Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head in the push for a ban on circumcision in San Francisco, mostly in the form of the bill’s sponsor. His comic book, “Foreskin Man,” carries the same tired stereotypes we’ve seen over the centuries.
The Los Angeles Times ran a story focusing on the anti-Semitism of the comic book.
The image of a bearded, black-hatted Jew with an evil grin and a bloody blade seems straight out of the annals of classic European anti-Semitism.
In this case, however, it is straight out of the pages of a comic book that landed in the middle of a campaign to outlaw circumcision in San Francisco for males under the age of 18. “Foreskin Man,” featuring a blond, buff hero who battles dark, evil Jewish characters, has added a strange and possibly sinister element to the November initiative campaign, which was already heated.
[…] In the comic, the blond superhero takes on “Monster Mohel” — a bearded, black-hatted man wearing a prayer shawl. In the traditional Jewish community, a mohel is a person trained to perform circumcisions. The “Monster Mohel,” who leers as he sets after a baby with bloody scissors, is flanked by gun-toting henchmen dressed in the traditional clothes of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Most of the “good” characters in the book have blond or light-brown hair and features that might be termed Aryan.
Meanwhile, the New York Times concentrated on—the fact that the circumcision ban movement is gaining adherents. Here is all they had to say about the vile images in the comic:
Mr. Hess also writes an online comic book, “Foreskin Man,” with villains like “Monster Mohel.” On Friday, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement saying the comic employed “grotesque anti-Semitic imagery.”
They quote liberally from Hess, who didn’t have the balls speak to the L.A. Times in response to their article on his use of age-old anti-Semitic stereotypes in the comic, though he did tell the blogger who first reported his disgusting comic book that he doesn’t see it as anti-Semitic. Of course not. They never do. He seems utterly unaware that “Monster Mohel” is an anti-Semitic image.
I think Hess is a liar. He chose those images deliberately. They didn’t just happen. Artists know exactly what they’re doing when they create an image that is intended to provoke a response. So the question is, is Hess an anti-Semitic liar, or just a publicity-seeking liar who doesn’t care that he’s utilizing anti-Semitic imagery? Either way, he’s down in the gutter with the likes of LaTuff.
Despicable.
Muslims also engage in ritual circumcision and I read somewhere, no idea if it’s true, that something like 70 % of all men in the world who are circumcised are Muslims. I am interested to see if the next edition of the comic book deals with that.
My family isn’t Jewish, but myself and my brother are circumcised – because our father wasn’t. His opinion was that it is better for health reasons, and had us circumcised under that criteria.
My son’s pediatricitian, a woman, breathed a sigh of relief when I told her that yes, we wanted him circumcised, she said it was best for the child, and felt strongly about it and ended up in a lot of arguments with parents about it.
My point? From a health viewpoint, circumcision IS the best option – therefore opposition to it cannot be from that perspective, therefore it MUST be anti-Semetism…
Whether or not it’s antisemitic, and I believe it is, it is certainly in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, so if it passes it ought to be struck down the first time it’s challenged. Of course the Ninth Circuit often seems to pay little attention to what the Constitution actually says, so it might go all the way to the Supreme Court. That’s one reason why Ninth Circuit decisions are so often overturned by the higher court.