Michael Rosen: He’s Jewish but has previously been accused of anti-Semitism over his support for Jeremy Corbyn. Now he has been accused of anti-Semitism on an entirely false premise.
We seem to be living in an age of accusing Jewish people of being anti-Semitic.
It’s utter insanity – this time perpetrated by right-wing current affairs channel GB News against Jewish poet and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen.
It seems GB News presenter Katherine Forster accidentally attributed a cartoon in The Guardian to Mr Rosen, when it was actually by Martin Rowson.
Unfortunately for all concerned, this particular cartoon featured a depiction of recently-resigned BBC Chairman Richard Sharp – who is Jewish – with a box marked Goldman Sachs, where he used to work, that contained what appeared to be a puppet of the current prime minister Rishi Sunak, an animal that looks like a squid and a CV – while Boris Johnson, on a high pile of an unidentifiable substance (the Independent seems to have reckoned money) calls out encouragingly to him.
The cartoon has been described as having “antisemitic imagery” such as “outsized, grotesque features” alongside “money and power”.
Mr Rowson has apologised profusely for the image, as reported in The Independent:
“Satirists, even though largely licenced to speak the unspeakable in liberal democracies, are no more immune to f****** things up than anyone else, which is what I did here.
“I know Richard Sharp is Jewish; actually, while we’re collecting networks of cronyism, I was at school with him, though I doubt he remembers me.
“His Jewishness never crossed my mind as I drew him as it’s wholly irrelevant to the story or his actions, and it played no conscious role in how I twisted his features according to the standard cartooning playbook.”
The Guardian has also published an apology on Twitter:
A statement on Martin Rowson cartoon:
"We understand the concerns that have been raised. This cartoon does not meet our editorial standards, and we have decided to remove it from our website.
"The Guardian apologises to Mr Sharp, to the Jewish community and to anyone offended."
— Guardian Comms (@GuardianComms) April 29, 2023
And the cartoon has indeed been removed.
GB News seems to have been more reticent about apologising for its own transgression.
Mr Rosen contacted the channel – via Twitter – at 4pm on Saturday, and requested a response detailing what it proposed to do about the error:
You've just said that a cartoon (which you are giving evidence for, for suggesting that it may be antisemitic) is by me. It isn't by me. What do you suggest doing about this?
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 29, 2023
He repeated his request almost a quarter of an hour later:
This clip @GBNews seems to have been up for an hour. You say, 'You wonder what the people at the top were doing authorising it.' (referring to the Guardian, I think?) Irony: who 'at the top' authorised you to broadcast that I did the cartoon? I didn't. What's to be done? https://t.co/NscFwYFJap
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 29, 2023
From the tweet that follows, it seems GB News deleted its tweeted clip showing discussion of the cartoon, but not before it had been viewed 79,000 times.
79,000 views…. pic.twitter.com/YByKbkrnJc
— scarey (@whistlingspy) April 29, 2023
At around 5pm, Ms Forster tweeted an apology to Mr Rosen and said the tweet had been removed. He responded with gratitude for her words, and with a statement crystallising his own view – that GB News should broadcast a correction along with its own apology:
Thank you very much indeed for apologising, Katherine. Much appreciated and fully accepted. As I say, my view is that what would be appropriate now is for @GBNews to correct and apologise. Simples.
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 29, 2023
He had already requested a correction by the time he had responded to Ms Forster:
Hello GB News, people tell me that you've now (after 2 hours) deleted the clip in which you wrongly said that I drew a cartoon (which you were showing as being antisemitic). I have a recording of it. Will you be doing an on-air correction? @GBNEWS
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 29, 2023
By now, his supporters were making suggestions of their own. Mr Rosen, in the spirit of fairness, said he was waiting for GB News to respond:
I'm waiting for @GBNews to reply. A few weeks ago, there was an article in the Times about me. There were several mistakes. I pointed them out. The Times put the corrections up the very next day and corrected the online copy. @thetimes
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 29, 2023
Then he even put up a suggested wording:
'Earlier today, we mistakenly said that a cartoon in the Guardian was by Michael Rosen. This was an error. We apologise for any misunderstanding over this matter.' Look @gbnews I've written you a script. All you have to do is read it.
— Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 (@MichaelRosenYes) April 29, 2023
That was at 5.36pm, Saturday, April 29. I’ve seen no apology/correction from GB News – although it has published a story about The Guardian‘s apology for the cartoon.
That piece does not mention or apologise for the broadcast comments about Martin Rowson.
This Site has contacted GB News to find out what the channel intends to do – if anything.
If no apology is forthcoming, it will be up to Mr Rosen to decide whether to take the matter further.
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