The Holidays

Tomorrow evening is the start of Rosh HaShana 5772 and ushers in the fall holiday season. When I was a kid in Brooklyn we called it the High Holidays. No cartoons on Thursday or Friday. Next Dry Bones on Monday.

Shana Tova!
Happy Jewish New Year
to us all!

PLO Blunder

There has been much discussion of the bid for UN recognition of a "Palestinian" State. I see it as a learning experience, as presented in today's cartoon.

Credit Ratings

the story:

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg)
". . . Italy’s rating was lowered yesterday by one level on concern that weakening economic growth and a “fragile” government mean the nation will struggle to reduce the euro- region’s second-largest debt burden. Italy was lowered to A from A+ with a negative outlook four months after the company warned of the risk of a downgrade. S&P today cut the creditworthiness of state-owned lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. . . Italy follows Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece as euro-region countries whose credit rating have been cut this year" -more

Wye (1998)

November 27, 1998

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1998.

The Wye Agreements:

"The Wye talks opened on October 14, 1998 and after 9 days of tough negotiations regarding the extent of the next stage of Israeli withdrawal, the Wye River Memorandum was signed. Israel would relinquish 13 percent of the land of which 10 percent would be turned over to Palestinian control and the rest would be turned into nature reserves. In return, Arafat agreed to take measures to prevent acts of terrorism against Israel, to apprehend individuals suspected of perpetrating acts of violence and terror, and to punish all persons involved in acts of violence and terror. It was also agreed at Wye that the Palestinians would collect all illegal weapons from the Palestinians and that the Palestinian police would be reduced from 36,000 to 30,000 men."

-more

The Betrayal of Jonathan Pollard at Wye:

"Both before and again during the Wye summit negotiations in the fall of 1998, President Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard. Pollard was the deal-maker at Wye which enabled the accords to be completed.

At the last minute, with the eyes of the world focused on the Wye Accords signing ceremony which was about to take place in Washington, Clinton reneged on Pollard's release," -more

* * *
It's now thirteen years after Wye.
Your thoughts?

Simple Truth

I like to do cartoons about specific events or news items. Our Prime Minister will be speaking at the UN today. I suppose he'll try to tell the world the truth as he sees it.

"So" I thought, "I'll do the same."

UN Resolution (1991)

September 27, 1991

On November 10, 1975, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution declaring Zionism to be racism. Sixteen years later, in September 1991, because of American pressure, the resolution was repealed.

Today's cartoon is from that September in 1991.
20 years ago this month.

According to the New York Times:

U.N. Repeals Its '75 Resolution Equating Zionism With Racism

"The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly today to revoke the bitterly contested statement it approved in 1975 that said "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.

The official count found 111 nations in favor of repealing the statement and 25 nations, mostly Islamic and hard-line Communists, voting against. Thirteen nations abstained. Seventeen other countries, including Egypt, which recognizes Israel, and Kuwait and China, did not take part in the voting.

For the United States, the heavy vote in favor of repeal was a demonstration of its diplomatic power. After President Bush called for the repeal in September in a speech to the General Assembly, United States embassies around the world were instructed to put maximum pressure to secure the repeal. " -more

And now we've sent our Prime Minister to that same UN, to stand alone and, on our behalf, to speak to the governments of the world.

Latest News

I didn't know what subject to deal with today.

Reading the newspapers at my local cafe revealed the current possibilities; the "double dip" recession, Islamist Turkey, the Palestinians, Palestine at the UN, Bibi standing isolated speaking to the world at the UN, the Eurozone crisis, starvation in Africa, the lynch attempt at the embassy in Cairo, etc. etc. etc.

While going over the topics I absent-mindedly doodled a picture of Mr. Shuldig reacting to the news. I looked at what I had done and laughed.

I traced it for today's cartoon.

School for Journalists

Not long ago I came up with a new character. I called him the Naive Newsman.

I haven't used him for a while, but last night, while discussing the growing isolation of Israel with a friend, I blurted out angrily that "The real enemy is the media!" ...which reminded me of the Naive Newsman. And I began to think of the kind of training he had. And out popped today's cartoon.

