Zuckerberg

Yikes!
Baby-faced Mark Zuckerberg sold out!
Facebook falters.
* * *
We have not "sold out."
That's why we need your help.
Please consider making a donation to the Dry Bones Project so that we can continue doing our cartoons.
Check out how by clicking on drybonesproject.com/365

Enter John Bolton

Trump’s Bolton-appointment signals curtains for Abbas and PLO

 By 

 David Singer 

President Trump’s appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser flags the possibility that the centerpiece of Trump’s eagerly-awaited “ultimate deal” could involve the subdivision of Judea and Samaria (“the West Bank”) and Gaza between Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Such tripartite negotiations would replace the stale-mated Israeli-Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiations – begun in 1993 until suspended in 2014 following a PLO walk-out – at the stage where:
1. The PLO was demanding a new Palestinian Arab State with Jerusalem as its capital in 100% of the West Bank and Gaza (“disputed territories”) for the first time in recorded history – which was unacceptable to Israel.
 2. Offers by Israel in 2000/2001 and 2007 to cede its claims to sovereignty in about 95% of the disputed territories had been rejected by the PLO.
 3. The 1993 Oslo Accords had seen the West Bank divided into three Areas - “A”, “B’ and “C”: • “A” (18%) - under total PLO administrative and security control. • “B” (22%) - under total PLO administrative control and joint Israel-PLO security control • “C” (60%) - under total Israeli administrative and security control
 4. Israel and the PLO had been negotiating the final status of the disputed territories under President Bush’s 2003 Roadmap - endorsed by the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. President Bush had given Israel written commitments on 14 April 2004 – overwhelmingly endorsed by the US Congress - to support Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza – which Israel honored in 2005. America committed it would not expect Israel to withdraw from 100% of the disputed territories. 5. Hamas had governed Gaza since 2007 –as Egypt had between 1948 and 1967.

Abbas and the PLO have recently:
1. Rejected considering any future Trump proposals following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
2. Declared the Oslo Accords “dead”.

Enter Trump-appointee John Bolton into this Israel-PLO standoff – as President Trump ponders how to fill this negotiating void. Bolton has an answer - provided with amazing prescience on 5 January 2009 in his Washington Post article headlined “The Three-State Solution”: “Let's start by recognizing that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO has failed and that any two-state solution based on the PA is stillborn. Hamas has killed the idea, and even the Holy Land is good for only one resurrection. Instead, we should look to a "three-state" approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty. Among many anomalies, today's conflict lies within the boundaries of three states nominally at peace. Having the two Arab states re-extend their prior political authority is an authentic way to extend the zone of peace and, more important, build on governments that are providing peace and stability in their own countries. "International observers" or the like cannot come close to what is necessary; we need real states with real security forces.” Bolton still retains these views – telling Eric Shawn on 21 January 2018: “I hope at some point the Administration recognizes and perhaps it is already quietly – that the two-state solution isn’t going anywhere. If anything I would say to King Abdullah of Jordan – “Be prepared to reassert Jordanian sovereignty over part of the West Bank – negotiate with Israel”. I think that’s a far better outcome than the continued pursuit of a mythical – I believe – unattainable viable Palestinian state” Saudi Arabia’s backing can be anticipated. Bolton’s appointment is shaping up as yet another Trump-inspired circuit breaker. Trump’s decision to accept Bolton’s advice would spell curtains for Abbas and the PLO and give Trump the momentum he needs to get meaningful Israel-Arab negotiations started.
 [Author’s note: The cartoon - commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"- one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators - whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades]

The Jews of Europe

It's Passover 2018 and we await the ingathering of our brothers and sisters from an increasingly hostile Europe!
* * *

Here's a picture of the Official (and beautiful) Dry Bones Commemorative Jerusalem Mug.
It marks both the 70th year of the State of Israel's independence and the recognition of Jerusalem as our Eternal Capital City.

