1st of series: "judenraus"

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Introduction to series:
This is the first cartoon I did in a series that was essentially a response to an invitation to submit holocaust cartoons from President Ahmedinejad of Iran. Dismayed that the European/Islamic culture clashes over Danish Caricatures of the Prophet Muhamed were boiling down to anti-Jewish rhetoric, I set out to intrude upon the invitation and the cartoon form to show a perspective that might bring relief to others as frustrated myself.

The cartoon form, and specifically the political cartoon, has certain demanding parameters which I quickly found to be both a limit and a guide.

The rules are there are no rules but it helps to learn the rules.
I found these rules to be essential;

The cartoon must be honest, even if it is ignorant.
The cartoon should be ironic, but not smug.
The cartoon must fit in a box,
The cartoon should be interesting to look at.
The cartoon must be legible.

Hopefully it's self-explanatory. I can't even approach fairness, but maybe clarity is possible, bridge-building, healing?

I would be happy to receive your thoughts, as well as suggestions for clarifying these drawings or their explanations.

"judenraus":
The action taking place here is of a flashback to WWII Europe. Jews are being collected. Family members peer out of the window as soldiers abruptly interrupt their existence. There may be a habit of belief that a veil of protection surrounds them, particularly since they are still together. Here the curtain is almost drawn for the last moments of this hope. A practical man has made a hiding spot for himself. He says "I wish I were in a Muslim land". At that time there would have been no Irony in that statement. For the most part, throughout the history of Islam, Jews thrived and suffered in Muslim lands as their neighbors did. Class systems offered confinement but also protection and were by no means applied particularly to Jews. Current Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khameni said, while rebuking the Iranian president, that anti-Semitism was and continues to be a European problem and not a Muslim one. I feel this statement is also present in this cartoon. I hope my drawing is an olive branch and message to Muslims of our traditional mutual respect. For all the nuances of persecution and liberation in Christian and Muslim lands, systematic genocide was a European creation building to climax on a foundation of rooted and pervasive anti-Semitism. Such a foundation did not exist in Muslim lands before European culture collided with the Middle East in modern history (more on that later).

2nd of series: "nations and people"

See 1st of series for introduction.



Shalom Aleichem and Alekum Salaam are greetings in Hebrew and Arabic meaning "Peace be on you". Next to the hard lines of geopolitical realities, this drawing speaks to the rift that national identities have put between the two Semitic cultures of Arabs and Jews.

Modern historical traumas at the hands of Europeans and violent events between Arabs and Jews have been experienced so separately that their implications for the present and future are a matter of widely divergent perspectives. This separate experience is buttressed by guarded and closed borders and increasingly polarized views of ends and means.

Israel is made up largely of Jewish immigrant/refugees of European and Arab origin. Palestinian Israelis are a significant minority, integrated and segregated in the mode of other class oriented western democracies. Israeli society could potentially be culturally and economically available to Palestinians and Arabs at large (and vice versa), but for modern geopolitical events and pressures.

Arab traditional hospitality to the alien has been disrupted and Jewish social psychology is steeped in the debilitating "Masada Complex" (a sense of being constantly under siege), which Israelis have now successfully passed on to their Palestinian cousins. As seen in the "arab jewish timeline", this is a purely modern disconnect.

3rd of series: "arab jewish timeline"

see 1st for series introduction.



Read left to right. The timeline begins before the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad and ends in modern history. Continuing the themes of Muslim protection of Jews in "judenraus" and their common heritage in "nations and people", this drawing shows that a relative coexistence was the norm for Jews in Muslim lands and seeks to highlight an ebb and flow of culture and economy between Jews and Muslims that made such coexistence not only possible but vibrant and profitable.

It is difficult to resist being romantic in this drawing. The need to make a point, the desire to honor Muslims and limitations of space, make it difficult to spend any more space clarifying what this "protected status" really meant for Jews. You could say... it's relative (and I did). But actually, in the context of this series, it's black and white. In one place genocide is possible in the other, it is not.

Meanwhile certain realities and facts of history are quite romantic for Jews, like an environment so comfortable and respectful of learning that it yields and protects the Talmud and its' subsequent manifestations.

The information and movement of the drawing becomes muddled towards the right, which was difficult to avoid. This confusion reflects the complex differences of perspective surrounding modern Middle East history as well as my own inability to be step out of my Jewish Perspective.

Perhaps this drawing is most effective when placed next to the "christian jewish timeline". Notable in the Arab timeline is the lack of a centralized religious or political power over long periods of time. This in turn results in an absence of linear and singular themes of dogma. The presence of these very same things in Europe sets the stage for a rooted anti-Semitism that has the continuity it needs to build upon itself, even as Europeans later try to reverse it.

absor"p"tion? who knew.

4th of series: "christian jewish timeline"

see 1st for series introduction.



This was the most difficult drawing to render in this series. The "rules" mentioned in the introduction forced me to reconsider and redesign every aspect of this drawing many times. It is my hope that it succeeds in being plain. It should plainly say what is beautiful, truthful, ironic, and tragic about the common history of Christians and Jews.

This drawing succeeds where the "arab jewish timeline" has no need to; in creating a progression of events that become building blocks to a singular and tragic event. It is unfortunate to summarize something so complex so abruptly, but that is how the story went.

Reading left to right.

