UPenn just severed ties with controversial cartoonist Dwayne Booth amid outcry over his anti-Israel imagery that many have labeled blatantly antisemitic. The move comes after the Trump administration froze $175 million in federal funding to the Ivy League school.
At a glance:
• UPenn dismissed lecturer Dwayne Booth (known as “Mr. Fish”) after his cartoons depicted Israelis drinking Gazan blood and compared Israel to Nazi Germany
• The university’s Interim President Dr. J. Larry Jameson previously called Booth’s cartoons “reprehensible” and “antisemitic”
• Booth claims his dismissal was solely due to budget cuts following Trump administration’s freeze of $175 million in federal funding
• UPenn is currently under investigation by the Department of Education and House Ways and Means Committee for alleged antisemitism
• The controversy follows the resignation of former UPenn President Liz Magill after her disastrous congressional testimony on campus antisemitism
UPenn Cuts Ties With Antisemitic Cartoonist Following Trump Funding Freeze
The University of Pennsylvania has officially ended its professional relationship with Dwayne Booth, a communications lecturer who published cartoons widely condemned as antisemitic. Booth, who has worked at UPenn’s Annenberg School for Communication since 2015, created inflammatory cartoons following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. Images included a cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wearing a butcher’s apron and covered in blood, disturbing imagery of Israelis drinking blood from Palestinians, and Holocaust comparisons.
The university’s Interim President Dr. J. Larry Jameson labeled Booth’s artwork “reprehensible” and “antisemitic” but said he was also committed to free expression.
Lecturer Claims Budget Cuts, Not Antisemitism Behind Dismissal
Booth has attempted to deflect responsibility by claiming his dismissal was purely financial and unrelated to his controversial artwork. He also insisted that his artwork was not antisemitic but “merely critical of Israel.”
The timing of Booth’s departure notably coincided with the Trump administration’s freeze of $175 million in federal funding to the university. This financial pressure appears to have forced UPenn’s hand after initially defending the artist under the guise of academic freedom and creative expression.
UPenn’s Ongoing Antisemitism Crisis
The Booth controversy is just the latest chapter in UPenn’s ongoing struggle with antisemitism on campus. The university is currently under investigation by both the Department of Education and the House Ways and Means Committee for alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Former university President Liz Magill and Board Chair Scott Bok were forced to resign following their disastrous congressional testimony on campus antisemitism last year. Their failure to clearly condemn calls for Jewish genocide as hate speech sparked nationwide outrage and highlighted the permissive attitude toward antisemitism at elite universities.
