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At New York Comic Con, creators and fans celebrate Jewish identity
(New York Jewish Week) — A panel on Jewish themes at this year’s New York Comic Con was planned and scheduled well ahead of Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel last Saturday, but its convenor said the traumatic week since made it more important than ever to highlight Jewish joy.
“This is a tough moment to be discussing this, but there’s this moment, this tough space between horror and atrocity and humor and incorporation of memory … that can coexist with joy,” said Miriam Eve Mora, the director of academic and public programs at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History, who organized Thursday’s panel on “Jewish Identity in Comics Outside the Holocaust.”
“If you focus exclusively on trauma,” she said, “then you miss out on so much Jewish life.”
New York Comic Con, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday, draws thousands of lovers of comic books — and the movies and television shows based on them.
Amid appearances at the Javits Center by celebrities like Ewan McGregor and Chris Evans, there are panel discussions on myriad topics.
For Mora’s panel, some 200 fans heard Jewish authors’ varying views on what makes a Jewish comic. The panel featured Jewish comic creators Alisa Kwitney, Danny Fingeroth, Fabrice Sapolsky, Jordan Gorfinkel and Roy Schwartz.
Jews largely built the comic books business: In the early 20th century, with most publishing and advertising houses reluctant to hire Jews, many found themselves working in the upstart comics industry. In the late 1930s, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, were among the Jews who ushered in what’s known as the “Golden Age” of comics, and many Jewish-created superheroes followed.
Ahead of Thursday’s event, Mora told New York Jewish Week she wanted to give a more secular audience exposure to this history, and to highlight Jewish comics that were not about the Holocaust. Focusing on the Holocaust, she said, has become a “shorthand” for authors trying to make Jewish characters and storylines.
“I think the goal should be that people who are and are not Jewish, who are creators, can more accurately and casually and freely include Jewish characters from diverse backgrounds,” said Mora, who is the co-creator of the Jewish Comics Experience, a current exhibit at CJH. “We cannot be defined by one type of Jew or one image of Jew, because Jews are a tremendous multiverse in and of itself.”
Mora’s panel is the only one of the four-day convention about Judaism. Last year’s New York Comic Con had no panels dedicated to Jewish topics, though at least two — including a panel that had run successfully in previous years — were rejected.
It is not known whether the inclusion of “Jewish Identity in Comics Outside the Holocaust” in this year’s lineup was a response to last year’s outcry from Jewish fans. Representatives from New York Comic Con did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
At New York Comic Con, Jewish comic creators, from left, Jordan Gorfinkel, Danny Fingeroth, Fabrice Sapolsky, Alisa Kwitney and Roy Schwartz, discuss “Jewish Identity in Comics Outside the Holocaust” on Oct. 12, 2023.(Elizabeth Karpen)
During the panel discussion, comics creator and publisher Sapolsky said that, as a child growing up in Paris, he noticed that many of the authors of his favorite comics had Jewish last names.
“For me, all American comics were Jewish,” said Sapolsky, who is co-creator with Mora of “JewCE!”, a comics convention being held next month at the Center for Jewish History “promoting diverse Jewish narratives in comics.”
For Fingeroth, who is best known for his work editing the Spider-Man comics and his biography of Stan Lee, perhaps the best known Jewish comics creator, a Jewish comic can’t be easily defined. “It’s like pornography,” he joked. “I don’t have a definition, but I know it when I see it.”
Gorfinkel, known for editing the Batman comics franchise and creating the “Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel,” added that, in addition to creating Jewish characters, Jewish comic creators have a responsibility to infuse their work with tikkun olam — the Jewish tenet to repair the world. “A comic’s got to make the world a better place because Judaism is about being a light unto the nations,” he said. “My feeling is, if we have the honor to be able to share our work with multitudes, then we also have a responsibility to put in some kind of ethics or morals.”
