Remembrance Day (1977)

April 13, 1977

Today's Golden Oldie has the flag at half-mast for Yom Hazikaron back in 1977.

This evening begins the 2012 Israeli Remembrance Day (Yom HaZikaron).
According to Ynet:

2012: Number of Israel's fallen stands at 22,993
"Total of 126 names added to sad list of fallen soldiers, victims of terrorism in past year. Government to discuss plan to build memorial hall in Mount Herzl A total of 126 new names have been added to the list of Israel's fallen soldiers and terrorism victims who will be honored at this week's Remembrance Day events. Israel now has 10,524 bereaved families who have lost 22,993 loved ones. The families include 2,396 orphans and 4,992 widows."-more

Pivotal Events (1977)

November 18, 1977

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1977. Thirty five years ago!

The words of the Bob Dylan song rang in our ears; "The times they are a-changin!" Our economy was being freed and Anwar Sadat was about to open the door to real peace with Egypt. The dream was about to become real. * * * So thirty five years have passed and peace and normalcy with the people and nation of Egypt is a dream that never really blossomed and seems about to die. Sad.

Did He Win? (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon from 1977, 33 years ago!

Mr. Shuldig, my cartoon alter ego, had been campaigning in a Knesset election which was then being held. I've had Shuldig run for office a number of times over the years. The fun was always how to create an ongoing comic strip fantasy joke and interweave it with the "real world elections".
Shuldig, of course, had no chance of winning in the "real world elections"

. . . sort of like a guy named Scott Brown, a Republican conservative who just came from nowhere to win Ted Kennedy's Senate seat!

He's turned American politics on its head. Folks are now talking about this inexperienced, good-looking, sexy, hunk as the next Republican candidate for the Presidency. If you want to know something about the guy they're now calling the White Obama just click on 20 things to know about Scott Brown * * * By the way, in case you were wondering, Mr.Shuldig was not elected. Because of an unfortunate bureaucratic mix-up.

August (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is from August 24, 1977.

I usually start my day by walking to a neighborhood cafe and slurping down some coffee while browsing the local newspapers. This morning I turned to the guy at the espresso machine and asked if the air conditioning was working properly. He said that he'd already checked, and it was indeed "working at full blast". "It's REALLY hot out there today" he continued, "What was the weather forecast?". "I don't check the weather forecasts" I grumbled, as I continued to search the local press for topics for cartoons. "Well it IS August you know" he said.

Later in the day, back in my studio, I began to search for a Golden Oldie. And found one. It's about the weather. About heat ...in August.

Presidential Poker (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is from May 30, 1977.

The Menahem mentioned in the first panel of the cartoon was Menahem Begin, Israel's then Prime minister. "Zbigie" (the off-screen kibbitzer) was Zbigniew Brzezinski ...who was, at the time, Jimmy Carter's national security adviser.

I did the cartoon when it became obvious that the American President had stepped in to negotiate for the Arab states. Sigh. As it was then, so it is now.

President Obama has been deluded into thinking that he can bring "Peace" by negotiating for the Arab states.

I wondered how he came to that disastrous conclusion ...until I discovered that Obama had chosen Zbigniew Brzezinski to advise him on Middle East policy!

Yikes!

When Bibi Meets Obama

Click on the cartoon below to open a larger, more readable version of this full page Dry Bones Special:Click on cartoon for larger version

Bibi is about to meet with Obama.
For the occasion, at the request of a reader, I've redone a Dry Bones cartoon classic that, more than 30 years ago, back in 1977, gave Jimmy Carter an accurate history lesson in Occupied Territories.

If the reports leaking out of Washington are accurate, the new President seems stuck with the old misconceptions that withdrawing from territory will placate those who lust for our destruction and that America can help by negotiating on behalf of the Arab states that refuse to negotiate directly with the Jewish State of Israel.

The teacher in the 1977 'toon was Menahem Begin, then Israel's feisty Prime Minister. The teacher in today's cartoon is Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Israel's current Prime Minister.

Likud Wins!! (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is from way back in 1977.

Up until that time the idea that some political party other than Labor could or would win an Israeli national election was ...as indicated in the cartoon, unthinkable!

Today in Israel we are having our national elections and, according to the polls, the Labor Party may come in fourth!!! Yikes!

How times have changed!

So whom are YOU rooting for in today's elections?

Hebrew Speaking Criminals (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is from 1977.

Chaim Nachman Bialik was Israel's great national poet. He lived in the pre-state era. The Hebrew speakers around him dreamed of an age in which a Hebrew-speaking state in the land of the Hebrews would be considered "normal". Bialik died in 1934. Fourteen years before the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.

Bialik is credited with saying “We will be a normal state when we have the first Hebrew prostitute, the first Hebrew thief and the first Hebrew policeman.”

