Left-wing Israeli artist banned from Canadian convention because of her military service
The Canadian Jewish News reports artist Miriam Libicki was banned from the Vancouver Comics Arts Festival because she'd served in the IDF, her apparent left-wing positions notwithstanding, and it turns out the festival's organizers themselves side with the pro-palestine propaganda viewpoint:
Back on the convention itself, the directors themselves sure sold out to sources whom one could say engaged in what's called tortious interference:
This case should also serve as a warning what could happen in the USA if conventions are left unchecked, the Eisner awards included (and they have been going downhill already for goodness knows how long). For all we know, even USA comicons run by bad apples could end up shunning Jewish creators from past to present, all for the sake of barbaric ideologues who never contributed anything positive to the art form. I don't know what other kind of medium representatives are invited there for conferences, but I do know anybody with common sense should not attend if this is how VanCAF's management is going to behave.
The Vancouver Comics Arts Festival has permanently banned artist Miriam Libicki from appearing in the event because of, in the words of the festival’s directors, “this exhibitor’s prior role in the Israeli military and their subsequent collection of works which recounts their personal position in said military and the illegal occupation of Palestine.”It's definitely reprehensible when somebody developing GNs drawing from the lives of Holocaust survivors is blacklisted by a convention that's clearly not worth attending, even if entrance is free. But simultaneously, it's a shame the artist herself isn't all that different when it comes to political positions:
A citizen of both the United States and Israel, Libicki is a graphic novelist and artist based in Vancouver whose work explores identity and the clash of cultures through her own experiences. Her autobiographical comic series, Jobnik!, which she self-published in 2008, looks at her service in the Israeli army during the Second Intifada. [...]
She was one of three graphic novelists selected to tell the stories of four Holocaust survivors in the 2022 book But I Live. Libicki is also a 2020 nominee for best short story in the Eisner Awards, considered by many to be the most prestigious awards in the comics industry, for her work “Who Gets Called an ‘Unfit’ Mother?”
“I am a Jewish artist who makes nonfiction and autobiographical comics,” Libicki told The CJN. “In recent years, I have been working closely with Holocaust survivors to tell their own stories. I consider this urgent and timely work. The award-winning anthology of Holocaust memoirs, But I Live (New Jewish Press, 2022), was the only graphic novel I was selling at VanCAF 2024.
“I am, and I have consistently, publicly, been pro-peace. I am in favour of a Palestinian state via negotiations. Because of the vulnerable populations I work with, I prefer not to discuss my specific political views in public. I believe all policing of artists’ personal identities and nationalities is wrong. VanCAF’s illegal ban, and defamation directed at me, is bad for all artists of all political orientations and backgrounds,” she added.Well if it turns out Jobnik takes a leftist perspective of its era to boot, then I just don't know whether to feel sorry for somebody who probably isn't willing to work with and develop GNs based on the lives of survivors of Islamic terrorism, including 911 Families. Some left-wing Israelis, as Ruthie Blum once noted about Gal Gadot, don't understand their politics don't protect them from antisemitic sources who remain completely indiscriminate in their approach, with one of the worst examples in the middle east being the Hamas jihadists who caused October 7, 2023. If Libicki still retains positions for stuff that's proven utterly impossible, she's not doing much to prove she learned any lessons, and it makes it difficult to buy and read her output.
Back on the convention itself, the directors themselves sure sold out to sources whom one could say engaged in what's called tortious interference:
In a May 25 “accountability statement released on social media, which did not mention Libicki by name—nor was it signed with any names—the VanCAF board scolded itself for “the oversight and ignorance to allow this exhibitor in the festival, not only this year but in 2022 as well.”With politics like those, that could probably explain why it's a free entrance festival; what better way to distribute propaganda, like Adolph Hitler distributed Mein Kamph in the early 20th century? As a result, I wouldn't want to attend VanCAF even if I were paid. No doubt, "better reflection" for them means anti-Israel positions, which in coming years could include Islamic propagandists distributing hurtful material at their decidedly worthless festival.
Having her appear in the festival, VanCAF added, “fundamentally falls in absolute disregard to all of our exhibiting artist’s, attendees and staff, especially those who are directly affected by the ongoing genocide in Palestine and Indigenous community members alike. Upon examining these concerns and conducts, this exhibitor will not be permitted to return to the festival.”
“VanCAF’s Board of Directors apologizes for the harm we have caused by our negligence to address this and our inability to take action sooner,” the statement went on to read.
VanCAF explained that the board would now take action to revise its present code of conduct policy and its festival submission guidelines in an effort “to better represent our community values.” The board promised to be fully transparent to its community and to adhere strictly to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) guidelines. The festival will additionally “develop a cohesive and inclusive safety procedure within our organization that will ensure the future well-being of all VanCAF attendees, exhibitors and staff.”
