Watching Israelis vote

Yesterday, on February 10th, legislative elections took place in Israel. Of course this topic is not only important in the news, but also for caricaturists. So let’s see what you find in the Arab media these days.

Already a few days ago you wouldn’t have had to be a soothsayer to predict that the elections would be connected to the war in Gaza. It seems that some caricaturists still have a bone to pick with the Israelis. In general, the elections are depicted as a threat towards any peace in the Middle East.

Like in this one here (Asharq al-Awsat, Feb 11th), entitled “Far right”:

On the big car it reads “elections” and you can see an Israeli flag on it. Recklessly it bumps the small car off the road and down the canyon. On the small car it reads “Peace missions”.

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Here too you can clearly see the connection between the war in Gaza and the elections. The votes are thrown off a warplane into the ballot box, which has written “Israeli elections” on it and is enthroned on the ruins of Gaza.

Al-Hayat, Feb 10th.

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This cartoon (Al-Quds al-Arabi, Feb 11th) shows the elections as the erection of a wall, clearly a sign of the wall between Israel and the Gaza strip.

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While two days earlier, the same newspaper depicted the “Israeli elections”, as it is written upon the guillotine, as the ultimate execution of peace.

Al-Quds al-Arabi, Feb 9th.

Doesn’t look too optimistic, does it?

Gunning for the IDF (4)

Depicting the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as a bunch of blood-thirsty madmen seems to be an important issue especially one day after the Israeli legislative election of Feb 10th 2009. Here is what appeared today (Feb 11th) in Al-Watan:

The different Palestinian groups are arm-wrestling with each other, while in the meantime a loony looking Israeli soldier uses their hands as a tripod for his assault rifle. Take a guess who he supposedly is firing at …

Gunning for the IDF (3)

The war in Gaza is over, but not the debate whether it was justified or not. In the Middle East, almost everyone sides with the Palestinians – at least verbally, since no one seems to be willing to give a real share of his flat to a Palestinian brother in faith. But at least in demonstrations and in the media, the Palestinians were not alone. Many Middle Easterners (and people worldwide) were enraged watching Israel bombarding Gaza. Such a tiny piece of land. They forgot, however, that Israel is also such a tiny piece of land, and for months Hamas had fired grenades at Israeli civilians. Which government in Cairo, Riyadh, Damascus or Ankara would have let this happen had its own population been attacked?

But Jews are considered to be the only real Christians, as someone has put it lately: Everyone expects them to suffer and to never shoot back. True, you might debate whether all military actions by Israel were justified, but the war against Hamas itself clearly was. Even if Al-Hayat doesn’t think so (Feb 1st):

How Gaza was won (an illustrated fairy tale)

It has been well over two weeks since the war in Gaza ended. Since then not only did Hamas simply continue firing grenades at Israel, but also various caricaturists handed in their latest political cartoons that came too late for war time.

It starts quite neat with this one here (Al-Ahram, Jan 20th), in which the average Arab spectator is shown as torn apart between the two giant Arab TV news channels, Al-Jazeera (right) and Al-Arabiya (left).

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While this cartoon (Al-Ahram, Jan 24th) is already of a different kind.

You might consider the snake either a venomous reptile or a terrorizing lindworm, in all cases it carries a huge Star of David on its body. The beast tries to swallow its prey but is unaware that in fact it’s a bomb which will blow up the snake. Since Israel (if not all Jews) is depicted as a poisonous reptile, it’s probably not wrong to call it antisemitic. But at least the drawer turned his own racist cartoon into a farce since he entitled the bomb as “Gaza resistance”. Well, if he depicts hiding behind children – what Hamas fighters did – as a bomb, who knows what he he had drawn, had Hamas really fought.

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One day later (Jan 25th) Al-Ahram presents this political cartoon:

The title reads: “The European concept of a blossoming and civilized democracy”. The murderous Israelis (according to Al-Ahram) are considered by the Europeans as victims, whereas women and children are called “killers”. Well, they are not. In Europe we have – besides a lot of antisemites – also many intelligent people who do not call innocent people killers. But we do call Hamas fighters murderers. And so the question remains: Why are they never depicted in any cartoons?

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Neither funny is this one here from Al-Quds al-Arabi (Jan 23rd):

The helpless Palestinian torn apart between his Arab brothers with their different opinions – while being tortured by the Israelis.