Schwartz, the author of “Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero,” pushed forward what he calls his “Jewish Bechdel test”: To be considered a “Jewish comic,” a comic must meet two of three criteria — be written by a Jew, have Jewish themes and include Jewish characters.
He added that, recently, he’s noticed that Jewish comic book authors are creating more explicitly Jewish characters. “They’re comfortable in their own skin,” Schwartz said. “And they don’t feel the urge, the necessity, to put on a secret identity on top of that.”
Today, said Mora, there are more comics than ever telling diverse Jewish stories, noting that many of them come from independent publishing houses and outside the superhero genre.
Sapolsky, for example, recently released “Intertwined: The Last Jewish Daughter of Kaifeng,” which centers on the experiences of a Chinese Jewish woman. Sapolsky’s FairSquare Comics, an independent publisher that aims to promote diversity, will soon release “Hyphen,” a slice-of-life collection including the stories of Jews of color, transgender Jews and other diverse Jewish populations.
Mora underscored the importance of these new comics that portray Jews from across the world, of all races and ethnicities, who practice their Judaism differently. “The more of these that break into the mainstream, the less readers are going to think they know what a Jew looks like,” she said. “And that’s so important for accurate representation.”
Stan Lee, shown in 1991, was perhaps the best known of the Jewish writers and artists who helped create the comic book industry. (Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Schwartz, who was born and raised in Israel, hoped there will eventually be a positive Israeli comic book character that could be “accepted by everybody” — a remark that drew cheers from the audience.
Mora had told the crowd that the panelists had decided not to discuss the events of the Middle East during the hour-long session. Still, Hamas’ recent attack on Israel hung over the crowd.
Sam, who declined to give her last name, said she was drawn to the Jewish identity panel in light of the recent violence in Israel, which is now reverberating around the world. She told New York Jewish Week that she wanted to learn more about Jewish comics and how to support Jewish creators because she has Jewish ancestry, but isn’t involved in the Jewish community.
“I feel like I don’t know enough about Jewish culture,” Sam said. “I usually go to a diversity in comics panel and this seemed right to go to this year.”
During the panel, Kwitney, an author of Jewish romance comics and a former editor at DC Comics, said she feels that comics have not properly addressed the issues facing young American Jews — particularly rising antisemitism. “What’s missing is some of what is challenging about being Jewish today,” she said. “I think about the dilemma that a lot of young people are facing on college campuses. To have a character who’s Jewish and in their 20s and not have them face any of the dilemmas where there is anti-Zionism and antisemitism, that’s hard to grapple with.”
Alyssa, an audience member who declined to give her last name, told New York Jewish Week that the panel bridged the gap between her love of comics and her Jewish identity. “Comics have a Jewish origin, but the stories always felt very Christian-centric,” she said. “It’s exciting to see more comics for Jews, written by Jews.”
Gorfinkel, who is an observant Jew, said that he’s always associated Jewish joy with comic books. As a kid, he would stock up on comics to read on Shabbat; it was the highlight of his week. He loved reading comics under the table while his family prayed and he believes that he learned his Jewish values from them.
“I actually learned morality from DC Comics, where the heroes were good and the villains were evil and we always vanquished evil,” he said. “I didn’t learn it from the Bible, I learned it from superheroes. But, hey, superheroes are based on the Bible, so I guess in a way it comes full circle.”
Gorfinkel is currently working on a graphic adaptation of the Torah, the five books of the Hebrew Bible. “I’m using the storytelling that Jewish people from the 1930s and 1940s established and carry through to today to bring out what’s incredible about Judaism and the Jewish faith,” he said. “We make Judaism our superpower.”
