation”, which holds that accusations of antisemitism are bad faith attempts by Jews to stifle criticism of Israel. It was deployed by the former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, which is how it earned its name, and it is antisemitic.

The post has been liked over 17,000 times. Anonymous has over 7 million followers on Twitter.

Mr Latuff has previously placed second in Iran’s Holocaust Denial Cartoon Contest, and has drawn other outrageous cartoons, for example a cartoon comparing Israel’s policies to those of the Nazis, in breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism. That cartoon was shared by Baroness Tonge.

This is not the first time Anonymous has shared antisemitic material on social media. Last month, the group posted an image of the antisemitic Freedom for Humanity mural on Facebook.

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.