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If you ask for the reason why so many people in the Middle East – to say the least – dislike Israel, they will probably respond something that is similar to this cartoon (Al-Quds al-Arabi, Feb 2nd):

The Palestinians have no other option yada yada yada. Well, what about living a peaceful, productive life instead of joining militant groups such as Fatah, Hamas or Hizbollah and figuring out how to murder as many Israeli civilians as possible? It cannot be repeated often enough that most Palestians do not agree with these terror groups. Most Palestinians would love to find a compromise with Israel and then finally start a new life with a job, a family and some personal luxuries.

Instead it is not only terror groups or political demagogues who fuel the hatred against Israel but caricaturists as well.

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Al-Ahram, Jan 25th:

and the same newspaper on Jan 28th:

Beneath both, er, “caricatures”, it reads “No comment”. How true is that!

Roughed up

Remember the last cartoon yesterday? The pigeon of peace, which represents Mitchell, was about to face a tough fight with the bird of prey. Well, it seems, the big bully has won. The pigeon was found in intensive care – here is an exclusive picture found in Egypt’s Al-Ahram, Feb 1st:

Welcome, Mr President

It has been almost two weeks since the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama. Enough time for caricaturists to cast their dreams, hopes and fears into ink-blooded cartoons.

On Jan 22nd, Al-Ahram publishes this cartoon here entitled “Obama at his inauguration speech as American president”:

Obama ponders: “The crisis we are going through was caused by the disposal, greed and irresponsibility of a few.” The Palestinian woman says to her child: “Listen well, my son in the refuge camp… listen and take that advice.”

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Others see Obama facing a true avalanche of strategic and tactical considerations when it comes to install peace in the Middle East (Asharq al-Awsat, Jan 25th):

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Now that’s a good one. The black and the white Obama wrestling with each other (Al-Ahram, Jan 26th):

Carrying books entitled “American Policy” under their arms, the white Obama says: “A bit tough?”, whereupon the black one replies: “But always darn sweet.”

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Al-Hayat on Jan 28th:

On the briefcase it’s written: “Obama’s emissary to the Middle East”. Yet at the border of the Middle East there is already a bird of prey waiting for that faint pigeon.

As much as I like this one, how close is it to reality? Will there be peace just because Mr Obama wants his fair share of future recognition? The organizers of all these peace camps and whatsoever might have the right intention, but they lack a realistic picture of the Middle East. Talking about Israel, the West and the Islamic world have a totally different picture in mind. In the West, people tend to think that all the Israelis have to do is to give back the Gaza strip to the Palestinians – what they have already done! – and there will be peace.

In the Middle East, however, most people have a totally different point of view. Many consider Israel not a country but a barb that has to be removed. Some, like Iran’s Ahmedinedjad, utter this idea frankly and receive little criticism internationally. The problem is that this whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be solved if the following points are met:
1) Terrorists groups have to be labelled terrorist groups – and not freedom fighters. Of course they have to be wiped out.
2) Those who go public with their opinion (like journalists, caricaturists and so on) have to stop demonizing Israel.
3) The many antisemites in the West, who like to “criticize” Israel but never lose a word on, say, Congo, have to shut up.

As one can see, these points are totally unrealistic. The wish for the extermination of Israel will live on and the organizers of “peace camps” and other inefficient rigmaroles will have many more opportunities to earn their bread and butter.

“Use ‘funny’ caricatures for the effective bad-mouthing of Israel”

At the end of the Gaza war, Israel used phosphor bombs for fighting against Hamas, which led to death and injuries among many civilians as well. Probably none of us is a military expert, and one can only guess why the Israel armed forces decided to use such a dangerous and lethal weapon. The reason that the IDF had to attack Gaza, a densly populated region, was, however, not to murder civilians but to finish off this nasty terrorist gang called Hamas. Once the Israelis attacked Hamas, there was turmoil in the streets world wide. You wouldn’t hear of any demonstrations if there is a civil war going on in Angola or Ruanda attacking Congo. But let Israel defend its civil population against a terrorist group, and immidiately streets are packed with Nazis, antisemites of leftist background and Muslim activists who would never outspeak against the gang bang of a girl in Pakistan, but who are immidiately “provoked” by the IDF defending the only democracy in the Middle East.

It is thus no wonder to stumble across the following cartoon, which displays Israelis as so heartless and wicked that they, according to the caricaturist, kill Palestinians like flies or cockroaches. It seems, the only wicked guy in this case is the one who drew this picture (Al-Ahram, Jan 17th):

The title says: “Israel attacks the population of Gaza with phosphor bombs that are outlawed internationally.” Besides the picture a kind of instructions reads: “Use ‘Phosphosol’ for the effective extermination of human beings”.

The question remains: Why did the Hamas fighters – if they are so brave and self-sacrificing – hide behind Palestinian civilians? Anybody answer that?