$15.39 gets you this 11 Oz Dry Bones Commemorative Mug
Click for a larger (15 Oz) mug priced at $19.95

He Figured It Out!

It's taken Mr. Shuldig a lifetime to figure it out!
* * *
You don't have a lifetime to figure THIS ONE out.
It's the Official Dry Bones Commemorative Jerusalem Mug,
and you'd be foolish to miss the opportunity to buy one now!

$15.39 gets you this 11 Oz Dry Bones Commemorative Mug
Click for a larger (15 Oz) mug priced at $19.95

Jerusalem Mug

Super Special, Once in a Lifetime. We're offering collectible Dry Bones commemorative mugs to mark the declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's Eternal Capital City on Israel's 70th Independence Day! The kind of mug you can show off if the Antiques Road Show comes to your town.  They cost $15.39 each. They are large (11 Oz) ceramic mugs with big, comfortable easy-grip handles. The mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe. If you don't get one now, you'll be kicking yourself for years to come.

To see the other side of the mug (or perhaps buy one) just click on the photo.

$15.39 gets you this Dry Bones Commemorative Mug
Click for a larger (15 Oz) mug priced at $19.95

Taking the High Road

Trump takes high road as Abbas, PLO and Hamas implode

By David Singer:

President Trump’s soon-to-be released “ultimate deal” - aimed at resolving the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict – seems set to see Trump not offering the PLO a seat at the negotiating table with Israel.

This possibility follows two extraordinary outbursts by PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas:

·         ending any prospects of reconciliation between Hamas and the PLO and

·         disparaging US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman - whom Abbas called “son of a dog”

The wheels fell off at a leadership meeting in Ramallah on 19 March when Abbas accused Hamas of being responsible for the assassination attempt against Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and chief of intelligence Majid Faraj in Gaza the previous week.

Abbas said he had to take action against Hamas - which rules Gaza and refuses to allow the PLO to govern there.

"I have decided to take national, legal and financial measures to protect out national project. We never thought of punishing any Palestinian citizen, not in the West Bank or Gaza. But we have to say where the wrong is and where the crime is. This situation is not acceptable."

Abbas accused Hamas of sabotaging all efforts for reconciliation - saying that either the Palestinian government takes full charge of everything in Gaza or the de facto authority (Hamas) remains fully responsible for it:

"We did all we can to make the reconciliation a success, but, unfortunately, the result for empowering the government was zero. We have been working hard for six months and got nothing, not the government, not the crossings, not security, nothing. It's all hypocrisy. They don't want reconciliation … There aren't two sides to the division, rather only one side that is consolidating it and enforces an illegal de facto situation"

Abbas said he would not wait for Hamas' investigation into the assassination attempt "because we know that they, Hamas, are behind it" - adding that assassinations are not new to Hamas whose history is full of similar acts - warning that the attempt will not go without reaction.

This latest bout of in-fighting between the PLO and Hamas highlights the bitter internecine conflict they have engaged in since 2007 for control of the hearts and minds of the Gazan and West Bank Arab populations. It underscores the continuing refusal of Hamas and the PLO to give these long-suffering populations any say in their own future for the last 11 years. It haunts the utter inability of the PLO to conclude a peace agreement with Israel after negotiations spanning the last 25 years.

Free and fair elections in Gaza and the West Bank are long overdue. Yet not a word is heard from the United Nations or the European Union calling on Hamas and the PLO to replace bullets with ballots.

America recognises Hamas as a terrorist organisation and now appears to have no option but to conclude that the PLO cannot play any constructive role in resolving sovereignty in Gaza and the West Bank whilst it lacks the political power to make decisions regarding both.

Trump’s recently-assembled coalition comprising Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, and Oman offers hope that Trump’s proposals might be ultimately translated into a binding Arab-Jewish peace treaty - with Arab recognition finally of the Jewish State 70 years after its establishment.

Trump will not take kindly to Abbas’s personal denigration of Ambassador Friedman. Trump should not be surprised if he, UN Ambassador Haley and Trump’s Middle East envoys Kushner and Greenblatt are soon on the receiving end of similar epithets.