To see his earlier appearences click on Naive Newsman.

Egyptian Peace (1974)

Published in 1974

Today's cartoon is from 1974.
Dry Bones was only one year old and Israel had a "Peace Treaty" with Egypt!!

The goal was to have cultural relations, sporting events, trade relations, and more. Sure the public was still infected with a degree of anti-Israeli hatred ...but we'd show understanding, and with the help of the Egyptian government, in time, the Arabs of Egypt would come to appreciate their cousins next door; the Israelites of the land of Israel.

So we waited patiently, and with understanding, for thirtyseven years while the Egyptian government blocked normalization. Egyptian tourists were barred from visiting us, antisemitism was allowed to flourish, cultural exchanges never happened and the Egyptian government rode the tiger of a population that they could control but would not educate.

And now their "Israel-loving" President, his sons, and other senior regime figures are on trial for their lives and the population seethes with Islamist-sponsored hatred and cheers, once again, the burning of Israel's flag in Cairo.

Manufacturing Jobs in America

The first thought I had while listening to some recent American campaign speeches was "The American manufacturing know-how that built the mighty industrialized Capitalist American powerhouse was trumped by out-sourcing its manufacturing, so now they want to manufacture something new . . . jobs!!"

My second thought was "Hey, that would make a good cartoon!"

Harsh Truth (1977)

December 1, 1977

Today's cartoon is from 1977 and the harsh truth that shocked me thirty-four long years ago is still true.

In spite of the basic premise of American foreign policy, most of our neighbors don't want Peace with the Jewish State . . . and most U.S. policy makers still don't seem to get it.

Turkey Unmasked

About Turkish occupation of Armenian lands there's this current news item:

Armenians Press For Court Ruling Against Turkey in US

September 11, 2011

"US Armenians, pressing for a court decision against Turkey for violating the property rights of Ottoman Armenians during World War I, have complained that the Turkish government has ignored a lawsuit brought against Turkey in a Los Angeles court.

Plaintiffs argue that Turkey seized land belonging to their relatives when its owners fled Anatolia during what Armenians call a genocide campaign. The land in the southern province of Adana, which is now occupied by the İncirlik Air Base used by the US military, was then sold without the permission of the Armenian owners, according to the lawyers of the plaintiffs. The complaints target Turkey and two Turkish banks, the Central Bank of Turkey and Ziraat Bank.

Turkey had 60 day to answer the complaint, which expired on Aug. 19, 2011, but it has so far refused to answer. Lawyers for the plaintiffs announced that on Sept. 6 the Turkish government is in default for ignoring the lawsuit.

The default notice was entered on Sept. 1, 2011." -more

And the recent news about Turkey's disproportionate bombing response to Kurdish Freedom Fighters as reported by the BBC:

Turkey reports heavy PKK losses after week of bombing

Aug 23, 2011

"The Turkish army says it has killed up to 100 Kurdish rebels in a week of air and artillery strikes on suspected PKK bases in northern Iraq.

A statement on the army website said that, according to its estimates, between 90 and 100 were killed and more than 80 wounded.

The PKK has confirmed three deaths, while local reports say a family of seven were killed by the bombing.

Turkey began the strikes after deadly PKK attacks on its soldiers."-more

Turkey Boycott

The sudden anti-Israel tactics and threats by Turkey's Islamist government is certainly no joke. But I couldn't resist going for a laugh in today's cartoon.

Nu? So did I get a laugh out of you?

911 (2001)

September 14, 2001

Ten years have gone by since we in Israel were shocked by the unthinkable.

Turkey's Rage

When dealing with the anti-Israeli rage being whipped up in Turkey it would be wise to remember just exactly who the Turks are.

For those who don't know what the punchline of today's cartoon refers to:

"The Armenian Genocide was carried out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916 (with subsidiaries to 1922-23). One and a half million Armenians were killed, out of a total of two and a half million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
Most Armenians in America are children or grandchildren of the survivors, although there are still many survivors amongst us.