I'm showing this Golden Oldie because the faces of Hebrew-Speaking criminals are now splashed across the front pages of our local Hebrew papers. We are in the midst of an about-to-explode Hebrew-speaking Israeli Mafia gang war on our streets. And Hebrew-speaking policemen are trying to quelch it.

The story in TIME begins...

"Tel Aviv gangster Ya'acov Alperon liked his violence up close and personal. He relied on his boxer's swift, sledgehammer fists and the blade of a knife to terrorize Tel Aviv's shopkeepers, brothel owners and drug dealers into paying protection money. But in the end, what finally got Alperon was that most impersonal of assassin's weapons: the car bomb." -more.

The irony of the whole mess is that Bialik would not be proud.

Happy New Year ! (1977)

Thirty years ago, in 1977, here in Israel, there was a lot of controversy about New Years Eve parties. I just could not wrap my mind around the idea that New Years Eve was thought of as a Christian religious holiday.

I poked fun at the concept by claiming to celebrate the "rolling over" of the 7 to an 8 in the cartoon's signature/date.

We rolled the 7 to an 8 again for 1988 and then in 1998... so hold on to your hats! Here we go again! In a couple of days we'll be rolling the 7 in 2007 over to an 8!

Have a happy!

Peace on Earth (1977)

1977. December. Thirty years ago. It seemed as if peace was coming to Earth. at least on our little part of it. Egyptian President Sadat had offered us Peace. And Israeli Prime Minister Begin was willing to reward the offer with every inch of territory which had fallen into Israeli hands after the Yom Kippur surprise attack by the Egyptian army.

I drew Begin as Santa and Sadat as an isolated "man of goodwill".

Although the generally accepted Christmas quote is "Peace on Earth, goodwill towards men" , there are those that say that a better translation is "Peace on Earth towards men of goodwill". The sad fact is that we don't have many "men of goodwill" leading the countries that surround us. Sadat turned out to be one.

They killed him.

To see a video of the assassination as we and the world saw it four years after this cartoon was done, in October of 1981 click here.

Visiting Egypt (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie Dry Bones cartoon is from December 1977. Exactly Thirty years ago.

Back then we were all caught up in the excitement of a real attempt at finding peace. We had a genuine partner for peace in Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Peace with Egypt! It was actually happening. So many Israeli journalists were in Cairo covering the story that I sent Mr. Shuldig's dog Doobie to join the Israeli media frenzy. (see previous cartoon)

Soon returning Israeli journalists start flashing proof that they had truly been there... they started showing off Egyptian money. Back in 1977 the currency in Israel was the Israeli Pound. In Hebrew the Israeli Lira. The plural of Lira is Lirot. Which is why Doobie (speaking in the Hebrew-infected English that we locals speak) says he's been asked for Five "Lirot".

Not only did Prime Minister Begin bring us peace with Egypt, he also dumped the Lira and instituted our proper national currency... the Shekel.

Israeli Journalists in Egypt (1977)

Today's cartoon is a "Golden Oldie" from exactly thirty years ago! December 14, 1977. Peace with Egypt was breaking out! It was an exciting and wonderful time! Israeli journalists were reporting from Cairo. The barriers were down! It seemed as if every Israeli newspaper or magazine had its own correspondent in the land of the Nile.

Dry Bones refused to be outdone. We sent Mr. Shuldig's dog, Doobie.

Anwar and Menachem (1977)

Exactly thirty years have slipped by since I drew today's Golden Oldie. It was published on November 11 1977 ...less than a month after our hated "Travel Tax" had been abolished.

Back then, in 1977, we were about to be treated to two real statesmen, rising to meet the challenge of making a real peace. Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin.

What a pitifully far cry from those leaders are 2007's version of leadership ... Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert!

The U.S. Embassy (1977)

Thirty years ago this month, in November of 1977, I did a cartoon about how it was time for the U.S. to move its embassy to Israel's capital city, Jerusalem.

Well, here we are in 2007 and the American government is not dragging its heels. That would imply that they are resisting pressure. As far as I can see there's nobody exerting pressure... so there's no "resistance".

Oh, and by the way, eighteen years after this cartoon was published, in 1995, Congress finally voted to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Yup. Twelve years ago.

Wanna know what happened?

Click here.

Occupied Territory in Africa (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie was first published on August 22, 1977... exactly 30 years ago. So you never heard of the Occupied Territory of Ogaden? well, it's about to pop back into the news!

