Green party leader Zack Polanski has criticised the Times over its publication of a “vile antisemitic caricature” depicting him with a hooked nose.
The cartoon, published on Saturday, shows Polanski kicking a police officer in the head – a reference to criticism he shared of police officers’ handling of a stabbing in Golders Green.
One commentator on X said the portrayal of Polanski by cartoonist Peter Brookes resembled Nazi caricatures of Jewish people from the 1930s.
Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Polanski said: “The Times newspaper published a pretty vile antisemitic caricature of me and have yet to apologise or withdraw that.”
He also revealed that two people had been arrested in the past six weeks “in relation to antisemitic actions” against him.
Last week, after two Jewish people and a Muslim person were attacked by the same man in two areas of London, Polanski retweeted a post that criticised the arresting officers for “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head”.
He later apologised for sharing the post but said the officers should not be above scrutiny.
The Green party has submitted a complaint about the cartoon to Times editor Tony Gallagher.
“It is astonishing that amongst a rising climate of antisemitism in the UK, a national newspaper has chosen to publish a cartoon of the only Jewish political leader in the country using tropes so clearly associated with antisemitic depictions of Jewish people,” a party spokesperson said.
“Zack faces daily antisemitism, and in the past six weeks two people have been arrested for antisemitic actions towards him. The words used by both politicians and the media this week, directing further attacks towards Zack in the wake of a violent attack on his community, are deeply irresponsible.”
Des Freedman, a media expert and Goldsmiths professor, noted on X on Saturday that the Times had published a headline warning that “British Jews face greatest ever threat”.
“A few hours ago, they published this cartoon with a vile representation of Zack Polanski,” he wrote. “The hypocrisy is sickening; the antisemitism real.”
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