The above drawing is by my Israeli friend, Michel Kichka. He is a respected cartoonist and professor of art and illustration in Jerusalem. He and I met in 2005 at the United Nations in New York, at the start of the organization called Cartooning for Peace, dedicated to learning and teaching about culture, politics and shared humanity around the globe through cartooning. Michel has a way of drawing that can sometimes bridge divides.
As soon as I heard about Netanyahu’s push to change the judicial system in Israel, I wrote Michel, and he sent met his drawing above. This week, we learned that Israel’s high court will review the overhall. It is so sad what is happening there, and I hope that they reject this change initiated by Netanyahu. This could mean the end of democracy for our ally.
Art can help with positive change, and Michel has tried to do that with his work in his homeland. The challange of drawing to the concerns of his country is something I cannot begin to understand. It is almost impossible to know what will bring about peace in that region. Art has a way of helping people see and understand what’s going on, even if we may have differing ideas of what peace can mean. I don’t know if it can help the Middle East, but as cartoonists, we have to try, have hope; otherwise we wouldn’t do what we do.
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I think BiBi wants to remove the court system that gets in the way of his control over the country with the Knesset. However, there seems to be a difference of opinion. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I weep for the people of Israel and Palestine. Reminds me of Apartheid S. Africa.
I love the drawing with the peace symbols.