Around year 1 CE:
The loosely cohesive "nation" of Jews is broken by the Romans. Having been broken before and experienced an exodus to Babylon that resulted in the codification of the Torah (Bible) and a strong initiation of the Talmud (An elastic Commentary on the Bible and guide for Jewish ceremony), Jews are better prepared for their renewed status of immigrant/refugee as they emigrate en masse over a period of centuries.

1st Century CE:
Towards the end of this century, many Jews have heard about a Jewish rabbi of special quality named Jesus. There are many stories being told about this man and widely diverse points of view regarding his importance. A significant segment of Jews consider him to be a prophet at least and many of these come to believe that he is a Messiah, God or Son of God. Preachers of these ideas find ready audiences and safety in Mediterranean Jewish communities because; often they themselves are Jewish, they preach about a Jew and the basis for this quickly evolving theology was the Torah. For some generations during this crucial incubation period (6th in series, incubator event), Jews and Jewish devotees of Jesus live side by side.

1st through 4th Century:
Being a devotee of Jesus is a new faith with accessibility and significant meaning for non-Jews as well. Many such people develop their faith in close relationship with Jewish devotees, sharing cultural and economic resources and forming new communities. At various points, early devotees of Jesus, particularly Jewish devotees, find it necessary to stop emphasizing what they have in common with Judaism and begin emphasizing their differences. It is a fateful psychological shift that will loose ties and help them to better assimilate into their new identity as Christians. Jews who resist this movement, note the phenomenon and react protectively by ignoring (probably even prohibiting) the story of Jesus and diminishing its importance in their communities. In spite of mutual theological and even familial origins, these events solidify separateness as a staple of Christian/Jewish relationship and becomes an enabler of future mistrust and conflict.

5th Century and beyond:
Jews have migrated widely into lands that have now officially embraced Christianity. Theological exchange is possible between Jews and Christians, and even necessary, as nascent Christianity borrows directly from Jews and local cultures in order to develop it's own traditions. With the codification of the New Testament and empowerment of the Church, the passionate diversity of theology that marked early Christianity is narrowed and becomes more dogmatic. It is also more focused on maintaining it's power. It is politically important for Rome to emphasize the Jewish role in the death of Jesus, thereby minimizing its' own. This has the effect of overshadowing core Christian traditions which hold that the Passion of Christ was a divine plan and all players merely a backdrop for this precious sacrifice. This would eventually become the "blood libel", and a Christian justification for Jewish Persecution for the next 1500 years. Jewish minimization and outright rejection of "Christ their King" would also continue to be a source of friction, just as the progressive theologian Martin Luther would later turn from learning with Jews to railing against them in his last years because they would not "save themselves".

Meanwhile:
The experience of Jews in Europe is by no means singular. Safety, culture and prosperity are possible for moments that last longer than our current distance from the Holocaust. However, this is always precarious and applied by the will of their hosts. Both the church and secular powers were capable of being protectors and persecutors of Jews.

Layer builds upon layer:
Theological competition and notions like the "blood libel" become church institutions and form the first building block of an irreversible trend. Institutional anti-Semitism begets cultural anti-Semitism which in turn supports conditional changes like political and cultural oppression and violence, beginning in earnest with the Christian Crusades. This would continue in various forms until the European "age of enlightenment", which would inspire emancipation efforts. However, the traditions of cultural violence had become so rooted it would eventually erupt exponentially again in the form of the holocaust.

5th of series: "europe is burning"

see 1st for series introduction.

The action here represents both the French Arab class riots in France in the Fall of 2005 and Muslim protests over Danish cartoons that were offensive to Islam, which peaked in this year.

On the left, a rioter is engaging in destructive acts in his own community as his countryman (presumably also of Arab descent) is urging him to desist. It's an attempt to show the violence without generalizing it.

On the right, two French citizens are observing this and make their comments accordingly:

"I miss the Jews, they could handle a free oppression, I mean free press." This is not meant to be a comparison of Arab and Jewish methods of protest but a lament for the loss of European Jews, who were unable to mount an effective protest against their own oppression. Those conditions were often created in tandem with a European "Free Press" that fomented anti-Semitic sentiment for centuries. Here, "being able to handle it", is the oppressors point of view regarding the harassing conditions that Jews were afraid to protest publicly. This quiet fear fed the unchallenged oppressors view that such conditions were acceptable within their society.

"Why don't ghettos work anymore?" Again, I am drawing a comparison between Jewish and Arab conditions in Europe at different times. The reference to ghettoization and the sincere surprise that it is not a successful social structure, is of course the perspective of a dominant class that does not live in the ghetto. From that perspective, the ghetto has appeared to be successful (or at least ignorable) until modern televised protest events (and the sense of minority entitlement needed to have them) carried its concerns beyond its confines. These are developments that would come too late for Jews. Historically, ghettos have indeed been used by bishops and princes to protect vulnerable Jews by congregating them. The same structure however, could hide violence, suppress voices and limit inclusion.

"Let's look deep inside for the Jewish cause for all this." This is pretty smug of me. I suppose I couldn't help myself. After all, this series was inspired by the confusing way in which Muslim protests over Danish cartoons became a rallying cry for holocaust revisionists.

6th of series: "incubator event"

see 1st for series introduction.



I like the text here, but the drawing is very simple, so as not to stray from it's basic point. While Judaism's birthing of Christianity is to many a perfect moment of divine and earthly convergence, the descent of this "incubator event" finds mother and child in an insecure and destructive relationship that harms the development of both. It may seem simplistic, but the presence of direct lineage invites us to look at this in the context of developmental psychology.