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The post At New York Comic Con, creators and fans celebrate Jewish identity appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Vance Defends Trump’s Iran Policy Amid Outrage From Republican Isolationists
Then-US Senate candidate JD Vance, now the vice president of the United States, speaks as then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, now the president, smiles at a rally, in Dayton, Ohio, US, Nov. 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday issued a forceful defense of President Donald Trump’s approach to Iran amid its conflict with Israel, responding to what he called “crazy stuff on social media” and outlining the administration’s red lines on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
In a lengthy post on X/Twitter, Vance sought to clarify the administration’s position as the Iran-Israel war continues and speculation mounts over the possibility of the US using military force against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“POTUS [president of the US] has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Vance wrote in his note. “He said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways — the easy way or the ‘other’ way.””
Early Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rising Lion, a multifaceted campaign involving airstrikes, covert sabotage by Mossad, and other operations targeting Iran’s missile infrastructure, military officials, and nuclear facilities and scientists. Israel launched the operation with the goal of dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which Israeli officials have declared an existential threat. Israel has continued its military campaign since then, striking nuclear and military targets.
Iran has responded each night with barrages of ballistic missiles, largely targeting Israeli civilian centers. Most of the projectiles have been intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system.
According to reports, the US may help Israel’s campaign by striking Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran’s Fordow site specifically is built deeply into the side of a mountain, and some experts believe Israel can’t destroy it completely without the help of massive US bunker-buster bombs.
The prospect of the US potentially entering the conflict has sparked outrage among many of members of the isolationist wing of the Republican party, who argue that Israel is attempting to lure America into a “forever war.” However, Israeli officials said on Tuesday they expect their operation to last only another week or two.
In his statement, Vance said that Trump had “encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal” with Iran to prevent further uranium enrichment. He also defended the administration’s current posture as restrained but firm.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has reported that Iran continues to enrich uranium well beyond levels needed for civilian nuclear energy, raising alarm bells among experts and Western governments who believe Tehran is dangerously close to having weapons-grade nuclear material.
“It’s one thing to want civilian nuclear energy. It’s another thing to demand sophisticated enrichment capacity,” Vance said, accusing Tehran of violating its obligations under international non-proliferation agreements.
The IAEA, which monitors nuclear programs around the world, has warned in recent reports that Iran is enriching large quantities of uranium to 60 percent purity, just short of the roughly 90 percent needed for a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains that its program exists for civilian purposes. However, Tehran’s decision to restrict IAEA inspections and ramp up enrichment has intensified fears in Washington and among US allies that diplomacy may be running out of time.
While Vance insisted the president remains committed to diplomacy, he also appeared to leave the door open to a more aggressive posture, should talks continue to stall.
“He [Trump] may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” Vance said, adding that Trump’s focus is “protecting our troops and protecting our citizens.”
Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about engaging in another war in the Middle East, arguing that previous US military interventions in the region proved costly, ineffective, and unpopular.
“People are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy,” Vance said.
Still, he argued that Trump deserves trust on the issue, describing the president as “only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals.”
The post Vance Defends Trump’s Iran Policy Amid Outrage From Republican Isolationists first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Columbia University Settles Antisemitism Lawsuit That Accused Faculty of Bullying Jewish Student
A pro-Palestinian protester holds a sign that reads, “Faculty for justice in Palestine,” during a protest urging Columbia University to cut ties with Israel, Nov. 15, 2023, in New York City. Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Columbia University has settled a lawsuit brought by a Jewish student at the School of Social Work (CSSW) who accused faculty of unrelenting antisemitic bullying and harassment.
Represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Mackenzie “Macky” Forrest sued the institution in February 2024, noting that Columbia was a hub for anti-Zionists on the far-left long before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel revealed the extent of their presence on campus. In her own case, Forrest claimed that hatred forced her involuntary exit from the specialized program to which she had been accepted.
According to court documents, Forrest was abused by the faculty, one of whom callously denied her accommodations for sabbath observance and then held out the possibility of her attending class virtually during pro-Hamas protests which made the campus unsafe for Jewish students. Her Jewishness and requests for arrangements which would allow her to complete her assignments created what the Lawfare Project described as a “pretext” for targeting Forrest and conspiring to expel her from the program, a plan that involved fabricating stories with the aim of smearing her as insubordinate.
