The Montreal magazine La Metropole says it did not intend to offend the Jewish community when it published a cartoon depicting a Hasidic cab driver in its July issue. The cartoon, supposedly meant to be a humorous caricature of Montreal Jewish cabbie Arieh Perecowicz who was fined by the Taxi Bureau for having too much stuff in his cab (photos of his rabbi, mezuzahs, etc.), caused a stir in Montreal’s Jewish community. Irate members of the community wrote in to La Metropole and complained to the province’s Jewish advocacy groups accusing the magazine of publishing offensive anti-Semitic material.
Following the flurry of complaints, La Metropole Editors issued their regrets on their website and committed to publish their excuses in the upcoming August issue of the magazine:
(HRC French to English translation and bold font emphasis)"With respect to this issue, we have received several emails from members of the Jewish community in Montreal, from the newsroom at The Gazette, and even from the renowned American magazine Forbes (New York), literally accusing us of anti-Semitism and racism. We are accused, among other things, of depicting the members of this important community as did the Nazis during the Second World War. If we have offended members of the Jewish community by this cartoon, which was intended to be humorous, we deeply and sincerely apologize. This was not our goal."
You can read more about this story in the National Post and in the Montreal Gazette.
