Shades of the Enclosures Act.

In this case I really appreciate it, because of how many cartoons that show Israel doing something self-destructive (like this) show a hideous version of Arik Sharon or something else that looks anti-Semitic. (Mark Fiore even gave the Israeli soldiers in one cartoon silly noses–though admittedly he also stereotyped the Palestinians–though that really didn’t make me feel better at all…)I think it’s important to be able to criticize what Israel is doing without drawing on these heinous stereotypes.

You also draw people with realer-looking bodies and hair, and your fat people are cute and attractive-looking. Makes it fun to read your cartoons.

As a side note, do “facts on the ground” really matter that much? If I’m not mistaken, Israel had an extensive system of settlements on the Sinai peninsula, but was able to dismantle them when it returned that land to Egypt.

RA and anonymous, thanks for your compliments regarding my drawing. I’m really not into the entire “ugly people are evil” subtext that you do see in a lot of political cartoons, and I’m glad you agree.

On the other hand, for single-image cartoonists - who have less space than I do to let the script indicate to the reader who is being talked about - I can see the advantage of a visual icon that instantly says “Israel.” But those cartoons anonymous points to cross WAY over the line into blatant anti-Semitism.

In this one, please draw a Hamas terrorist blowing up a bus full of people, shooting and killing a little girl riding in a car, and blowing up a 60 year old shopkeeper with three kids.

And then you can have him say, “Okay, NOW I’m ready to talk about a possible ceasefire.”

Then you can put the two cartoons side by side, and ask which one is more morally foul and horrible, building a wall, or murdering people.

Or have I missed something?

But really - I do wonder what Abbas (who has no police or military force) can do to satisfy those who hold him accountable for terrorist attacks carried out by various groups that are not the PA.

And they should trust Abbas to do this because…?

I’ve never understood the implicit logic of comments like yours: Is pointing out that Hamas is scum (and of course, Hamas is scum) somehow an excuse for land-grabbing? Does the fact that the Israeli goverment isn’t the most horrible entity in the world (and it’s not, not by a long shot) make whatever wrongs Israel does commit okay?

Jake, Hamas is currently in negotiations for a cease-fire, which is different from the “road map” negotiations which get more press play.

The thing is, I don’t see the Wall cartoon as funny, either.

Remember - no attacks, no wall. And no messy assassinations, road blocks, curfews either.

I also don’t think that it is possible to consider Hamas as being entirely separate from the palestinian people as a whole. They have considerable support among the general community, and we are told that a majority of palestinians support their campaign of murder inside Israel itself. Perhaps this justifies snipping pieces off their prospective state. After all, there is nothing sacred about the Green Line - it was merely the cease-fire line after the first Arab-Israeli war.

I am equally unimpressed by the arguments that Abbas isn’t suppressing Hamas because he hasn’t the military force to do so. He has himself already stated that he wouldn’t use force to stop Hamas. Nor has he employed any of the non-military means at his disposal, such as stopping incitement against Israelis in the media organs under his control.

– No, but the criticism of Israel’s actions seems to be in a vacuum in which you don’t seem to understand that these often unpleasant actions are taken in order to prevent this scum from killing people — NOT in order to land-grab, and not as some kind of revenge. The wall is a security wall, and the reason that it is encroaching into the West Bank is to protect more human beings - who live in settlements. I, like you, don’t agree with where it’s being built, but I understand that the reason is to save more lives and not to “land-grab.”

You ask: Does the fact that the Israeli goverment isn’t the most horrible entity in the world (and it’s not, not by a long shot) make whatever wrongs Israel does commit okay?

No, but it is upsetting when Israel’s actions are criticized as if they are occuring in a vacuum and not in a situation where Israel’s citizens are being attacked and killed every day. I have to admit, it irks me when I see blogs that don’t even acknowledge attack after attack after attack on Israelis, and then devote post after post to what happened to Rachel Corrie or to Rantisi or to curfews or to the Wall.

I deeply dislike knee-jerk reactions and un-thought-out stances when they come from the left or the right. As someone who has always identified as a left-wing Democrat, I guess I expect it more from the right, and am more perturbed and insulted when I find it on the left. I’m finding it more and more.

Waste of time arguing with such people, however polite and sincere they may be.