Fighting Back?

According to the Straits Times:

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) - A Pakistani Christian man has been sentenced to death for blasphemy after he sent a Muslim friend a poem on WhatsApp that insulted Islam, a lawyer said on Friday (Sept 15). Nadeem James was charged in July last year after his Muslim friend Yasir Bashir complained to police that he received a poem on the messaging app that was derogatory towards the Prophet Mohammed and other holy figures. "James was handed a death sentence by the court on Thursday on blasphemy charges," defence lawyer Anjum Wakeel said.

"My client will appeal the sentence in the high court as he has been framed by his friend, who was annoyed over James' affair with a Muslim girl," Mr Wakeel said. He said the trial was held inside a prison due to security reasons after local Muslim clerics had threatened James and his family. Court officials confirmed the sentence.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir beatings and mob violence. In 2014, a Christian couple were lynched then burnt in a kiln in Punjab province after being falsely accused of desecrating the Quran. Rights groups have said the laws are routinely abused to seek vengeance.

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Dry Bones has been fighting back against the anti-Christian and antisemitic horrors since I started drawing it back in 1973!

Now I've put together an anthology of the best of the Dry Bones Fights Back cartoons. The book is on sale at Amazon http://amazon.com/author/kirschen where, in addition to the (over sized) anthology there's a Kindle copy (and a bookshelf of other Dry Bones books). And if you buy a copy PLEASE leave a review. It would be really helpful.

Hallelujah!

According to The Jerusalem Post:

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa has denounced the Arab boycott of Israel and said his subjects are free to visit the Jewish state. The statement by the head of the Persian Gulf country, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, was revealed at a multi-national event last week in Los Angeles, hosted by the city's Simon Wiesenthal Center.

At the event, Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, who head the Wiesenthal Center, revealed the king's pronouncements made to them during their visit to Manama, Bahrain's capital city, in early 2017.

A walk through the city, at that time was an eye-opener, Cooper said. There was a church, with a huge cross, next to a Hindu temple, and 90 meters on an impressive mosque. Even a small synagogue, the only one in the Persian Gulf region, still stands in an older part of the city.

* * * For info on how to make a Rosh Hashana donation to Dry Bones click on http://mrdrybones.com/donate.html

You might also want a copy of Trees, The Green Testament at http://amazon.com/author/kirschen or you might want to order a copy directly from us for me to autograph and for the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) to then shlep to the post office to mail to you. http://store.drybones.com/

And if you're a fan, please do consider making a donation to Dry Bones.

Shana Tova

Please forgive me for asking for a New Year gift. I really need your support. For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on http://mrdrybones.com/donate.html

You might also want a copy of Trees, The Green Testament at http://amazon.com/author/kirschen or you might want to order a copy directly from us for me to autograph and for the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) to then shlep to the post office to mail to you. http://store.drybones.com/

And if you're a fan, please do consider making a donation to Dry Bones.

Yaakov Kirschen

A Rosh Hashana Gift

Please forgive me for asking for a Rosh Hashana gift. I need your support. For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on http://mrdrybones.com/donate.html

You might also want a copy of Trees, The Green Testament at http://amazon.com/author/kirschen or you might want to order a copy directly from us for me to autograph and for the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) to then shlep to the post office to mail to you. http://store.drybones.com/

And if you're a fan, please do consider making a donation to Dry Bones.

Yaakov Kirschen

Returning the Treasures to the Looters who Stole it.

Over several decades, successive regimes in Iraq systematically destroyed the country’s 2,500-year-old Jewish community and seized its property, down to the last ancient prayer book and Torah scroll.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein kept it all in the basement of his secret police headquarters. Until the U.S. invasion the material which included thousands of documents, artifacts and everything from Jewish day school records to rare editions of the Talmud moldered away.

In May 2003, 16 American soldiers searching for biological and chemical weapons entered the building, and there in the basement, in four feet of water, they found the waterlogged treasures of the destroyed Jewish community.

The State Department has now announced that the stolen Jewish property will be "returned" to the Iranian puppet regime in Baghdad in September 2018.

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For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on http://mrdrybones.com/donate.html

You might also want a copy of Trees, The Green Testament at http://amazon.com/author/kirschen or you might want to order a copy directly from us for me to autograph and for the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) to then shlep to the post office to mail to you. http://store.drybones.com/

And if you're a fan, please do consider making a donation to Dry Bones.

Hurricane

Today's cartoon is an outreach to the communities being hit by terrible destructive hurricanes. When I was a young art student I was taken with the mastery of the Japanese artist Hokusai and this is sort of an homage to him.

The years have slipped by and I am no longer a "young art student."

I'm now an old newspaper cartoonist (in a post-newspaper age) about to celebrate his 80th birthday (March 8).

I'm not starving in a garret, I'm living in a rambling old house in Israel with my LSW (Long Suffering Wife). If you are a fan of Dry Bones it would be great if you could/would make a donation to keep us going. http://mrdrybones.com/donate.html

and, of course, perhaps buy a copy of my graphic novel Trees, The Green Testament. Get yours at http://amazon.com/author/kirschen or order a copy directly from me for me to autograph and for my LSW to mail to you from our local Post Office. http://store.drybones.com/

It makes a wonderful gift and comes with our love and best wishes in this time of wonderful miracles and terrible stress.

Dreams

One of the "dreams" I left out of the cartoon is our dreaming of your support. For info on how to make a donation to Dry Bones click on http://mrdrybones.com/donate.html

You might also want a copy of Trees, The Green Testament at http://amazon.com/author/kirschen or you might want to order a copy directly from us for me to autograph and for the LSW (Long Suffering Wife) to then shlep to the post office to mail to you. http://store.drybones.com/

And if you're a fan, please do consider making a donation to Dry Bones.