As people in Greece are still recovering from the bush fires that took the lives of over 80 people and left another 180 injured in their wake, a cartoonist from South Australian newspaper The Advertiser John Valdman thought it appropriate to have a little fun with the incident.
His sketch depicted as a drawing on pottery a husband and wife crying as other ancient Greeks collect their tears in order to put out the flames. Overhead the title reads ‘Another Greek tragedy’.
The image has sparked an angry reaction among the Greek community of South Australia as being insensitive, especially at a time when many people still have loved ones overseas whose fate remains unknown.
Some people lashed out about the image and its creator via social media while others wrote directly to the newspaper itself.
One such individual is translator and travel writer, Paul Hellander. One of the first to comment on the specific image, he expressed his bewilderment to Neos Kosmos.
“I wonder if the specific cartoonist has any idea of the size of the destruction and I invite him to take a look at any valid media in case he comes to understand his tragic mistake and to explain to us exactly what he means in his comment that this is yet another Greek tragedy in the hopes that he revokes his bad-tasting, sarcastic sketch,” he said.
President of the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia (GOCSA), Bill Gonis also had a strong reaction to the depiction, prompting him to send a letter of complaint to the publisher of the newspaper.
“I have decided to write to you to express my resentment and repulsion for the publishing of the sketch titled ‘Another Greek Tragedy’ that shows the Greek nation one century behind trying to deal with the bush fire tragedy with pottery and not with modern day firefighting material,” he wrote.
“The sketch gives the impression of toying with an entire nation as they mourn the loss of so many of our fellow people. Any same fire, especially when it comes at the cost of human lives, cannot be allowed to be dealt with such lightness and mockery.”
Seeing the massive outcry, Valdman has come out and said that he did not wish to offend anyone with this image.
Meanwhile, the management board of the GOSCA, in association with the Bank of Sydney, will hold an emergency meeting on Monday in order to discuss ways in which they can provide assistance to those affected by the fires in Greece.