Meanwhile, school officials allegedly allowed pro-Hamas students and groups, most notably Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), to essentially commandeer the campus by making it a canvas for their extremist views, which they colored with antisemitic manifestos, graffiti, and blistering blood libels which rehashed antisemitic tropes that have been trafficked by antisemitic political movements since antiquity. As The Algemeiner reported at the time, students were also gang assaulted and lacerated, shocking acts of violence to which the university responded in part by blocking Jewish students from teaching one another methods of self-defense.
Soon, Forrest was accused of lacking commitment and seriousness for wanting to avoid the hostile campus environment which, critics say, Columbia fostered by waiting months to address antisemitism. Later, the contours of the conspiracy to force her out of school revealed itself in two phases, described in court documents as a threat to give her a failing mark for a “field placement” internship and repeatedly insinuating that her asking to attend class virtually represented a subconscious wish to drop out of school, which Forrester had never considered as an option.
“Macky had been receiving straight As, and in her weekly meetings with her supervisor, she was never told that she was not meeting expectations,” the lawsuit said. “Receiving a failing grade in her field placement would mean Macky would not be only unable to continue in the [program], but it would become part of her record and likely adversely affect her career going forward. This newly created issue about Macky’s performance in her field placement was all a pretext to create an excuse to kick Macky out of the [program].”
Spurious accusations were allegedly made by one professor, Andre Ivanoff, who was the first to tell Forrest that her sabbath observance was a “problem.” Ivanoff implied that she had failed to meet standards of “behavioral performance” while administrators spread rumors that she had declined to take on key assignments, according to court documents. This snowballed into a threat: Forrest was allegedly told that she could either take an “F” in the field placement or drop out, the only action that would prevent sullying her transcript with her failing grade.
Forrest left but has now settled the lawsuit she filed to get justice in terms that Columbia University has buried under a confidentiality agreement.
“We brought this lawsuit to hold Columbia accountable for what we alleged was a deeply troubling failure to protect a Jewish student from antisemitic discrimination and retaliation,” Lawfare Project litigation director Ziporah Reich said in a statement on Tuesday. “This case sends a clear message to universities across the country that when Jewish students report harassment and seek accommodations, their concerns must be taken seriously. The civil rights of Jewish students are simply not negotiable.”
Brooke Goldstein, Lawfare Project executive director and founder, added, “These outcomes reflect the power of legal action to bring about meaningful change. We are proud to stand behind a courageous student who chose to stand up for her rights. Our goal was never just justice for one student — it was to make clear that antisemitism has no place in higher education and that Jewish students have the same right to safety and dignity as anyone else.”
Columbia was one of the most hostile campuses for Jews employed by or enrolled in an institution of higher education. After Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the university produced several indelible examples of campus antisemitism, including a student who proclaimed that Zionist Jews deserve to be murdered and are lucky he is not doing so himself and administrative officials who, outraged at the notion that Jews organized to resist anti-Zionism, participated in a group chat in which each member took turns sharing antisemitic tropes that described Jews as privileged and grafting.
Amid these incidents, the university struggled to contain the anti-Zionist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which in late January committed an act of infrastructural sabotage by flooding the toilets of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) with concrete. Numerous reports indicate the attack may have been the premeditated result of planning sessions which took place many months ago at an event held by Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) — a literary society, according to the Washington Free Beacon. During the event, the Free Beacon reported, ADP distributed literature dedicated to “aspiring revolutionaries” who wish to commit seditious acts. Additionally, a presentation was given in which complete instructions for the exact kind of attack which struck Columbia were shared with students.
The university is reportedly restructuring itself to comply with conditions for restoring $400 million in federal funding canceled by US Education Secretary Linda McMahon in March to punish the school’s alleged failure to quell “antisemitic violence and harassment.”