The statement continued to condemn “the ongoing genocide and land theft committed by the state of Israel in Palestine,” reiterated its solidarity with Palestinians and called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, right of return and complete sovereignty of the Palestinian state.
“We greatly appreciate the support from the community in helping us see where we have failed and allowing us the opportunity to address our mistakes,” the statement concluded. “During this period of transition, VanCAF will be onboarding new stakeholders, board members and staff to better reflect our community’s values and needs.”
Some members of the British Columbia literary community have expressed their dismay and disbelief at VanCAF’s statement and decision to keep Libicki out of the festival. Charlotte Schallié, the chair of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Victoria who spearheaded the But I Live project, said, “Miriam is an artist of utmost integrity and humanity, and I am deeply saddened and troubled that she was banned from the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival.I did some special voluntary service myself when I was 19-21, for about a year and a half. But what really matters here is that the management of this festival is obscuring acts of barbarism committed by followers of the Religion of Peace against Israelis, and they even obscure how Hamas' totalitarians even brutalized their own community. What kind of festival is this, where, as Israel National News also notes, they didn't even have the courage to keep up their obnoxious message on social media long?
“Especially in times of deep polarization and divisiveness in public discourse, freedom of artistic expression has to be upheld as a fundamental principle and practice. Any form of suppression and censorship of artistic freedom stymies our own ability to engage in critical dialogue and hold space for diverse and differing viewpoints.”
Alan Twigg, the author Out of Hiding: Holocaust Literature of British Columbia and the founder of the newspaper BC Bookworld, said, “When I watch CNN and learn about the latest book-banning nonsense in the United States, I want to believe such ignorance and prejudice could not happen in Canada.
“The idiotic excuse for prejudice in this case, it appears, is that its author or illustrator has spent some time within the Israeli military. Do they not realize that some form of military service is mandatory for all young Israelis? We should not countenance such absurdity.“
The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival deleted its statement apologizing for allowing Miriam Libicki to exhibit at the event, which took place earlier this month, after the Canadian Jewish News published an article calling attention to the affair.What's happening in Canada is even more horrific in some ways than what's happening in the USA. And they even disregard the unsafe environment that's been formed as a result of their repellent viewpoints, which gives the impression they see nothing wrong with barbarism. If many past Jewish creators like Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Will Eisner and Gil Kane were still around, they'd be banned from conventions like this too, based on even the flimsiest accusations. On which note, without a doubt, Eisner would certainly be, based on how he did research on Islamic antisemitism for his last GN, The Plot, published around 2004. For all we know, the award ceremony named after him could even eliminate his name over an Orwellian Thoughtcrime. At the end of this article:
According to the news outlet and social media screenshots, the statement did not name Libicki but referenced her and her work and said she would not be allowed in the festival in the future.
[...] The festival was not the first Canadian organization to ban a Jewish woman over past IDF service since the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7. In February, a Canadian International Women’s Day event in Ontario canceled its keynote speaker because of her IDF service; that event was then itself canceled amid a backlash.
Jews in Canada have been on edge in recent weeks amid multiple reports of Jewish day schools being shot at, synagogues being targeted with graffiti, and a likeness of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being hung in effigy at McGill University in Montreal.
The comic festival is the latest example of how cultural spaces are becoming embroiled in debates surrounding the Israel-Hamas war and, for some Jews, have become hostile territory. The literary free-speech group PEN America, Jewish cultural center 92NY and various museums have also faced revolts over their responses to the war.
Libicki lives in Vancouver and was named a writer-in-residence at the Vancouver Public Library in 2017. Last fall, she attended a New York Jewish comic book festival, saying she admired connecting with “Jews in comics who have found each other.”But would she say that if she considered any attendants too right-wing for her tastes? Again, this blacklist in Canada is very bad. But also again, it's hard to support somebody who may still retain standings that're hurtful to Israel, including how she delegitimizes more than half of its historical territory with her support for a state for an Islamic community that never existed in Biblical times, all at the Israeli public's expense.
This case should also serve as a warning what could happen in the USA if conventions are left unchecked, the Eisner awards included (and they have been going downhill already for goodness knows how long). For all we know, even USA comicons run by bad apples could end up shunning Jewish creators from past to present, all for the sake of barbaric ideologues who never contributed anything positive to the art form. I don't know what other kind of medium representatives are invited there for conferences, but I do know anybody with common sense should not attend if this is how VanCAF's management is going to behave.
Labels: censorship issues, conventions, Europe and Asia, indie publishers, islam and jihad, misogyny and racism, politics, terrorism, violence
