I recently drew this cartoon about the “Gaza Missile Defense System” which got 3,044 shares on my Facebook page – that’s a lot of shares for one of my cartoons. I guess it struck a nerve.
In general, American cartoons are supportive of the Israeli side and international cartoons are supportive of the Palestinian side in the conflict, with some of the foreign cartoons getting pretty anti-Semitic. The theme of Hamas hiding behind babies has been popular among the American cartoonists, with a grand Yahtzee of babies tied to missiles and babies as suicide belts. Here’s one by Randy Bish.
Here’s one I drew years ago when Israel was fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon …
(My color was pretty lousy in those days, I know.) The baby-belt theme has been big.
I thought this anti-Israel cartoon (right) by Malcolm Evans in New Zealand was powerful – it brings up the “Jews Killing Babies” anti-Semitic theme in cartoons that has a rich history so it is something that I would have stayed away from, that said, the current circumstances are bringing out a lot of classic, anti-semetic cartoon themes with the international cartoonists.
Among the anti-Israel international cartoons, I thought this David and Goliath cartoon by Mexican cartoonist Dario Castillejos, was a nice, fresh take.
The theme of a ruined Gaza declaring victory over Israel is another Yahtzee. Here’s one by my buddy Bruce Plante …
And here’s a stylish match from Arend Van Dam …
I like how the debris is arranged to have little, equi-distant margins around each little piece.
I can see the reader fatigue about Israel vs the Palestinians. Most readers prefer celebrity cartoons. When the news turns to international events, most of the cartoon fans turn off – frustrating for the cartoonists who want to draw about “important issues.” I can tell our traffic will be up with the news is about entertainment or sports. The more turmoil we have in the Middle East, the worse our traffic gets. Oy. But don’t miss our great, and little seen, collection of cartoons about the latest Israel/Palestinian flare-up.
