that israel girl

Famed Graphic Novelist Spins Falsified Tales on Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Joe Sacco, Graphic Novelist

I was treated to the rare delight of hearing one of the world’s most revered graphic novelists espouse the history of Palestinian-Israeli relations. Delightful as it was to watch Mr. Joe Sacco incriminate himself as a fraud.

As expected, Joe Sacco’s fans were out in full force at his “Footnotes in Gaza” book signing in Hollywood where dreams come true. In this case, Joe Sacco’s worst nightmare—That Israel Girl.

Joe Sacco began with “the problem all started when the Israeli’s drove the Palestinians out of their homes…later the Palestinians were forced to lead military incursions into Israel occupied Palestine for sustenance…” And the lies and Israel defamation went on from there.

After the discussion during the Q&A, That Israel Girl asked Joe Sacco, “I’m a little confused. Israel was declared a state

Joe Sacco's Latest "Footnotes in Gaza"

by a United Nations resolution. At the time, the Palestinians were offered a state side by side with Israel, but the Arabs instead chose to declare war on the Jews. So how is Israel the ‘occupied Palestine’ as you refer to it?”

A visibly worried Mr. Sacco replied: “Oh, did I say that? I must have misspoke. Yes, you are correct. Israel was declared a state by the UN. But I’m not going to go into the history of what happened at that time. It’s not important. I’m not going to get into it at all.”

A Palestinian man in the audience however did—and launched a verbal tirade against That Israel Girl stating “what she [meaning moi] says is a lie! The Arabs never attacked the Israel!…” etc. Wish you all could have been there for the exuberant fireworks.

Did I also mention Mr. Sacco admitted he couldn’t make it as a journalist? Yet he purports his graphic novel to be based on ethical journalistic practice. He professes to have conducted interviews with Palestinians and even lived amongst them.

Unfortunately, his Israeli interviews are far and few between. And his obvious anti-Israel bias, outright lies and defamation lead me to question his credibility—period.

Graphic Novel Classic Art Spiegelman's "Maus: A Survivor's Tale"...A far better read

He eluded to “numerous Israeli massacres” that never existed. He recreates history on behalf of Hamas. Joe Sacco—you are dangerous.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, retail graphic novel sales in 2004-2005 alone were somewhere in the neighborhood of $245 million. And they’ve only grown stronger. Graphic novels’ reach and influence are immense.

For this reason, graphic novels need to be taken seriously. Purveyors of outright lies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict need to be exposed.

As Jews, we cannot keep quiet to Israel defamation of the highest order guised in make-shift “journalism” that smacks of propaganda.  Joe Sacco—you are a sham.

And BTW, graphic novel–Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, as in Holocaust survivor, by Art Spiegelman is a far better read.

Sources:
1) Joe Sacco “Footnotes in Gaza” book signing at Skylight Books, Hollywood, CA, January 19, 2010.
2) From Comic Book to graphic Novel: Why Are Graphic Novels So Popular?
By Rachel J Allen CBS News.com
3) Joe Sacco produces comics from the hot zones, by Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Times (MCT), Feb. 11, 2010

The fight for Jerusalem all began one night when Prophet Muhammad founder of the Muslim faith, announced on his

Al Aqsa Mosque

deathbed he would ascend to heaven on the very site of the Temple Mount. Incidentally, the Temple Mount and Jerusalem belonged to the Jews at the time.

In a hot minute, Muslims conquered Jerusalem and erected the Al Aqsa Mosque directly on top of the Temple Mount. The mosque is now one of the holiest Muslim sites in the world.

Some view Muhammad’s play as nothing more than a strategic military endeavor to wrest the Holy Land from the Jews. An analogy might be if the Russians at the height of the Cold War declared the White House was the resting place of Joseph Stalin.

Was this the Great Jerusalem Heist? Whatever you believe, the Middle East would never

Map of Jerusalem Holy Sites (Notice all sites are closely situated)

be the same. And the fight for Jerusalem began with no end in sight.

Some years later, the Knights Templar took Jerusalem by force in the bloody crusades. Arabs would eventually reverse that play. In short–everybody wants a piece of Jerusalem–Muslims, Christians and the Jews.

Fast forward to modern day Middle East–Israel took control of East Jerusalem in 1967 after being attacked by the Arabs in the Six Day War. East and West Jerusalem are now both under Israeli control.