Trump is taking the high road to possible peace - Abbas the low road to political irrelevance.

No Bread Exodus

* * *
Dry Bones books (including our Haggadah): http://store.drybones.com
Or, if you are in Israel buy the Haggadah directly from publisher at: https://www.korenpub.com/koren_en_ils/koren/holidays/pesah/the-dry-bones-passover-haggadah.html

For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on drybonesproject.com/365

Heshvan or Nisan?

Aliyah Day. Is it Heshvan or Nisan? March or October? Please excuse the confusion. Yom HaAliyah is celebrated on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan and ALSO (apparently) on the seventh of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, to commemorate the Biblical account of the Israelites entering the Land of Israel!
It's the kind of confusion and necessary disagreement that we locals are used to. * * * The LSW (Long Suffering Wife) and I LOVE living in Israel and turning out Dry Bones cartoons to defend our maligned little country. But we do this work out of our empty pockets. This means that we are forced to ask fans and followers for help.
To find out how to help us, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365
We both can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and support.
For a Dry Bones Haggadah, Trees. . . The Green Testament, A Plague of Frogs, and other Dry Bones books go to store.drybones.com

A New Jewish Holiday?!

A New Jewish Holiday!!
Aliyah Day is celebrated on the 7th day of the Hebrew month of Heshvan. This year that will be March 26. The holiday honors the contributions that newcomers have made to the Jewish State. Happy Aliyah Day!! * * * The LSW (Long Suffering Wife) and I LOVE living in Israel and turning out Dry Bones cartoons to defend our maligned little country. But we do this work out of our empty pockets. This means that we are forced to ask fans and followers for help.
To find out how to help us, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365
We both can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and support.
For a Dry Bones Haggadah, Trees. . . The Green Testament, A Plague of Frogs, and other Dry Bones books go to store.drybones.com

Car Ramming

My reaction to the latest car ramming is an attempt to squeeze a laugh out of you.
Palestinian Arab car ramming and other forms of terror attacks will not drive us from our homeland. They have lost all sense of morality. We will NOT be terrorized! * * * On this, one week after my 80th birthday, I and my LSW (Long Suffering Wife) ask for your support. To find out how to help, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365
I can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and contributions.
For a Dry Bones Haggadah, Trees. . . The Green Testament, A Plague of Frogs, and other Dry Bones books go to store.drybones.com

Pre-Passover Cravings

It happens every year, just before Passover. I get hit with Pre Pessach cravings!!
It drives the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) crazy. * * * Another thing that drives the LSW crazy is that she's married to a newspaper cartoonist and we're living in the post-newspaper era!
This means that we've got to ask fans and followers for the help we need to carry on the good fight.
To find out how to help us, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365
I can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and support.
For a Dry Bones Haggadah, Trees. . . The Green Testament, A Plague of Frogs, and other Dry Bones books go to store.drybones.com

Terrorist Infighting

Rumor has it that representatives of Israel and her Arab neighbors are meeting in Washington.
The PLO and HAMAS, the terrorist organizations that control the Arabs of Gaza, Judea and Samaria are being left out of negotiations and are now at each others throats. * * * On this, my 80th birthday, I, and the LSW, reach out to you, our fans and followers for the help we need to carry on in what may be the dawn of a radically changed Middle East.
To find out how to help, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365
I can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and support.
For a Dry Bones Haggadah, Trees. . . The Green Testament, A Plague of Frogs, and other Dry Bones books go to store.drybones.com

Our Haggadah

The Dry Bones Passover Haggadah
By Yaakov Kirschen
Menorah Books, 2018

Reviewed by Rabbi Jack Abramowitz

Some people accumulate haggadot the way that others accumulate social media “likes.” Every year brings a new stack of haggadot, replete with profound new insights to recite at the Seder. This is not one of those haggadot. The Dry Bones Passover Haggadah has nary a footnote or commentary to be found. At least not in the traditional sense.

