The cartoon below appeared in the English-language publication "Arab News" in Saudi Arabia:
It shows Jews as mice wearing Nazi-style helmets adorned with Stars of David scurrying in and out of a building labeled "Palestine House". The depiction of Jews as vermin is an old anti-Semitic staple, going back to Nazi Propaganda films The Wandering Jew, and The Jew Suess, and probably further back still.
The sentiment behind comparing Jews to rats is, as stated in The Wandering Jew, that as rats are the vermin of the animal kingdom, Jews are the vermin of the human race and similarly spread disease and contagion.
Jews are shown as vermin in order to dehumanize them, which makes hating and harming them a more acceptable and less evil act. Jews are thus depicted as parasites, sub-humans, and it is strongly implied that they, like rats, should be exterminated.
British journalist Tom Gross notes that this cartoon specifically bears resemblance to a scene from The Jew Suess, where Jews are "depicted as vermin to be eradicated by mass extermination".
This cartoon is significant for appearing in "Arab News", a publication popular with expats in Saudi Arabia that is widely regarded as a moderate publication. It is printed by the Saudi Research & Publishing Company, a subsidiary of SRMG (The Saudi Research and Marketing Group) largely owned by Prince Alaweed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company.