Under Muslim rule, Jews were not allowed to worship at the holy sites. Under Israeli administration, Jerusalem is free for all to worship. Of course, Muslims have barred “infidels” entry into the Al Aqsa Mosque (this means all non-Muslims).

Isn’t this an act of discrimination against Jews and Christians alike? In Israel, Muslims get equal rights but apparently don’t want to give them.

Do you trust this man with the Al Aqsa Mosque? (Ahmadinejad, Iran's President)

Wait–the real kicker is this. What Muslims fail to realize is Iran is the greatest threat to the Al Aqsa Mosque–ever.

While Israel protects Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa Mosque, Iran holds a military map–and X marks the spot to be nuked. That includes Jerusalem for those not paying attention to Iran’s overt threats.

And God forbid–if Iran’s dream of an Israeli nuclear holocaust is ever fulfilled, the Al Aqsa Mosque will be nothing more than ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

But not to worry followers of the Muslim faith. Israel will take on Ahmadinejad and his thugs who put Al Aqsa in peril. Never fear–Israel is here.

The Goldstone Commission was established by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council to investigate Israel’s January 2009 defensive operation against Hamas.

During the course of the Gaza War, Hamas showed the Palestinian people exactly what they’re made of. Up front and personal–Hamas betrayed their own blood–by using the Palestinian people as human shields.

Video surveillance, eyewitness testimonies, and Israeli intelligence reports also showed evidence that Hamas routinely stored weapons in mosques and civilian homes, set up military shop in hospitals, stole humanitarian aid, and launched mortar shells from a UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun.

Just a sampling of “delicacies” from the terrorist smorgasbord at the Hamas horror show which was the Gaza War.

Hamas’ gross atrocities violating the Geneva Conventions however, are not the main focus of the Goldstone Commission Report. The official UN Commission faults Israel as the main perpetrator of war crimes.

By the way, did the UN happen to notice Hamas’ war crimes directly violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states, “The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations”? I’ll answer that–shockingly a resounding–NO.

Israel on the other hand, took great surgical measures to minimize civilian casualties, and abide by the Geneva Conventions.

In fact, while Israel shipped humanitarian aid into Gaza, Hamas was busy hijacking it out the back door for themselves–out of innocent Palestinian civilian hands. Vast numbers who were suffering as human shields and the like, at the hands of Hamas.

Due to the UN’s relentless persecution of the State of Israel–a long history of biased findings, near dismissal of Hamas war crimes, and flagrant disregard of evidence in favor of Israel, That Israel Girl is hereby calling for the Obama Administration to boycott the United Nations–period.

Case closed. No further comments.

Sources:
(1) “Gaza acts amounted to war crimes, U.N. report says,” by Terence Burke, CNN.com, Sept. 15, 2009
(2) “Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General,” United Nations Department of Public Information, Aug. 14, 2009
(3) “The Operation in Gaza, 27 December 2008 - 18 January 2009, Factual and Legal Aspects,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 2009
(4) “Hamas Rockets During Cease-Fire and From Schoolyard 8 Jan. ‘09,” youtube.com

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu has just been picked to form Israel’s coalition government.  That Israel Girl congratulates 

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu

 Bibi, former Israeli Prime Minister, on a battle hard won. 

The only thing Bibi needs now is a Marcus Agrippa, the phenomenal Roman general to Octavian, future Augustus Caesar. 

Don’t care much for the Romans?  How about a Moshe Dayan then.  What do you think?

Fall 2008
1900 Hours
Destination Unknown
True Account in the Life of That Israel Girl

Mischief finds me in this seemingly benign city I call home. Such was the case last fall when I ventured out upon an adventure to make new friends. I found myself at a networking event where an intimate group met for dinner at a swanky restaurant in a celeb part of town. The set-up: Asian IT Consultant greets me from a reserved table. As she introduces herself, she immediately goes to work.
“Your profile says you’re a writer. What do you write?”
“Just this and that,” I reply.
“What exactly is this and that?” she presses.
“A little blog,” I respond.
“What kind of blog?” she pushes.
“A pro-Israel take on foreign policy,” That Israel Girl [me] answers.
She nods. “My husband is from Iran.”
 

Iran

“Persian?” I ask.
She laughs, then shakes her head. “No, from Iran.”
“That’s really nice,” I say.
“Lee should be here by now,” she checks her watch. “He’s always late. A girlfriend of mine is also going to join us. She’s German. Hope you don’t mind?”
An Iranian and a German, what luck, but shall I say, interesting…

A few minutes later, Lee shows up. He’s a throwback to the rat pack days both in age and black fedora. Mr. Rat Pack wastes no time launching into a tirade against then, President Bush. I flash a smile that says, I’m committed to diplomacy tonight.

