Everybody Loves Leunig

Michael Leunig, the Australian cartoonist, has long been criticised for his venomous hostility to Israel. Delightfully, someone submitted one of his cartoons to the Hamshahri contest. It was happily accepted and apparently posted as their first entry (though I didn't see it on the website, no doubt its been removed. By the way, Hamshahri now has a link in English at the bottom of the page to the rules for the competition. Anonymous entries are welcome... ... ...)

In an editorial, Michael Gawenda, former editor-in-chief of the Age (which is not exactly printed in blue and white) criticizes Leunig:

Gawenda wrote that Leunig was silent about 'the fact that the competition's organisers thought his cartoon -- which is not a hoax -- was a perfectly fine entry for this racist exercise.

'Indeed, Leunig goes out of his way to praise the Iranians who were 'courteously apologising. They had been co-operative. They cared'.

Now for the strange part - this image from Reuters of a cartoon demonstration, shows protestors holding a large sign with Michael Leunig and Hirsi Ali (and others), presumably to draw Allah's attention to infidel deserving of a little wrath. Muslim fanatics are going to have to learn who their friends are if they are to make any headway in the global jihad. No point beheading your own PR reps. Or are these protesters furious that Hamshahri is making the Islamic world look petty and childish?