'Monster Mohel' in anti-circumcision comic book |
An organizer behind a growing campaign to outlaw circumcision for infant boys now has created a comic book specifically targeting that Jewish practice, and critics say he's gone too far by using Nazi images and stereotypes.
"This comic is modern anti-Semitism at its best. It is one story to fight against circumcision, and another to portray Jews in a false anti-Semitic stereotype. The Jewish depictions look like they came right out of Nazi Germany propaganda in the 1930s and 1940s," wrote Hailey Dilman in a commentary at Digital Journal.
The comic is called "Foreskin Man" by MGMBill Comics. Its first edition was launched last year by Matthew Hess, who is president of the campaign lobbying for a vote that would end "male genital mutilation."
A vote is scheduled on that proposal is San Francisco in the fall, and in support of that effort, Hess released a second edition of the comic.
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According to the Anti-Defamation League, the comic book's "Monster Mohel" and its "grotesque anti-Semitic imagery and themes" are "disrespectful and deeply offensive."
"This is an advocacy campaign taken to a new low," said Nancy J. Appel, ADL associate regional director. "This is a sensitive, serious issue where good people can disagree and which the Jewish community feels is an assault on its values and traditions going back thousands of years and centered in the Hebrew Bible."
'Monster Mohel' in anti-circumcision comic book |
The issue caught the attention of Glenn Beck, who today called it "Nazi propaganda," where the "evil" father has planned for his son's circumcision and intends to carry it out even while telling his wife he would not do it.
The "hero," the superman fighting circumcisions, is portrayed as a blond, blue-eyed Aryan type character; the rabbi intending to perform the circumcision is a stereotype with an evil grin, claw-type fingers clutching a scissors and in some panels, even is portrayed without pupils in his eyes.
Hess has issued a statement about the accusations of anti-Semitism, "A lot of people have said that, but we're not trying to be anti-Semitic. We're trying to be pro-human rights."
In an email response to a WND question, Hess said he was not responding to individual queries. He then suggested watching Twitter for any further statements and recommended several retailers where the comics could be purchased.
The ADL said the comic portrays mohels – those specially trained to perform the traditional Jewish circumcision ceremony – as "rapacious, bloodthirsty and bent on harming children."
"Some of the imagery calls to mind age-old anti-Semitic canards such as the blood libel, the accusation that Jews ritually murder Christian children," the ADL statement said. "Another comic in the series also calls up more subtle anti-Jewish themes, such as when a character complains that the 'pro-circumcision lobby' has 'all of the well-connected doctors and lawyers.'"
Dilman's commentary said the "mohel" in the comic is drawn with "a long beard, pointy nose, sharp nails and an evil demeanor. … He is excited to 'partake' in the foreskin of the baby. "
Danny Danon, the member of Israel's Knesset, said, "It is disturbing."
He described it as part of a "new wave" of anti-Semitism and challenged listeners to imagine if this is happening in the U.S., a longtime support of Israel, "what will happen in Turkey, Egypt, in our neighborhood."
'Monster Mohel' in anti-circumcision comic book |
Israel essentially is surrounded by Muslim nations that are enemies.
At the Bookworm Room, another commentary said:
"I'm very seldom shocked to the core of my being. Today, though, I was shocked, shaken really," the commentary said. "I am not kidding when I say that the material is indistinguishable from something the Nazis would have prepared."
"In the 1930s, as now, socialism was politically dominant in the Western cultures that supported anti-Semitism and Islam was (as has been the case for centuries) politically dominant in the Middle Eastern cultures supporting anti-Semitism."
At Pajamas Media, the images from the comic were presented alongside images from the 1940 Nazi failm "Der Ewige Jude," with both characters featuring almost identical leers.
There, forum page participant "Ed" said, "The Law of Moses requires that the boy be circumcised on the eighth day. If you abolish infant circumcision, you criminalize Judaism."
The Bible, however, makes it clear. In Gen. 17, at the point when God was reaching his covenant with Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham at that time, he promises.
"And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all of the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and the seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised…"
In the Washington Post, David Wolpe, the rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, said in some European cities "not so long ago" those who hate Jews "resorted to the simple expedient of burning synagogues."
"Here at home there is a movement to ban circumcision," he said. "There is an undercurrent of contempt for religious belief in general that drives this measure. The authors [of the proposal] think of themselves as liberal but they are actually coercive; they are believers in transcendence as well, but it is in the transcendence of their own judgment. I carry the covenant of Abraham in my flesh. Forgive me if I find the city of San Francisco's attempt to annul that faintly ludicrous, and very offensive."
But Tom Flynn, who heads the Council for Secular Humanism, disagreed.
"Infant circumcision is something a secular society would never allow if it weren't associated with religious traditions. … Banning circumcision raises church-state issues, to be sure, as it forces society into … declaring certain sacred practices illegal. To me, however, aggrieved believers' free-exercise rights end where another person's health of bodily integrity begins," he said.
Nicholas T. Wright, Anglican bishop in Durham, England, noted that when Emperor Hadrian tried to ban circumcision about 130 A.D., "it led to the Second Jewish Revolt. It was, after all, a rather blatant attempt to squelch the Jewish people and their ancestral heritage."
"What's going on, of course, is an attempt to enforce modern western indvidualism over cultures in which family identity is basic. What will be next, I wonder – a ban on infant baptism because the poor child isn't old enough to make up his/her mind?
"The illiberalism of 'liberal' society is wondrous to behold. You can have any opinion you like as long as it's the same as mine."
In addition to the San Francisco vote, there haave been discussions about having the same vote in other jurisdictions in California, too.
On the MGMbill.org site, Hess said, "The Foreskin Man comic book uses popular art to shine a spotlight on the practice of infant circumcision. Over the years there have been a lot of rationalizations and justifications to keep it going, but the bottom line is that forced circumcision violates human rights. I hope this story will help convince some people of that in a way that words alone cannot.”
But according to the Jewish Journal's Jonah Lowenfeld, "The second issue of 'Foreskin Man' depicts Monster Mohel as a dark-haired, wild-eyed man toting glistening scissors. Foreskin Man is a blond-haired muscle-bound superhero, complete with a cape. Check it out," his report said.