OPINION: Toronto Sun cartoon shocking and hurtful

Article content

By  LARYSSA WALER HETMANCZUK

Article content

I was shocked to see an editorial cartoon in the Toronto Sun earlier this week featuring a caricature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy picking the pocket of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Article content

Beyond shock, I also felt a deep sense of hurt because for years, Ukrainians have been fighting not only a full-scale war of survival, but also a war of misinformation from the massive, effective and well-funded Russian propaganda machine.

I also felt hurt for my Jewish friends, who, in this time of rising anti-Semitism, had to see yet another caricature of a Jewish man with an exaggerated nose picking the pocket of an unsuspecting victim.

My feelings were exacerbated because, as a community, we are tired of trying to rationally explain what’s at stake in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Article content

Article content

This isn’t just about the deaths of thousands of Ukrainians.

It’s not just about the terror and atrocities committed by Russia in cities like Bucha and Irpin, where rape and torture were used as tools of war by Russian soldiers.

This is about fighting for our shared Western values in a global struggle against the growing alliances among China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Hamas – a new axis of evil.

I understand political cartoons are meant to be exaggerations, even grotesque ones, often involving satire.

I understand they don’t always have to be funny.

Article content

But this cartoon stoked the fires of strong and growing anti-Ukraine and anti-Semitic sentiments exploding across our country.

In the U.S., funding for Ukraine is dominating the news cycle, with many in the Republican party echoing Kremlin propaganda about a “forever war” and pushing for a restoration of America’s pre-World War II isolationism.

That would be a blow to global security and our Western democratic way of life.

Earlier this year Mitt Romney addressed the issue head on, saying the U.S. must continue to fund Ukraine’s war effort because destroying Russian military effectiveness, while using just 5% of the U.S. defence budget, is an “extraordinarily wise investment.”

It’s not charity – it’s enlightened self-interest.

Article content

If Russia succeeds in defeating Ukraine, we will all be paying far more down the line in military spending and containment efforts for decades to come.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on the West to grow tired of supporting Ukraine.

Earlier this month, he himself said the West’s support for Ukraine is waning.

Let’s not prove him right.

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland all understand why intrinsically.

They have the lived experience and history to know Russia won’t stop in Ukraine. It never has before.

Cartoons like the one published by the Toronto Sun this week fit perfectly with Russia’s propaganda strategy. Whether published deliberately or innocently, the result is another win for the Russian side.

Article content

It re-enforces anti-Semitic stereotypes about the hook-nosed Jew trying to rip someone off.

It upholds the Kremlin’s narrative that fighting for democracy and freedom is an endless sinkhole.

Russia’s war on Ukraine is a war that will define our generation.

It has shifted the ground of global security and our world order.

It’s a good vs. evil struggle, and there is no choice but to pick a side.

– Laryssa Waler Hetmanczuk is a Conservative consultant and former communications director to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. She has been sanctioned by Russia for speaking out about its war of aggression on Ukraine.

Article content