Green Party calls out Times’ antisemitic Polanski cartoon

Polanski — On Wednesday 29 April, Essa Suleiman allegedly stabbed three men — two Jewish and one Muslim. At the time of the attack, Suleiman was living in supported housing, having previously been detained in a secure hospital. Suleiman has a history of mental illness, and was referred to Prevent in the past.

In the course of detaining Suleiman, two police officers repeatedly kicked him in the head. While some have argued the police should have the authority to deploy ultra-violence as they see fit, this level of physical violence is not something they currently have the authorisation to commit.

Training should give police officers the skills and courage they need to detain a suspect without resorting to what could be prosecuted as assault with a deadly weapon. For whatever reason, that training did not take with these officers.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski did not criticise the officers directly. He did, however, share a post from someone else doing so. This led to the following cartoon from the Times:

They are now publishing an antisemitic caricature of the only Jewish party leader while accusing him of antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/59nTfufPq4

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) May 2, 2026

This was all grimly ironic, because the media and political establishment was simultaneously calling the Jewish Polanski an ‘antisemite’ for not immediately concluding the attack was an antisemitic terrorist incident which was inspired by the recent anti-genocide marches.

The Green Party has now called the cartoon out.

Antisemitic terror?

Initially, pundits, politicians, and commenters justified the officers kicking Suleiman in the head on the grounds that he was a terrorist. Given his history and the scope of his attacks, it now seems more likely he was undergoing some sort of mental episode, although the facts aren’t fully confirmed.

The complexities which later emerged demonstrate why we train police officers to not just kick people in the head.

Even if society decided there was some crime that justified kicking a person’s skull in, we wouldn’t want arresting officers to be the ones who delivered this punishment. Even medieval peasants understood you had to have a judge, jury, and executioner.

The reason for not authorising police officers to act as Judge Dredd is obvious; with unlimited power comes unchecked beatings. You might be okay with the police assaulting people you find distasteful, but the police dislike everyone who stands in their way, and you can’t guarantee you won’t one day be an obstacle.

Let’s not forget the Metropolitan Police are the ones who affectionately referred to murderer Wayne Couzens as ‘the rapist’ when he was in their ranks. Let’s additionally not forget the Metropolitan Police are the ones who manhandled and arrested the women who held vigil for Couzens’ victim, Sarah Everard.

Polanski caricature

Of course, all political cartoons will present an exaggerated version of the person being depicted. The problem is the above image isn’t an ‘exaggeration’ of Polanski’s features, because he doesn’t have a ‘hook nose’. Consequently, the image just attracts comparisons to Nazi imagery:

On the left, published in @thetimes today, on the right, published in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Antisemitism is firmly rooted in the British political and media establishment, where it has always been. pic.twitter.com/opcKvASb4E

— Dr Iain Darcy 🍉 🇮🇪 💚 (@doctoriaindarcy) May 2, 2026

The Green Party has responded by writing to the Times’s editor Tony Gallagher. A Greens spokesperson said:

It is astonishing that amongst a rising climate of anti-Semitism in the UK, a national newspaper has chosen to publish a cartoon of the only Jewish political leader in the country using tropes so clearly associated with anti-semitic depictions of Jewish people.

Zack faces daily anti-semitism, and in the past six weeks two people have been arrested for anti-semitic actions towards him. The words used by both politicians and the media this week, directing further attacks towards Zack in the wake of a violent attack on his community, are deeply irresponsible

Polanski himself is refusing to bow to the attacks coming from the establishment. Clarifying his stance, he retweeted his own post from 28 March:

For whoever needs to hear this I'm the only Jewish person to lead a political party – third largest in the country.

The Daily Mail have been & always will be my enemy – they historically supported fascists & continue to do so.

I'll take no lectures from them on Antisemitism.

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) March 28, 2026

He’s also not taking any shit from Israel or its backers:

Extremist is the death and destruction that Benjamin Netanyahu government brings on a daily basis.

Extremist is them introducing the death penalty for Palestinians.

Extremist is this apartheid, genocidal Israeli Government that our Government shamefully supports. pic.twitter.com/Q8TK1vQKgD

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 2, 2026

The real threat

Of course, there’s a clear reason why the establishment has rounded on the Green Party. It’s because it’s offering a genuine alternative to the bullshit:

Workers deserve better.

Higher pay. Strong rights. Collective power.

This is what the Green Party Workers’ Charter is about – building an economy that works for people, not the wealthy few. pic.twitter.com/6tEg9YFfNw

— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) May 1, 2026

“Why should we be grateful for crumbs when Labour promised us the full loaf? This hasn’t happened by accident. It’s been done to us – to help the super-rich get even richer off the back of our hard work.”

Green Party MP Hannah Spencer on inequality at the launch of the Green… pic.twitter.com/72XB1GcFoA

— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) May 1, 2026

We all remember what happened the last time we had a viable alternative to austerity, war, and division:

The Green Party have gone from relative obscurity to triggering sustained multi day establishment smear campaigns.

As horrible as it is to feel like we’re going through 2017-19 again, it conclusively demonstrates we are now a threat to the rich, powerful, and reactionary.

— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) May 2, 2026

Everyone needs to be prepared, because the better the Greens do, the more reprehensible the establishment will become.

Solidarity with Zack Polanski against these depraved attacks.

Featured image via Barold