Here's a report from the Guardian as quoted on a pro-Somali Ogaden website called OgadenNews:

Ethiopian strife tests US commitment
Wednesday August 8, 2007
"Rising tensions in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia, combined with chronic instability in neighbouring Somalia, Eritrean enmity, and human rights concerns, are testing US support for the Addis Ababa government led by Clinton-era good governance pin-up Meles Zenawi" -more

Two days after that report, on Aug 10 2007, Reuters reported that

Ethiopia signs Ogaden gas deal with Petronas
Aug 10 (Reuters) - "Ethiopia has signed a deal allowing Malaysian state oil firm Petronas [PETR.UL] to develop natural gas in its Ogaden region where rebels have warned oil companies to stay away, an official said on Friday.
'The agreement signed between Ethiopia and Petronas focuses on the development and marketing of Kalub and Hilal gas deposits in the Ogaden,' a Ministry of Mines and Energy official, who declined to be named, told Reuters." -more

* * * The Ethiopian government (also this month) issued a statement that:

"Various parties, in particular members of certain foreign media with their own hidden agenda and mission, have been disseminating erroneous stories alleging that the Ethiopian Government was blockading emergency food aid, restricting trade, causing price hikes and burning down villages in retaliation for support given to the so-called Ogaden National Liberation Front, (ONLF).

The truth, however, is that the ONLF, a terrorist group acting in collaboration with the defunct Union of Islamic Courts and the Eritrean Government, has been committing various heinous atrocities in the region. It has carried out horrendous human rights violations, including the indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians. Through such acts, it has also severely affected the peace and stability of the region."-more

* * * Surprise!
It's another Moslem/Infidel conflict.

Or is it the same unreported world wide Moslem/Infidel war that we're all in?

Don Quixote (1977)

Click on the cartoon for a larger version:

Today's news is about the trip to the Mideast by President George W. Bush's Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice.

Today's Golden Oldie is from thirty years ago. Back then the American President had sent his Secretary of State (Cyrus Vance) searching for peace by trying to force Israel to open the gates to the PLO terrorists. Back then I gave Carter the benefit of the doubt and cast him as an idealist rather than as an enemy. So we had Jimmy as Don Quixote and Cyrus Vance as Sancho Vanza (Quixote's servant Sancho Panza).

Back then, when I did a full-page cartoon, I always added a Doobie strip at the bottom. It gave the little fellow a chance to respond to the page by speaking the cold, hard, and cynical truth. Interesting to note that today, the situation has changed! the Arabs and Israel are facing a foreign enemy force... and we didn't have to call for Cuban mercenaries!

We've got Iran!

A Simple Proposal (1977)

I got lazy again and decided to just run a "30 years ago this month" cartoon. So is this depressing or not? Thirty years later and the United States still refuses to move its embassy to our capital city. Thirty years later and we still have to respond to Jimmy Carter's wacko ideas and pronouncements.

* * * A loyal reader has given former President Carter a cute, mafia-style nickname. I can't get it out of my head. It's like an annoying melody that you can't stop humming. Whenever I think of Carter these days the moniker pops up. I'm going to share it with you. Sorry. He refers to the 39th President of the United States as Jimmy One-Term.

There, now it's stuck in your head!

Entebbe Day (1977)

I drew this cartoon exactly thirty years ago. July 4th 1977. It was the first anniversary of that amazing, daring rescue at Entebbe Airport. The operation had not only snatched the hostages out of their place of captivity, but had also dragged the country out of the dark depths of despair.

Here's the cartoon that I'd done the year before, when the rescue took place.

For info about the Entebbe raid... and to see actual 1976 TV coverage of the event click here.

Talking to the Wall (1977)

Today's Golden Oldie is a cartoon that I drew exactly 30 years ago. It was published in the Jerusalem Post on June 16, 1977. Back then, before the birth of the Internet Age, my cartoons were written for Israelis and folks who really "knew" Israel. With that kind of audience I used the word "Kotel". Kotel is a Hebrew word which means wall. In the Hebrew-influenced English that we speak here in Israel, we use "the Kotel" when referring to "the Western Wall".

* * *The newly elected Prime Minster was Menachem Begin. An interesting "insider" feel to the cartoon comes from the fact that Jews come to the Kotel to speak with God, to place scribbled or carefully printed prayers on little scraps of paper to tuck into the crevices between the huge stone blocks. When Begin, the newly-elected Prime Minister of the Jewish State, went to the Kotel, neither he nor we thought that he was "talking to the wall".

When he went on to talk with Jimmy Carter, however, that was a different story.* * *

Psssst! Want a close-up peek at the Kotel? Live? At this very moment in Jerusalem? Easy in this Internet Age. Courtesy of the good folks at Aish.com. Just click on

the Aish HaTorah

live webcam at the Western Wall

Occupied Territories (1977)

Click on the cartoon below to open a larger, more readable version of this full page Dry Bones Special:

As promised on Thursday, here is the famous cartoon that, close to 30 years ago, back in 1977, gave Jimmy Carter an accurate history lesson in Occupied Territories.

The teacher in the 'toon was Menahem Begin, then Israel's feisty Prime Minister.