Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib Share Israel Drawing by Artist Who Placed in Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Contest - Newsweek

Two Democratic congresswomen who were recently barred from visiting Israel shared an image on their personal social media accounts over the weekend that showed President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu physically silencing them, which was created by a cartoonist who's made controversial and alleged anti-Semitic drawings in the past.

The cartoon, shared by freshmen Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota on their Instagram stories, depicted Netanyahu placing his hand over Tlaib's mouth, along with Trump doing the same to Omar. Tlaib added the caption: "The more they try to silence us, our voices rise. The more they try to weaken us, the stronger we become. The more they try to discredit us, the truth prevails."

The drawing was created by cartoon artist Carlos Latuff in the wake of Netanyahu banning the Muslim congresswomen from entering the country during a trip they planned to make to the Middle Eastern region this week. In a tweet of his own, Latuff said his image described the "war against freedom of speech" being waged by Trump and Netanyahu, "a war against everyone who dare to criticize [Israel's] apartheid."

Tlaib and Omar, both outspoken progressives, were barred from visiting due to their support of the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and after Trump wrote in a tweet it would "show great weakness" by Israel if they were allowed to enter because they "hate Israel & all Jewish people." Tlaib was later offered the chance to visit her grandmother in the occupied West Bank, but she declined, saying she did not want to "bow down to their oppressive & racist policies."

Oof. Looks like both Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib shared this awful Carlos Latuff cartoon in Instagram stories yesterday. In 2006, Latuff came in second in Iran's International Holocaust Cartoon Contest, which is a thing that exists, in case you thought the TL couldn't get any worse. pic.twitter.com/uwyBPAsz7T
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) August 18, 2019

Omar was condemned earlier this year by the House of Representatives for making anti-Semitic tropes. The drawing shared by her and Tlaib, in addition to their support for the BDS movement, is the type of action critics have condemned both women for in the past.

In 2006, Latuff placed second in Iran's International Holocaust Cartoon Competition for a cartoon drawn in 2004 showing an upset, elderly Palestinian man wearing a Nazi concentration camp uniform.

"Some people said that I was 'denying the Holocaust'! That was completely stupid, since I'm affirming the Holocaust with that illustration," he told The Jewish Forward in 2008. Latuff did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment about this and other cartoons he's drawn. Spokespeople for Tlaib and Omar also did not respond for comment.

"Believe me, no matter what I draw and where I publish, there will be always someone who will point a finger and say it's anti-Semitic," Latuff continued. He further said he viewed the contest as an opportunity to highlight the suffering of Palestinians and to raise questions "about the West's double standards."

"I mean, you insult the Muslims with a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a bomber and then claim the right to 'freedom of speech,' but if you make drawings about the Holocaust, then it's 'hatred against the Jews,'" Latuff elaborated.

He's created several cartoons throughout his career about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More recently, he created another one that showed four men — Trump, his eldest son Donald Trump Jr., the "Israel Lobby" and a Trump supporter wearing a "Make Amerikkka white again!" shirt — sitting around a table and drinking beer. Placed on the table is a laptop with Twitter on the screen while Trump Jr. uses an assault rifle to shoot bullets through the images of Talib, Omar and Latuff. "Like father, like son..." Trump is depicted as saying.

Latuff wrote that the image represents attempts by Trump and his eldest son to "shut down critics of the ethnic cleansing in #Palestine and please the #Israel Lobby."