Yaakov Kirschen may not be a household name but I’d bet that virtually every reader of Jewish Action is familiar with his comic strip, Dry Bones. Through his strip, named for the valley of dry bones that were subsequently revived in Ezekiel chapter 37, Kirschen has been offering chuckle-inducing commentary on Israeli politics for four and a half decades. Here, he brings his trademark wit and insight to the Passover haggadah. Instead of commentary from a new crop of Torah scholars, The Dry Bones Passover Haggadah features colorful and engaging cartoon illustrations and a variety of haggadah-themed comic strips.

The layout of the text is free-flowing and easy on the eyes, with matching Hebrew and English phrases juxtaposed for easy cross-reference. The English translation is engaging and reader-friendly; it also reflects modern sensibilities. For example, the “four sons” are “four children” – an increasingly-popular translation that is equally supported by the original Hebrew text. The “rasha” (“evil” child), however, is rendered as “contrary,” a translation that is, shall we say, generous to rasha’im. This generosity is not glossed over; the change in sensibilities is acknowledged by an accompanying comic strip. A little boy tells a little girl that “Grandpa says that back in ‘his day’ it wasn’t the four ‘children,’ it was the four ‘sons’…and the second one was ‘wicked’….” (We won’t give away the punchline here!)

There are bound to be any number of people around the Seder table for whom The Dry Bones Passover Haggadah would be perfect – including, but not limited to, children, people not thoroughly proficient in Hebrew, and family members who may have shorter attention spans. But these aren’t the only ones likely to enjoy it. Even those who thrive on annual stacks of profound new haggadot will enjoy Kirschen’s humorous observations and asides. As with his newspaper feature, these comic strips may tease the Jewish people for our foibles but they are always loving and respectful of Jewish tradition. As far as haggadot go, this one has all the fundamentals. It may not have as much profundity as some others but it definitely has much more fun .* * *
Dry Bones books (including our Haggadah): http://store.drybones.com
Or, if you are in Israel buy the Haggadah directly from publisher at: https://www.korenpub.com/koren_en_ils/koren/holidays/pesah/the-dry-bones-passover-haggadah.html
For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on drybonesproject.com/365

Peace With Saudi Arabia ?

According to CNN:

Air India is launching a new flight from New Delhi to Tel Aviv, starting on March 22, and has been given permission to use the skies over Saudi Arabia, an Air India spokesperson told CNN.
Israel and Saudi Arabia have never had official diplomatic relations, and interactions between their governments have taken place only through back channels.
But the historic animosity has given way to cautious, if often denied, cooperation based on a shared enmity towards Iran.
The permission for Air India to fly over Saudi Arabia will likely be seen as a major breakthrough, cutting hours off direct flights between India and Israel.

* * *
Dry Bones books (including our Haggadah): http://store.drybones.com
Or, if you are in Israel buy the Haggadah directly from publisher at: https://www.korenpub.com/koren_en_ils/koren/holidays/pesah/the-dry-bones-passover-haggadah.html

For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on drybonesproject.com/365

Set Him Free!

On this, my 80th birthday, I, and the LSW, reach out to you, our fans and followers for the help we need to carry on the good fight.

To find out how to help, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365

I can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and support.
For a Dry Bones Haggadah, Trees. . . The Green Testament, A Plague of Frogs, and other Dry Bones books go to store.drybones.com

My Birthday Wish

On this, my 80th birthday, I, and the LSW, reach out to you, our fans and followers for the help we need to carry on the good fight.

To find out how to help, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365

I can assure those who are answering our call that we are grateful for your love and support.

It's My Birthday!

Until his passing in 2012, a philanthropist friend provided Dry Bones with a monthly grant of $4,000.
He supported us because he understood the importance of Dry Bones cartoons. Five years have now gone by and although we have had great success in expanding our reach and increasing our impact, we have not been successful in finding the sponsorship to cover our expenses.