In March, the university issued a memo announcing that it acceded to key demands put forth by the Trump administration as prerequisites for releasing the funds — including a review of undergraduate admissions practices that allegedly discriminate against qualified Jewish applicants, the enforcement of an “anti-mask” policy that protesters have violated to avoid being identified by law enforcement, and enhancements to the university’s security protocols that would facilitate the restoration of order when the campus is disturbed by unauthorized demonstrations.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Bernie Sanders Pushes Bill to Block US Military Action Against Iran as New Poll Shows Public Support for Strikes
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to the media following a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, US, July 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Monday night introduced legislation that would bar the use of federal funds for any US military force against Iran not authorized by Congress, despite new polling showing broad public support for both Israel’s ongoing strikes against the Iranian regime and US military action that is deemed necessary to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
The bill, titled the No War Against Iran Act, came after Israel last week launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat. The Israeli military since then has continued to pummel Iranian targets, killing several nuclear scientists and military commanders while decimating much of the regime’s nuclear and military infrastructure.
Sanders called Israel’s campaign “reckless and illegal,” claiming it had the potential to kickstart a broader war in the Middle East. The legislation would prohibit the use of federal funds for any military force against Iran without explicit authorization from Congress, with a narrow exception for self-defense under the War Powers Act and applicable US law.
“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s reckless and illegal attacks violate international law and risk igniting a regional war,” Sanders said in a statement. “Congress must make it clear that the United States will not be dragged into Netanyahu’s war of choice.”
Sanders continued, “Another war in the Middle East could cost countless lives, waste trillions more dollars and lead to even more deaths, more conflict, and more displacement. I will do everything that I can as a senator to defend the Constitution and prevent the US from being drawn into another war.”
Sanders was joined by seven Senate Democrats as original cosponsors, including Peter Welch (VT), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Ed Markey (MA), Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Tina Smith (MN). The senator previously introduced a version of this bill in 2020 alongside then-Sens. Kamala Harris and Chuck Schumer.
Amid the Iran-Israel war, speculation has swirled over whether US President Donald Trump, who has expressed public support for the Israeli operation and authorized the military to help the Jewish state with air defense to combat Iranian missile barrages, will decide to use offensive military power against Iran to eliminate their nuclear facilities. Iran’s Fordow nuclear site specifically is built deeply into the side of a mountain, and some experts believe Israel can’t destroy it completely without the help of massive US bunker-buster bombs.
Trump on Tuesday publicly dismissed the prospect of a negotiated ceasefire before posting a message on social media that read “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” without elaborating. He also threatened to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Despite Sanders’s insistence that the public disapproves of military action against Iran, polling indicates otherwise.
According to a new poll from GrayHouse Strategies, 89 percent of Americans are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, and 73 percent say Iran cannot be trusted to honor any diplomatic agreement. The poll also found that a strong majority of the American people, 72 percent, support direct US military action “if necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”
Meanwhile, 83 percent of Americans support Israel’s preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, 79 percent favor the US sending offensive weapons to aid Israeli operations, and 91 percent support providing intelligence assistance to Israel, according to the poll.
Sanders’s proposed legislation came one day after Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a War Powers Resolution to block any unauthorized US military action against Iran.
“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine said in a statement. “The American people have no interest in sending servicemembers to fight another forever war in the Middle East.”
Kaine’s resolution states that Congress possesses the sole authority to declare war against a foreign nation. It requires any US hostilities with Iran to be explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Because the resolution is privileged, the Senate must consider and vote on it promptly, ensuring a congressional debate on the issue.
“This resolution will ensure that if we decide to place our nation’s men and women in uniform into harm’s way, we will have a debate and vote on it in Congress,” Kaine said.
On Tuesday, however, US Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), along with 14 co-sponsors, introduced a bipartisan resolution praising Israel’s strike on Iranian nuclear and military facilities and condemning Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks on Israeli civilian targets.
The post Bernie Sanders Pushes Bill to Block US Military Action Against Iran as New Poll Shows Public Support for Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.