Cartoon Madness Spreading
Charles Johnson
Sat Apr 1, 2006 at 7:51 pm PST • Views: 194
Who could have foreseen that the clash of civilizations would be fought with line drawings? Cartoon in poor taste: Indonesia.
INDONESIA today described as “tasteless” a caricature in The Weekend Australian newspaper depicting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog.
The publication of the cartoon followed a similar drawing in an Indonesian daily portraying Prime Minister John Howard and his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes.
The cartoon war comes amid tensions between Jakarta and Canberra over Australia’s decision to grant refugee visas to 42 asylum-seekers from Indonesia’s restive Papua province.
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said Mr Yudhoyono had not seen the Australian caricature but the president “laughed” when told of the depiction.
“It’s in poor taste. Sometimes the media, both in Indonesia and other countries, resort to poor taste, which actually demonstrates the level of their quality,” Mr Mallarangeng saud.
The Australian cartoon, drawn by award-winning cartoonist Bill Leak, shows Mr Yudhoyono as a tail-wagging dog mounting a startled-looking Papua dog and saying “don’t take this the wrong way”.
The caption under the cartoon reads “no offence intended”.
On Monday Indonesian tabloid Rakyat Merdeka ran a front-page caricature showing Mr Howard being mounted on Downer with the Prime Minister saying: “I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen.”
Frank says: