Clock Moving (1988)

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1988.

It always messes me up when we move the clocks ! When we move it forward one hour in the Spring it messes me up. When we move it back one hour in the Fall, it messes me up.

I chose to post this cartoon because, well, tonight's the night! Yup. Here in Israel we'll be moving our clocks ahead and be going onto summer time tonight. So tomorrow, Friday, if the past is any guide, I expect to be messed up and grumpy.

Bombing Libya

After the West shamefully ignored the brutal crushing of the democracy uprisings in Iran we now have the bizarre NATO bombing of Libya.

It feels like somebody pushed the panic button and the region is being plunged deeper and deeper into chaos. Yikes!!

NATO Imperial Bombing (1999)

Today's Golden Oldie is from March 29, 1999. On March 24, 1999, 5 days earlier, NATO planes had began bombing Yugoslavia. The attacks continued until June 10, 1999.

It seemed to me that the American President (Clinton) was acting like an emperor. And he didn't even need the "fig leaf" of a UN resolution. So I drew the President as an imperial Roman statue, with a sword in one hand and the media in the other. The nude statue, it was implied, wore no "fig leaf".

Today, in another March, another American President has chosen to intervene in another civil war by again using NATO to bomb another government into submission! . . . but today's President is trying to cover his imperial decision with the flimsy and phony fig leaves of both the UN and the Arab League.

High Hopes

We are obviously at a turning point in the history of the Middle East. The problem is that we have no idea what the Middle East is in the middle of turning into.

Your thoughts?

Monster Attack

The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) said that "Art imitates nature."

Japan in 2011 seems to say that, in this case at least, "Nature imitates Art".

Your thoughts?

Uncomfortable Truth (1991)

I drew today's Golden Oldie twenty years ago this week, on March 21, 1991.

For me, the years have passed quickly. I suspect that for Jonathan that's not true. No one else in the history of the United States has ever received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally - only Jonathan Pollard. The median sentence for this offense is two to four years. Even agents who have committed far more serious offenses on behalf of hostile nations have not received such a harsh sentence.

If our community's unforgivable lack of response to Pollard's outrageous treatment was an uncomfortable truth back then, in 1991 ...how much more despicable now, an unbelievable twenty years later, in 2011??!

To understand what happened, please click on Facts of the Pollard Case.

Scary Movie

You almost always know something about a movie before you see it. Is it a comedy, an adventure, a psychological thriller, science fiction, etc.

Many years ago I was in Tel Aviv for the day (I was living in Jerusalem at the time). I had been under a lot of pressure and was feeling the stress. I passed a little cinema house. I looked at the photos on display. The movie was called "All That Jazz". "Hmmmm" thought I "A light-hearted musical, all singing and dancing. Just what I need to lift my spirits"

The film was the story of someone who was as exhausted as I was and as driven as I was. And he has a heart attack and dies.

So like everyone else, I'm watching the bombing of Libya and like everyone else I don't know how this drama is going to end. But my gut feeling is that it wont end well. And we can't change the channel or walk out of the movie house.

And I really hope I'm wrong!

the New Middle East (1991)

Today's cartoon is from twenty years ago this month! Back then the media and all the pundits explained that as soon as the dust of war settled we would witness the birth of a "New Middle East". So I did a full page cartoon. * * * Click on the cartoon below to open a larger, more readable version of this full page Dry Bones:

Another one of those cartoons that could be run today, as is, without any change!!

Inflammatory Material

Back in October, I was in Boston for a conference at Boston University sponsored by the good folks at CAMERA. As I strolled into the venue at BU with Louise (a friend and fellow activist) we were greeted by a small but noisy and colorful contingent of anti-Israel demonstrators. The chanting, drum-beating, horn-blowing, Arab head scarf-wearing students were trying to hand out their anti-Zionist libels and "fact sheets" to passersby and to would-be conference attendees.

Other folks were furious and stopped to argue with the demonstrators, but not my friend Louise. Nope.

What Louise (Lulu to some) does in such situations is nothing short of brilliant. Amazed at what she did, I turned it into a Dry Bones cartoon (with a thanx to Lulu next to my signature). So if you decide to follow Lulu's (and now my advice) remember to save the inflammatory material for Lag Ba'Omer, the bonfire holiday of the Jewish people. The holiday will start this year on Saturday night May 21 and continue till nightfall Sunday May 22. By the way, on Sunday May 22 I'm scheduled to speak at a Lag Ba'Omer lunch in Fresno California and then I'll be flying off to an appearance that evening in LA. I'll post dates of the May2011 speaking tour as soon as everything is in place. On May 26 I'll be appearing in the Boston area (and hope to get some more strategic advice from Lulu).

We've still got a couple of open dates left for the May2011 tour, so if your Church, Synagogue, or Community Organization wants to book a Z Street, Young Israel-sponsored Dry Bones event do it now. Please contact plerner@youngisrael.org. But this is the last week to book!

Just Not News

The stories this week that you may not have seen:

Reuters: Israel seizes ship carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – "Israeli naval commandos on Tuesday seized a cargo ship in the Mediterranean carrying what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were Iranian-supplied weapons intended for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

A military spokeswoman said Israeli forces met no resistance when they intercepted the German-owned "Victoria" some 200 miles from Israel and were taking the vessel to the Israeli port of Ashdod." -more

And the weapons manuals were in Iranian (Farsi)

Navy: Anti-ship missiles, Farsi manual found on seized vessel

"IDF estimates some 50 tons of weapons found on Gaza-bound 'Victoria' vessel intercepted by commandoes; Rear Admiral Ben-Yehuda says Chinese-made C-704 anti-ship missiles would have threatened Israeli sea-based strategic installations, navy vessels had they reached Strip. Containers were loaded after Iranian ships docked in Syria two weeks ago, he adds" -more

And then a day later (yesterday, March 17 ) The Australian ran this story:

Turks order Iran transport plane to land

"An Iranian cargo plane en route to Syria was forced to land in Turkey last night amid fears it may be carrying military or nuclear material.

The plane was being searched at Diyarbakir airport in southeastern Turkey a day after Israeli commandos operating deep in international waters boarded a ship carrying arms allegedly on their way from Iran to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The plane, which took off yesterday from Tehran bound for the Syrian city of Aleppo, landed following an order from the Turkish foreign ministry.

Two F-16 jet fighters were put on standby to intervene if the Iranian plane did not obey the orders to land, security sources said.

Anti-nuclear, biological and chemical material units of civilian defence teams took part in the inspection of the plane, Anatolia news agency reported." -more

Purim (1999)

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1999. It's not a cartoon. It is an online Purim page that I did for the Jerusalem Post. The idea was that you'd have to scroll down to read it. Like reading a Purim Megilla Scroll.

WELCOME!

And a Happy PURIM to us all !

The joyful Feast of Purim celebrates a "close call" that the Jewish people had.
If you don't know the story, read the Book of Esther in the Bible.
Reading the Book of Esther is one way that we celebrate Purim.

Traditionally we attend a reading in the synagogue. (From a long scroll, sort of like this long Dry Bones Purim Web page)

Obviously the saving of one Jewish community in ancient Persia is not what makes the joyous Purim holiday so significant.

And the characters of "Queen Esther" and "Mordechai the Jew" are NOT what makes the holiday tick.

The tale of Purim is important because it provides us with a view of the archetypical villian, Haman.

WICKED
HAMAN

And recognizing the sly Haman who wants to destroy us is important, because there seems to be a Haman in every generation.

And so on Purim we celebrate our escape from a long line of "Hamans" that stretches down through history and around the world!

On Purim we bake or buy tasty pastries called "Oznei Haman". (Which means "Haman's Ears" in Hebrew). The pastries are sometimes called "Hamantaschen" (Which means "Haman's Pockets" in Yiddish).

The triangular pastries are traditionally filled with poppy seeds. Yup, the seeds of the opium poppy. But the only buzz you'll get from "Hamantaschen" will be the yummy taste and the joy of Jewish continuity and survival.

Some people prefer other kinds of pastry fillings.

On Purim, we dress up our kids in costumes and send them to knock on the doors of our friends and neighbors.

But unlike the Halloween tradition, costumed Purim kids are not on "trick or treat" missions.

They bring a plate of food treats to give to the people whose doors they knock on.

This Purim custom is a way of letting our fellows know that we are celebrating the survival and continuity of the Jewish people and a way of expressing our love of our neighbors.

(And what better treat to deliver on this occassion than a plate of "Haman's Ears"?)

HAPPY PURIM TO US ALL!

Clean Up

We are now in the midst of the annual anti-Israel anti-Zionist hate-fest circus of antisemitic libels now parading through university campuses. Those of us who are activists sigh, gather our quotes, write our rebuttals, and prepare to expose the double standards and lies of the BDS movement and its annual Israel Apartheid Week. Yes, It'll soon be clean up time again. * * *

According to Dr. Catherine Chatterly, director of the Canadian Institute for the Study of Antisemitism:

"The first [Israeli Apartheid Week] event was held at the University of Toronto in 2005. The following year, it included Montreal and Oxford. In 2007, it grew to eight cities; in 2008, to 24 cities; in 2009, to 38 cities; last year, to over 40 cities. This year, IAW will be held in over 55 cities worldwide.

Four years after Durban I, in 2005, Israeli Apartheid Week was born in Toronto. That July, 170 Palestinian civil-society organizations released an official call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (better known as BDS) against Israel. The document clearly stated that the call was modelled on the example of the South African struggle against Apartheid.

As with the original anti-apartheid movement, the goal of IAW is explicitly political. And yet the rhetoric of IAW is left open enough to incorporate: (1) critics of Israel who still support a two-state solution; (2) those who support the dismantling of the current Jewish State and its replacement with a single (highly theoretical) secular democratic state; and (3) those who support the destruction of Israel by any means necessary. All three camps are included amongst supporters of IAW and the BDS campaign, and therefore the lines are often blurred between harsh criticism of the state of Israel, outright condemnation of its continued existence, and calls for its eradication. This is a serious problem, and one that appears to be designed quite consciously by IAW and the BDS movement."

Worries (2004)

Today's cartoon was published on February 12, 2004.

The day before, on February 11, 2004, Israel was hit by an earthquake (depicted in the third panel of the cartoon). The quake set off a whole new set of worries for us. As I write this we are witnessing the incredible destruction caused by the catastrophic 2011 Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown disaster...

...and once again we in Israel are being warned by the authorities about the inevitable "big one" that will, one day hit us!

* * * The news back in 2004 was reported like this:

Earthquake cracks Knesset
By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
February 11, 2004
- "An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rocked Israel and surrounding states Wednesday morning, sending frightened people streaming into streets throughout the country, but causing only one indirect injury and little damage.

Israel Radio reported the quake left a crack in the ceiling of the Knesset plenum, Israel's parliament, just minutes before lawmakers were scheduled to take their seats for the day's debates.

Channel 2 TV reported that Israeli geologists believe a major earthquake could strike Israel without notice, and based on research predict the arrival of "the big one" in the next 50 years." -more

Horror Show

The cold-blooded murder of a 4 month-old infant is described as the killing of another "settler".

The constant, unrelenting demonization of Jews by the Palestinian media, in the Palestinian educational system, and in their public pronouncements and ceremonies, is merely what Israel's Prime minister "described as incitement that encourages attacks".

Below, from the Washington Post:

Israeli troops scour West Bank villages for killers of 5 Jewish settlers
By Janine Zacharia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, March 12, 2011; 6:25 PM
"JERUSALEM - Israeli troops fanned out into Palestinian villages Saturday to search for the killers of five family members stabbed to death in a Jewish settlement as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on Palestinians to end what he described as incitement that encourages attacks." -more

The Happy Optimist

As an "Artist in Residence" at YIISA (the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism) I've been studying a specific set of unique image codes. (For a video of my presentation at Yale on these codes of Antisemitism click on Secret Codes)

These codes are used to spread viral Jew-hatred and are the focus of my upcoming May 2011 tour. If your church or synagogue would like to host an appearance/lecture please contact Rabbi Pesach Lerner at
plerner@youngisrael.org.

* * * Note photos of these codes in "Pro Democracy" demonstrations

Below: Codes in anti-Mubarak poster in Egypt:
1. "Jewish" star
2. Blood dripping from corner of mouth
3. Vampire-like fangs
4. Demonic Ears

Below: Codes in an anti-Gaddafi poster in Libya:
1. Demonic Horns
2. Blood dripping from corner of mouth
3. The "Jewish" star all over the poster
4. Use of Swastikas (which have evolved to mean Israel!!)

* * * Oh and about the plight of the Christians, there's this, just in from CAMERA:

Coptic Christians Killed by Egyptian Military – Will the Blackout Continue?

"Coptic Christians in Egypt who are hoping that major news outlets in the United States are going to shine a light on the recent attack they endured in Helwan and their ongoing protests in Cairo have good reason to wonder exactly what is going on.

Their story is just not being told in the U.S. . . . People who rely on traditional media outlets in the U.S. for their information about the Middle East on will know very little about the attack on a church in Sool on Saturday and the ongoing failure of the Egyptian military to protect Copts in Egypt." -more

High Hopes (2001)

Today's cartoon is from 2001. Ten years ago this week.

The cartoon is a domestic husband/wife joke. I love the joke as a subversive means of communication.

This joke/cartoon combines recognition of Israel's high tech inventiveness with the need for a little cheery relief from the pressures of life in our isolated and delegitimized state. It also highlights the contrasting priorities of males and females.

The cartoon was done in the pre-color days and I tried to play with "colorizing" by using areas of black, white, and a grey created by tapping out a field of dots with a pen. It gave a lovely rich feel. These days I use color.

Thinks: "If I'm around ten years from now and post a Golden Oldie from 2011, will I have to point out that it was done in the pre-3D holographic cartoon days?"

Presidential Hearing Test

The latest news in this ongoing story.

There's this:

Obama receives Pollard clemency call from leading Jews

"National Council of Young Israel executive VP gives US president note on behalf of Jewish leaders pleading for commutation of agent's sentence.

The Jewish leaders who met with US President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday did not raise the fate of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard in their limited time with him, but one of them made sure Obama got the message.

Following the meeting, National Council of Young Israel executive vice president Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who has been the driving force behind efforts to bring about Pollard’s release, went up to Obama and gave him a note pleading for his life sentence to be commuted."-more

And there's this:

Kissinger: Release Israeli spy Pollard

"Saying he found the arguments of other top former U.S. national security officials “compelling,” former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Monday called for President Obama to commute the remainder of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard’s life sentence.

"At first I felt I did not have enough information to render a reasoned and just opinion,” Kissinger said in his Mar. 3 letter, released today by a public relations firm that has been lobbying for the release of Pollard, sentenced to life in prison for espionage in 1987.

“But having talked with [former Secretary of State] George Shultz and read the statements of former CIA Director [R. James] Woolsey, former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman [Dennis] DeConcini, former Defense Secretary [Caspar] Weinberger, former Attorney General [Michael] Mukasey and others whose judgments and first-hand knowledge I respect, I find their unanimous support for clemency compelling.” -more

And this:

Minister to visit Pollard in US prison

"Israeli Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon will next week make a visit to Jonathan Pollard who is serving a prison sentence in the US for espionage for Israel.

Two months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a personal letter to US President Barack Obama requesting that Pollard, who has been in prison for 25 years be pardoned." -more

* * *

But the news item that I long to report is that Jonathan Pollard has been released from his unfair punishment of 25 years in prison!

Joke Time (1975)

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1975.

Back then we knew that the U.N. had become a joke. Thirty six years have gone by, and the joke is still on us. Another cartoon that could be run today with no changes!!

Dumb and Dumber

Tomorrow, March 8, is International Women's Day.

Tomorrow, March 8, is also my birthday.

A coincidence?
Perhaps.

Megalomania

There are a number of ways that Gaddafi and Charlie Sheen are different. One difference is that Charlie tweets. Gaddafi doesn't. Within 24 hours Charlie amassed one million twitter followers!

I recently got set up at twitter and at present have 85 followers.

So the score now stands at:
Charlie: 1,000,000
DryBones: 85
Gaddafi: 0

I don't know if Muammar is embarrassed by his weak showing, but I certainly am.

How about giving me a little more confidence by following me at twitter? I'm at: http://twitter.com/drybonescartoon

And facebook folk can follow us at http://www.facebook.com/drybonescartoon

BTW, I don't know how Charlie is doing at facebook.
I'm afraid to check!

the Crazy Guy (1982)

Today's "Golden Oldie" is from July 05, 1982.

Here's the story behind the cartoon:

A year before (in July of 1981) Israel had agreed to a ceasefire with Yasser Arafat's terrorist army in Lebanon (Between 15-18,000 PLO terrorist soldiers were in dozens of locations in Lebanon).

But in the 11 months that followed the "ceasefire", the PLO carried out 270 terrorist actions in Israel. Twenty-­nine Israelis died and more than 300 were injured in these attacks. The last straw was on June 3, 1982, when the Palestinian terrorists shot Israel's Ambassador to Great Britain, Shlomo Argov. Though not killed, he remained in a coma for three months and was then left permanently paralysed and in need of constant medical assistance for the rest of his life.

Three days after the attack on Israel's Ambassador in London, on June 6, 1982, Israel's army poured across the border to fight the PLO forces stationed in Lebanon . . .PLO chieftain Yasser Arafat and his murderous PLO terrorist forces were trapped!

Gaddafi then sent a public message to Afafat which said:

“I advise you to commit suicide rather than to accept disgrace. Your suicide will immortalise the cause of Palestine for future generations. Your blood is the fuel of the revolution. Let suicide be the priority. It is the road to victory”.

Which led to my doing today's Golden Oldie about Gaddafi.

Your thoughts?

Nobody Knew, Nobody knows

Much of the Western Main Stream Media sees the uprisings as positive and pro-democracy. Basically, what we have, they seem to be saying, is a "Happy Ending".

Unfortunately that reminds me of a quote by American film director Orson Wells. When asked about how to make a film with a happy ending, he responded by saying that making a happy ending simply "depends on where you stop your story".

Unfortunately, in the real world the story is not stopping here. It's going on, and nobody knows how and when it stops! And nobody knows if it's going to have a "happy ending".

Libyan Dictator Gaddafi (1986)

Today's Golden Oldie is from January 1986.
Twenty-five years ago.

A Dry Bones fan wrote to me and requested I find and run the cartoon. An appropriate choice as we watch what everyone agrees is Libyan Dictator Gaddafi's final act. We'll soon see if "everyone" is right.