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Daily Show references Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Saba’aneh in story on free speech hypocrisy

Jon Stewart’s coverage of “March of the Parisians” on the Daily Show the other night was fantastic. His guest was Jimmy Carter, who was his fabulous self, but for an episode packed with multiple hysterically executed clips (Hassan, the ‘denounciest’ Muslim ever! – see below ), for me at least – Mohammad Saba’aneh‘s flash appearance stole the show. Did you recognize him?

After a brief introduction a mini montage of the crowd pencil-photos appeared with Stewart claiming “the march gave Parisians a chance to introduce a new icon of liberty”, that pencils were “the new symbol of freedom of expression was everywhere.”

"Bow before new Graphite King, be not afraid" Screenshot (2:41)
“Bow before new Graphite King, be not afraid” Screenshot (2:41)

Immediately I thought of Saba’aneh’s timeless 2011 Freedom of Expression cartoon we featured in our first article about Saba’aneh when he was detained by Israel back in February 2013.

Stewart emphasized the flagrant hypocrisy of world leaders attending the march, whose regimes are complicit in gross violations of human rights pertaining to the suppression of free speech. Ticking off the names countries — Russia, Egypt, Turkey, blogger-flogging Saudi Arabia, he referenced Israel (renowned for the arrests, imprisonment, and murder of journalists) with a quote “Palestinian cartoonist…work landed him in an Israeli Prison for five months” .. all of the sudden the image jumped off my screen, of the very person on my mind just seconds before; Mohammad Saba’aneh.

Screen shot: The Daily Show January 12, 2015
Screen shot: The Daily Show January 12, 2015

Certainly I am not the only person reminded of Saba’aneh in the wake of the attack. However, I wonder if Stewart even knows his name or what an incredibly prolific and versatile artist he is. I wondered if he had ever seen any of Saba’aneh’s cartoons?

Perhaps John Stewart could interview Mohammad Saba’aneh on the Daily Show! Or make a movie about just one of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners locked away in Israeli jails as we speak. Saba’aneh was returning from Jordan when he was picked up by Israel, for the crime of contacting a publisher about a book on Palestinian prisoners. He is a threat to Israel’s security because his ideas, like his cartoons, are dangerous precisely because his mind is unleashed, in Free Reign.

Don’t miss this episode. Jimmy Carter talks about Palestinians, and Stewart along with his team of comedians, Jason, Hassan and Jessica do a mock up on the ridiculous requirement – no, the demand – of moderate Muslims to “unequivocally condemn” the Hebdo massacre that’s worthy of its own coverage. Which reminds me, someone ask Saba’aneh to condemn the recent attack, graciously, he complied.

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I have the impression that there are many in the U.S. media who would like to bring up the facts about the radical, extremist Jewish supremacists who run Israel, but who are afraid to do so. This would make sense since they simply cannot all be so blind to this glaring reality. But the megaphones go to the Joe Scarboroughs and Bill Mahers who are hammering the focus on Islam’s radicals.

Here and there however, cracks on this monolithic control of America’s and Europe’s press are occurring. Lawrence O’Donnell last night mentioned the existence of extremist Jews. He did not go into the implications, but it was a crack. Comedians like John Stewart get a bit of leeway since, by definition, comedians are not to be taken seriously.

The squashing of so many glaring facts in this central discussion is itself evidence of the tremendous power wielded by the financial forces behind the Jewish supremacists of Israel. The blanket of fear covering Americans and Europeans, the suppression of honest discussion, and the attendant destruction of democracy (which depends on free speech) are the huge, unspoken collateral damage of the “Zionist project”.

The tragedy of the Nazi Holocaust, which also targeted many millions beyond Jews, is NO justification for the massive injustice and cruelty perpetrated by these radical, extremist Jewish supremacists. Their actions were planned before the Nazis came to power, during a time when Jews were assimilating successfully across Europe.

The Israelis have no sense of irony. Today they demanded an apology from a British cartoonist for drawinga pic of Netanyahu bulding a wall out of palestinians and blood. Isn’t freedom of speech the reason Netanyahu went to France? Media baron Rupert Murdoch has apologized for a Sunday Times cartoon depicting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall using blood-red mortar, an image Jewish leaders said was reminiscent of anti-Semitic propaganda. You can offend Muslims but not Jews

I wonder if zionists tune out stewart, just like i do FOX.

Hey Annie, I too thought of Mohammed Saba’aneh very recently and wondered what had happened to him. I follow him on twitter but don’t see him there so thanks for the links as I’ve now seen his most recent work. I hope he doesn’t mind, but I use his ‘Dreaming of Freedom’ for my Facebook and Twitter, plus another one of his for the banner: the first one ever since they incarcerated him. I used to love watching The Daily Show, but unfortunately, we can’t get it in England anymore, and I’m not allowed to watch it online either. I remember when Anna Baltzer was on with Mustafa Barghouti trying my hardest to find it on the internet; I was finally able to when an American living in the UK and an obvious internet ‘whizkid’ posted it. Thanks Annie for easing my mind on this one.

PPS. I’ve just realised that I think I can get it but have to pay more! I’ll look into it.