After Outcry, Comics Convention Un-cancels Israeli Artist

By Fern Sidman

An annual comic book convention in Vancouver, Canada has reversed its ban on an Israeli-American artist, following an outpouring of protests from the comics world.

The controversy began when pro-Hamas activists denounced the organizers of the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival for permitting the Israeli-American graphic novelist Miriam Libicki to rent an exhibitor’s table at their event on May 18-19. The Hamas supporters circulated a social media post asking, “Why was there a ‘former’ IDF soldier at VanCAF all weekend?… Why are members of Occupying Forces granted space in arts and cultural festivals?”

Ironically, Vancouver itself is occupied territory. It was seized by British colonial settlers in the mid-1800s from the region’s indigenous Squamish, Tsleil-waututh and Xmethkwyiem tribes. The pro-Hamas opponents of Miriam Libicki have not undertaken any protests concerning that occupation, however.

Libicki was a clerk in an Israeli Army office during mandatory military service many years ago. She wrote about her experiences in a critically-acclaimed graphic novel in 2008, and subsequently was named scholar in residence at the Vancouver Public Library, a first for a graphic novelist.

The festival’s board of directors assented to the demands of the pro-Hamas social media critics. In a statement released six days after the festival, the board of directors blamed itself for “oversight and ignorance to allow this exhibitor in the festival.” It said Libicki’s presence constituted “disregard” for “the ongoing genocide in Palestine and Indigenous community members alike.”

Although the board’s statement referred to both “Palestine” and the “Indigenous community,” the board did not take any steps regarding the indigenous peoples, such as moving the festival out of the occupied indigenous territory of Vancouver. Instead, the board focused only on Libicki, by announcing that henceforth she would be banned from all future convenings of the comics festival.

The ban sparked an outcry from members of the comic book community. Among the protesters was Dr. Rafael Medoff, a historian and author of educational comic books about the Holocaust, who called the ban “an outrageous act of both censorship and bigotry.” He told the Jewish Voice: “To single out a Jewish woman based on her ethnicity tramples the values of tolerance and free speech that the comics community has always embraced.”

Dr. Medoff noted that Jewish comics creators who were sympathetic to Israel and Zionism were “the pioneers of the comic book industry” in the 1930s-1940s, and “have been pillars of the comics community.” If the standard applied by the Vancouver festival organizers had been applied in the past, he said, Jack Kirby, the co-creator of Captain America and the Fantastic Four, would have been banned because of his vocal support for Israel.

Such bans also might have targeted the legendary comics creator and Israel supporter Joe Kubert, as well as Superman creators Joe Siegel and Jerry Shuster, “because they modeled Superman partly on Samson, one of the leaders of the Jewish State in biblical times,” Medoff said.

There have been several notable Israeli superheroes, such DC’s Hercules-like character Seraph, and the Marvel Comics hero Sabra, who is also a Mossad agent. Dr. Medoff pointed out that a major character in the “Green Lantern” comic book series was modeled after Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. “Would every writer or artist who has worked on ‘Green Lantern’ be banned from the Vancouver event?,” he asked.

After being inundated with protests, the heads of the Vancouver Comics Art Festival issued a statement of “deep and sincere” apology on June 3 to “the individual directly affected” by the ban. Although the apology curiously did not mention Libicki by name, it acknowledged that the decision ban her was “wrong headed.”

The statement also revealed that “the vast majority” of those who issued the ban had resigned, and the festival will be “passed off to a new group” that will lead it in the future. The statement was signed by “The Remaining Members of the VanCAF board.”

Vancouver has been a hotbed of anti-Israel activity in recent weeks. During the first week of May, pro-Hamas students set up tent encampments on the campuses of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Island University, and the University of Victoria. Their demands included a call for the Canadian government to stop all arms sales to Israel, even though the government already announced such a ban back in March.

On May 30, arsonists set fire to Vancouver’s Schara Tzedeck synagogue. Police investigators said they are treating it as a hate crime, and Vancouver mayor Ken Sim said it was “a hateful act of anti-Semitism.” The synagogue’s rabbi, Andrew Rosenblatt said a greater tragedy was only narrowly averted, because evening services had just concluded and the building was empty when the arsonists struck.