Kmflett's Blog

The Times cartoon changes perspective on Zack Polanski

A Times Editorial (2nd May) on Zack Polanski concluded that there is no evidence that he is personally antisemitic. Given that he is the only Jewish leader of a mainstream political party it seems a reasonable point.

Not so reasonable was the cartoon of Polanski published in the same issue which depicted him as a hook nosed Jew.

Here some historical context is needed. There is no reason why Polanski or anyone else should not be caricatured in a cartoon. The hook nose however is associated with Nazi and other fascist propaganda from the 1930s.

Of course other political leaders of recent decades who are Jewish have suffered related treatment. Think of Ed Miliband and the bacon sandwich or some treatment of the former Tory leader Michael Howard.

This should serve to underline that antisemitism has a very long history in British ruling class circles- The Times was seen as the ‘paper of record’ and can and has been used as a way of dividing people on the basis of prejudice and bigotry.

The Green Party have complained to The Times about the cartoon. It will be interesting to see if there is a response. If it’s that it was unintentional, that really won’t do. Antisemitic caricatures and prejudices have deep roots. They need to be recognised and rooted out not repeated.

Probably needless to say those who have been banging on about a rise in antisemitism in recent times (not without some justification, but, also often without a recognition of the long history of antisemitism in British society) do not seem to have noticed any of this. Perhaps they don’t read The Times.

On 5^th May 2026 The Times published another cartoon caricaturing several politicians including Zack Polanski. Noteworthy, perhaps, is that Polanski is depicted with probably his most noticeable feature- a missing tooth or two. Nothing at all to complain about there I would suggest.

Zack Polanski told Laura Kuenssberg on 3rd May 2026

Zack Polanski also hit out at the Times over a caricature of him in the newspaper. The Green party has complained to the editor, saying the cartoon depicted Polanski using the antisemitic trope of a “visibly hooked nose”.