Grapevine: To the bare bones

“Dry Bones” returns today to The Jerusalem Post, where the cartoon that is syndicated worldwide was first conceived.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Dan Schechtman and King Carl XVI Gustav 311 (photo credit: (Courtesy Technion spokesman’s office))
Dan Schechtman and King Carl XVI Gustav 311
(photo credit: (Courtesy Technion spokesman’s office))
AFTER A hiatus of several years, “Dry Bones” returns today to The Jerusalem Post, where the cartoon that is syndicated worldwide was first conceived. Creator Yaakov Kirschen is particularly pleased to be back because he says that the Post is Dry Bones’ true home.
Kirschen originally used the cartoon as a means of commenting on current affairs, but in recent years it has taken on an additional dimension in that it has become an introductory tool on his international lecture circuit. Kirschen explains how cartoons are used to transmit anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel messages beyond the obvious stereotyped images. He teaches his audiences how to recognize subtle racism in cartoons and recently returned from China where he was involved in an indepth pilot project to create awareness of xenophobic cartoons.
In February 2012, Kirschen will receive the Golden Pencil Award at a ceremony at the Israeli Cartoon Museum in Holon, where an exhibition of his cartoons will be displayed.
There will also be a catalogue in both tactile and digital form. The digital catalogue will be sent to other museums around the world, some of which will download the catalogue and create exhibitions similar to that in Holon. Unlike paintings, where the original work is so much more highly regarded than prints and lithographs, cartoons, because they are created for newspapers and magazines, do not necessarily have to be displayed in their original form, though collectors do go wild for the originals.
■ DECEMBER 16 commemorates the 20th anniversary of the repeal of the infamous United Nations Resolution 3379 that equated Zionism with racism. The image of Israel’s ambassador to the UN tearing up the resolution in front of an assembly of the plenum remains engraved in the Israeli psyche.
The anniversary may be overlooked by many people, but certainly not by Ambassador of the Netherlands Caspar Veldkamp who, at a meeting Thursday with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and ambassadors and cultural attachés of other countries said that the anniversary merits attention because the initial resolution was the ultimate in Israel-bashing in international forums. It is therefore all the more important that the text was finally revoked after persistent efforts said Veldkamp, adding that the international community must remain alert and active against Israel-bashing in the UN and elsewhere. The focus, he said, should be on getting Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate and move forward together.
■ WHEN IT comes to saving a child’s heart, political, religious and ethnic issues simply don’t apply. What’s important to the doctors and nurses involved is making sure that a sick child will become a healthy child and grow to be a healthy adult.
To draw attention to this, Save a Child’s heart is hosting a joint Israeli-Palestinian photography project at the Jewish Arab Community Center at 109 Kedem Street, Jaffa. The project is under the auspices of the European Union’s Partnership for Peace Program. The opening, on Monday at 10 a.m., will be attended by Ambassador Andrew Standley, the head of the delegation of the European Union in Israel.
■ NOBEL PRIZE laureate Prof. Dan Schechtman and his wife, Prof. Tzipi Schechtman, will always be remembered by Sweden’s king and queen. At the dinner-dance following the Nobel Prize ceremony, the Schechtmans were engaged in conversation with King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Sylvia.
The king was fascinated by the pendant worn by Tzipi Schechtman. The queen also admired it and the king asked where it had been bought because he wanted to buy one like it for Her Majesty. Dan Schechtman said that he had made it for his wife and offered to make one for the queen. The king immediately accepted the offer.
But jewelry is not all that Schechtman is giving away. When he met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, he brought him a tie patterned with quasi-crystals inspired by his research. Netanyahu wore the tie at a cabinet meeting on Sunday and again on Monday at a meeting in his office with Dominic Barton, a senior partner with McKinsey and Company. Barton complimented him on the tie and Netanyahu explained how Schechtman had remained true to his theory even though it had been rejected and even denigrated by other famous scientists.
Netanyahu also told Barton how proud he’d been to wear the tie at the cabinet meeting because of what it symbolized. Barton fell in love with the whole concept – so much so that Netanyahu, in a magnanimous gesture, removed the tie from around his neck and gave it to his guest as a gift.
After all, he knows where he can get another one just like it.
■ ALTHOUGH IT is generally acknowledged that Shraga Brosh did an outstanding job as president of the Israel Manufacturers Association, steering Israel’s industry toward new horizons at home and abroad, IMA’s articles of association do not permit him to run for another term. Brosh, who has headed numerous delegations that have accompanied President Shimon Peres on his overseas trips over the past four-and-a-half years, called on Peres a few days before completing office to officially take his leave from his position. The visit to Jerusalem, together with his wife, Tammy, was at the president’s invitation. Aware, from first hand observation, of what Brosh has done for Israel’s economy, Peres wanted to personally thank him on behalf of the nation. Peres commended Brosh on his ability to reach an understanding with the Histadrut labor federation.
He also praised his wisdom, his patience, his determination and his courage, and said that he had been a great blessing to Israel’s economy.
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