Our few "angels" can be counted on the fingers of one hand. You know who you are. If you are one of those backers, the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) and I are eternally grateful.

On this, my 80th birthday, I, and the LSW, reach out to you, our fans and followers for the help we need to carry on the good fight.

To find out how to help, please go to http://drybonesproject.com/365

FARRAKHAN

In a recent speech in Chicago: Speaking to thousands of followers, Farrakhan railed against the US Jewish community’s supposed influence over the media, an antisemitic trope that has long been a popular talking point for the black nationalist leader. In one part of the address, Farrakhan said that the “Jews were responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out turning men into women and women into men.”

“White folks are going down. And Satan is going down. And Farrakhan, by God’s grace, has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew and I’m here to say your time is up, your world is through,” Farrakhan added.

Other notable remarks made by Farrakhan during the his speech in Chicago included the notion that Jews are part of “the Synagogue of Satan”; that the “white people running Mexico” are Mexican-Jews; that Jews control various countries including Ukraine, France, Poland and Germany where they take advantage of the money, the culture and the business; that Jesus called Jews “the children of the devil”; and “when you want something in this world, the Jew holds the door.”

He also claimed that Jews control the US government and the FBI and use marijuana to feminize black men.-more

* * *
Get your copy of Trees, The Green Testament at http://store.drybones.com
For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on drybonesproject.com/365

Passover Frogs

The Plague of Frogs and the Dry Bones Passover Haggadah are both available from Amazon and can be seen at http://www.Amazon.com/author/kirschen

and for those in the UK or Israel:

http://www.bit.ly/drybonesbooks

A Plague of Frogs for your Seder Table

The Build-a-Frog Activity Book a Natural Companion to Dry Bones Passover Haggadah Published by Koren Publishers

Dry Bones cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen’s latest book is sure to delight his many fans. It is titled “a Plague of Frogs” and is an activity book of colorful paper models of frogs to cut out and put together. Beyond origami, children and adults can enjoy this creative Passover experience together. The frogs can decorate Passover Seder tables or be used as name place settings. This charming book makes a lovely companion piece to the popular Dry Bones Passover Haggadah.

Each of the twenty models in this book accurately shows the colors and patterns of different species of frogs. Three color-it-yourself models round out the fun and educational experience.

Passover celebrates the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Bible and the Passover Haggadah describe ten great plagues that struck Egypt and finally convinced Pharaoh to “let our people go”.

 The second of those ten plagues was a plague of frogs. Most people think that frogs are green, but as Kirschen points out “frogs are found in an amazing number of colors; red, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and more. Some have smooth skin, some bumpy, some are one solid color, others have crazy patterns of contrasting colors.”

Explaining the origin of this new Passover treat, Kirschen says “Whenever I think of the plague of frogs I imagine the land of Egypt being overrun with hundreds of different types of frogs. In my mind I picture frogs from all over the world, pouring into Pharaoh’s kingdom in huge colorful, swarming crowds. It was this vision that gave birth to this book and to its selection of frogs from around the world.”

Both the “Dry Bones Passover Haggadah” and the new “Plague of Frogs” activity book are designed to add to the traditional and full Seder experience by making it more entertaining and enjoyable for all.

The Plague of Frogs and the Dry Bones Passover Haggadah are both available from Amazon and can be seen at http://www.Amazon.com/author/kirschen

and for those in the UK or Israel:

http://www.bit.ly/drybonesbooks

About Yaakov Kirschen:

Brooklyn born (in 1938) cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen is a member of both America's National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society. He moved to Israel in 1971 and has been writing and drawing his much loved and award-winning Dry Bones cartoons without a break since it first appeared in the Jerusalem Post in January of 1973. His cartoons have been reprinted in the New York Times, Time magazine, the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and other major mainstream media publications.

His Dry Bones Passover Haggadah has become a classic.

Contact us for High resolution photos and illustrations

saliariel@yahoo.com