An imaginary movie clipboard clamps down: Take One–Scene One–Action: Through my Semitic eyes, she enters the restaurant in slow motion. She’s the quintessential hausfrau; blond hair, tight bun placed high atop her head, plump physique, and buttoned-up attire. While many Germans are smitten by debauchery, it appears she’ll have none of that. She takes a seat with gracious determination in spite of her rotund shape. Her German friend has arrived.

I’ll call my new found friend, Schlotzklink. She explains the company she owns markets to ethnic groups. “Niche marketing?” I ask. She nods, with a sweet smile. Mr. Rat Pack then takes the lead as he pours out his “love for Germany.” His German lessons are really progressing. He can’t wait to go back there. He turns to me and asks about the subject of my blog. When I tell him, he asks me, “Why won’t the Jews just let the Germans go?” Stunned, I reply, “We have.” But what I’m really

Germany

thinking is…Everyone has the right to redemption. Germany’s deep investments in Iran however, a country led by a dangerous, neo-Nazi regime, makes me wonder if they really want redemption. How did I get hooked up with this crowd again?

Scholtzklink comes alive, “What is your blog about?”
“Israel,” I reply.
“Israel?” She asks as if the Jewish State were a despicable aftertaste. “In Germany, I lived right next to a mosque. I used to love to hear the Muslims pray five times a day. So beautiful,” she adds, with distinct haughtiness. Wait a minute. Is she challenging me to a duel? The room goes deaf, then black as my eyes focus on her through a rifle’s telescopic lens. It’s just her and me. Game on, fraulein.

The waitress asks her if she wants a drink. She’s hesitant. “No..no thank you.” Our waitress departs as Schlotzklink leans forward, then speaks in hushed tone. “Germans get depressed. It’s very cold in Germany. A lot of people don’t know that it gets dark in winter around 3:30 in the afternoon. The lack of sun makes a lot of us depressed. I used to go into deep depressions because of it.” Hhm, alcohol augments depression, I calculate. “Have a drink, it’ll relax you,” I say. My thoughts spiral deeper  into Machevellianism as I dream up a covert operation involving the sale of massive amounts of hard alcohol into Germany. Given the German police’s recent ban on the Israeli flag during Gaza protests, yet their “ability” to overlook Germans illegally singing Nazi songs in public, I’d say such fantasies are warranted.

Schlotzklink continues, “The gap between those poverty stricken in Germany versus the wealthy is becoming really pronounced. The poorer Germans live near and in the region that was formerly East Germany. That’s where I lived.”
How thrilling, I muse to myself. “How unfortunate,” I comment.

As the night wears on, I can’t wait for its end. Welcome to Fraulein hell. Wait a minute, I’ve been here before–flashback to past dalliances with a pure blooded German boy. Schlotzklink’s prince charming, my Gestapo nightmare. The kind of guy she’d find enticing…”I had a boyfriend who was born and raised in Germany,” I carefully begin. Then the dagger, “He was quite wealthy. Spoiled me to death.” Snow White’s wicked queen glares at me from across the table, still I continue, “His father was CEO of a German international, multi-conglomerate.” I raise my eyebrows and smirk. The music comes to an abrupt halt.

When the check comes, everyone rushes to cover her many drinks as she complains about her dire economic straits. I offer nothing but my share. Outside on the boulevard, we say our adieus. Our obligatory hand shakes and manufactured  smiles promise we’ll never see each other again. Schlotzklink gives me a sick smile. I almost bite into her poison apple. Then I stop, and remember who I am. Other Jews might want to take a look at this anti-Semitism that awaits them beyond their realm.

Although my performance was spot on charmingly girlish, the night leaves me uneasy. I confess to you that when I was a child, my sleep was haunted by nightmares of Nazi’s hunting me down in the ruins of Europe. Somewhere along the way things changed–I changed. Israel found me–empowered me. And now I have no fear.

Sources:
(1) “German Police ban Israeli flags,” Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post.com, Jan. 14, 2009
(2) “The Country with Real Leverage in Tehran,” Diethard Pallaschke, Wall Street Journal Europe, July 10, 2008
(3) “Schlotzklink” referenced from “Fascist Women,” university paper prepared by That Israel Girl for “Women In History”