Boycotters beware: A blueand- white spandex-clad kosher superhero is on the
scene, ready to defend Israel from the villains of delegitimization
worldwide.
While it’s still unclear if he will be faster than a speeding
Tel Aviv cab driver, more powerful than a Merkava tank, or able to leap the
Azrieli towers in a single bound, “Captain Israel,” created by international
Israel advocacy group Stand With Us, is a new, unabashedly Zionist addition to
the Jewish superhero pantheon.
RELATED:Hillel’s open tent#FreeHasbaraThe creation of artist Arlen Schumer bears
a strong resemblance to Captain America, except the famous adamantium bullseye
shield is replaced by a gleaming Magen David, and the boychik wields what
appears to be a flaming menora-topped staff into battle. He also sports a rather
goyische nose, and it’s unclear whether his spandex head covering conceals a
“Jewfro.”
Roz Rothstein, the CEO of Stand With Us, told The Jerusalem
Post on Sunday that the comic book was being developed at this point in time
because “as Israel’s Jewish connection to Israel and the land is always being
challenged, we wanted to reestablish our Jewish roots and make sure that
everyone understood the history, stuff we know and take for granted and that
others try to chip away at.”
She said the comic was devoted to
“establishing a hero, establishing roots, [and] countering the venomous BDS
movement.
We’re in the business of branding the movement so that it’s
clear that the players that promote boycotting Israel are not
well-intentioned.”
Indeed, in the unreleased second issue, Captain Israel
will face his first arch-nemesis as he “exposes the extremists behind the
Venomous Snake Charmer BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions),” a sharp-fanged
serpent meant to represent the world’s supporters of the BDS movement against
Israel.
Rothstein said that while the other arch-enemies have not been
developed, “right now the BDS enemy is a venomous snake. We’re beginning with
that, and will get to different attacks against Jews and the legitimacy of
Israel.”
She said the depiction of such opponents as arch-villains was
meant “to point out that these guys are not well-meaning, they don’t care about
peace and coexistence, they only care about ripping apart an existing nation
among the family of nations.”
The comic book’s first issue was released
in a limited run to attendees of Stand With Us’s annual Festival of Lights event
on December 12. This week they’ve decided to begin promoting the first issue,
which focuses on an interpretation of Jewish history and the events that led to
Israel’s founding, as well as the subsequent wars with the neighboring Arab
states.
The history lesson is narrated by Captain Israel, who “was there
when Jewish civilization and national identity were founded 3,000 years ago in
the land of Israel.”
While he does appear to be immortal, it is still
unclear what Captain Israel’s super powers are.
“He’s evolving, he has
super wisdom and super powers and he is an inspiration and a witness to every
time people stand up to do things that are unjust or unfair, and inspires people
to stand up for the State of Israel,” Rothstein said.
According to
Rothstein, the comic’s text comes directly from Stand With Us educational
material, including their “Israel 101” package and other material posted by the
group online.
When asked if the comic book could be seen as propaganda
directed at children, she said, “There’s room for a hero that can make it right
and make it okay to stand up for the State of Israel, a superhero to bring out
the hero in all of us.”
The character also bears a certain resemblance to
Israel Man, a character created by Jewish comic book artist Eli Valley as a sort
of parody of the image of the “new Israeli Jew” vs the sickly, state-less
Diaspora Jew.
Like Captain Israel, the strong-jawed Israel Man has an
athletic physique “sun-bronzed from fields of farming and battle,” a sharp
contrast to his sidekick, “Diaspora Boy,” who carries a “spine crushed from
centuries of servility and self-hatred.”
Valley, whose work is published
in the Forward, told the Post on Sunday that he had heard about the Captain
Israel comic from friends, and received a copy by mail late last
week.
“If this is meant for kids, it’s a bit disturbing, but I understand
that all peoples need a hero narrative to teach,” he said, adding that “all
cultures have a very monochromatic narrative they teach their young to inculcate
pride or patriotism and leave out nuance.”
Valley said that “my comic
lampoons the internal Zionist narrative of the realized Israeli Jew replacing
the Diaspora Jew, a narrative the Jewish community teaches itself to this day.
In that respect, it’s different than Captain Israel, which doesn’t focus on
internal Jewish self-conception.
“Still, Israel Man embodies a hubris
Captain Israel only implicitly alludes to – the dangers that an arrogant,
all-knowing, confidence-awash warrior can bring to the Jewish people. Both of our
comics touch on the idea of a golem – but whereas Captain Israel confines itself
to the golem’s miraculous strength, Israel Man focuses on the dangers the golem
can bring to Jewish existence.”
Valley said he had no problem with comics
being used for politics, calling them “an amazing medium” and citing the long
history of comic books in political and ideological campaigns against communism,
Nazis, drugs, crime and a vast array of other issues.
Where Captain
Israel fits in the long history of Jewish comic book heroes, both political and
non-political, remains to be seen.