Armenians all over the world commemorate this great tragedy on April 24, because it was on that day in 1915 when 300 Armenian leaders, writers, thinkers and professionals in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were rounded up, deported and killed. Also on that day in Constantinople, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were butchered in the streets and in their homes.

The Armenian Genocide was masterminded by the Central Committee of the Young Turk Party (Committee for Union and Progress [Ittihad ve Terakki Cemiyet, in Turkish]) which was dominated by Mehmed Talât [Pasha], Ismail Enver [Pasha], and Ahmed Djemal [Pasha]. They were a racist group whose ideology was articulated by Zia Gökalp, Dr. Mehmed Nazim, and Dr. Behaeddin Shakir.

The Armenian Genocide was directed by a Special Organization (Teshkilati Mahsusa) set up by the Committee of Union and Progress, which created special "butcher battalions," made up of violent criminals released from prison.

Some righteous Ottoman officials such as Celal, governor of Aleppo; Mazhar, governor of Ankara; and Reshid, governor of Kastamonu, were dismissed for not complying with the extermination campaign. Any common Turks who protected Armenians were killed."-more

Greece and Turkey (1999)

Today's cartoon is from 1999. Back in 1999 the secular state of Turkey was an ally of Israel and was warming up to Greece. Now, in 2011, the big news is that an increasingly Islamist and belligerent Turkey is threatening Israel. The news that Turkey is threatening Cyprus about Oil drilling in the Mediterranean is under-reported.

There's this from the Cyprus Mail:

New Turkish threats over drilling

TURKEY’S EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis yesterday issued a number of threats at Cyprus in daily including one to send naval vessels to the drilling area.

Bagis was quoted in Zaman newspaper as saying that when explorations were made in the past, ships from the Turkish military fleet “were quick to make their way to the area”. -more

And could Turkey's political shift be pushing Greece and Israel together? According to an Armenian Source:

Israel, Greece sign MoU in security sector

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Greek Defense Minister Panos Beglitis and his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak, with whom he met in Jerusalem on Sunday, September 4 afternoon, starting his three-day official visit to Israel, signed a Cooperation Memorandum in the security sector, defencegreece.com reported.

“I come as my country’s Defense Minister to state our political will as a government, as well as the majority of the country’s political forces, for the two countries, the two governments, the two peoples, to work together so that we can further develop and deepen our bilateral relations in all sectors of mutual interest and concern,” Beglitis said.

This is the first visit by a Greek Defense minister to Israel and part of a cooperation memorandum agreed last year between Prime Minister George Papandreou and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while it is also taking place at a moment when Israel’s relations with Turkey are worsening, shaping new balance factors in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean." -more

Your thoughts?

Islamist Turkey

Get the full story from Barry Rubin who writes:

Two More Steps Toward Islamism

"In Washington DC they are still ridiculing the idea that Turkey’s government is Islamist, is working step by step to transform fundamentally that country’s state and society, or that it is closer to Tehran than to the United States nowadays or more friendly to Hamas and Hizballah than to Israel.

Yet anyone who actually talks to Turks or looks at daily life there—and that includes the U.S. embassy in Ankara—knew better.

First, a bombshell. No sooner have the heads of the armed forces resigned than the regime issues an arrest warrent for seven senior officers. The Turkish army is finished as a political force–partly thanks to the European Union insisting that it withdraw from a political role–while the courts are being neutralized and the media is being bought up. There is no institution left to prevent the current regime from Islamizing Turkey and fundamentally transforming its society." -more

the 2012 Campaign

The 2012 U.S. Presidential contest seems to have started

... and one issue is drowning out all the rest. Jobs.

Presidential Betrayal (1991)

Today's cartoon was drawn twenty years ago this week.

Back then, in 1991, it wasn't President Obama, the 44th President of the United States, who was betraying America's only real ally in the Middle East.

. . . back then it was George H. W. Bush, the 41st President.

Birds of a Feather?