More severely problematic statements made by Miriam Libicki

The Comics Journal, quite a leftist periodical for many years, interviewed artist Miriam Libicki, whose own far-left viewpoints continue to be display here, and a number of her comments regarding the VanCAF scandal are, at this point, quite stupefying. First, let's take another look at Libicki's description of events, which continue to be rather ambiguous:

The statement that VanCAF put out alludes to the first of two incidents that happened in 2022. Do you know what that incident was? And can you describe it for me?

I do know what it was. It was an incident at the end of the show where two people walked by my table. They just saw some of my book covers: they saw the cover of Jobnik!, and they saw the cover of Toward a Hot Jew, which was then still in print, and both of those depict Israeli soldiers on the cover.

Without picking up the books, they pointed at them and they said, “Is this anti-Zionist?” And I started to try to explain my work and myself, but all I got out was “No, it's not anti-Zionist.” And then they said, “That's good,” and they ran away. And then later I found out that immediately after running away from my table, what they had done was they went to a volunteer and started screaming about, “How was somebody like me allowed to exhibit that; It was a Zionist propaganda; that it was like having the KKK at the festival,” and numerous other things. And they were screaming and cursing at a young volunteer. And then the festival directors stepped in and they screamed and cursed at them also. And then a couple more people were screamed and cursed at by them before they left, but they never screamed and cursed at me. It was a very, very quick interaction that I had with them in which they did not pick up the books or look through them or anything. So that was 2022.

So you found out about all of that secondhand? Somebody else told you about it?

Yeah, somebody else told me about it.

Who was it that told you?

One of the festival organizers who had been screamed at, they told us about it at the show. One of [the festival organizers] came by our table and said, “You are going to need to submit copies of your book to the board.” But I didn't even know that they were serious. Like, I had copies of the book on the table, but they did not try to take the copies of the book that were on the table. They just said this thing. And then kind of smiled and walked away.

So then, another one of the guests of the con who had nothing to do with me, but for some reason had also been screamed at – I went up and talked to them at the end of the show, and introduced myself, and was like, “I heard somebody screamed at you about me.” And I had a nice but confused conversation with that person. So I did hear about it from multiple people at the show, but I didn't see it myself.

It sounds an awful lot like the offenders - who curiously continue to go unidentified - employed some kind of psychological warfare strategy to turn the managers they screamed at against Libicki, in another example of victim-blaming. Simultaneously, it also strongly suggests the managers and their board of directors are sorely lacking in confidence, one more reason why they initially took such a pathetic approach before reversing. That's hardly the kind of example that would suit adventure comics of decades past emphasizing heroism. As for how Libicki handled all this more recently, here's where it gets disturbing when they discuss more about the staff's request to review her books:

What happened at that meeting in February?

First they told us that, because the people who made the complaint hadn't read the book, it wasn't our fault [and that] those people have actually been banned from the festival. But they were saying that it's a very sensitive time and that those weren't the only complaints. And we said, okay, what were the substance of the other complaints? And they wouldn't tell us. They were like, “Times are just very sensitive, and Israel is committing war crimes.”

And we were like, okay, but I'm not responsible for what Israel is doing. I didn't try to argue back that Israel's position was okay. That's not something that I can do anything about. And I told them that the one book that was already out of print, so I wouldn't have that at the table anyways. And they were like, “Well, we would like you to not display Jobnik!, and not display any IDF imagery. We didn't realize that you were promoting this book about a Holocaust survivor, because actually we didn't read your application.” Like, during that meeting, they told me that they didn't read my application for 2024.

Just to clarify, they had rejected your application and they were now saying that they didn't read it?

Yes. So then they were like, “We do think that is an important book.” Basically they offered me a deal. They said, we will give you a half table if you don't have Jobnik!, and if you don't display any IDF imagery, which I guess there is one background backdrop I have that is based on the book cover. So that could be construed as displaying IDF imagery. So again, it seemed like I was being singled out, but on the other hand, my partner and I had already discussed maybe retiring Jobnik! from shows for a while, because it is an older book. And we also did know that people are rightfully very sensitive. They're seeing terrible imagery of IDF soldiers, and these things that Israel is actually doing. So we understand why people are upset by that, especially now. So we were like, yeah, we're okay with that. We're okay with not selling the book. We want to focus on the newer book. We don't want it to be a distraction. We don't want to have confrontations at our table. So we agreed, and then they agreed that we could have a half table.

I'm sorry, but excuses are unbecoming. The staff apparently took a position favorable to Hamas, and adding insult to injury, Libicki was perfectly okay with censoring her book? That's pretty much what they did and she went along with, certainly initially. And to make matters worse, in all her unadulterating leftism, she wouldn't even defend Israel and make clear it was the Hamas who attacked first on October 7, 2023, graphically raping and murdering over 1,200 people that very day. If any specific staffers at VanCAF favored Hamas, they do not belong in the comics medium, period, and those who resigned couldn't have done so soon enough. Their positions desecrate the memory of past Jewish comics creators like Siegel, Shuster, Lee and Kirby. For the record, as this Tablet article indicates, such blacklisting as Libicki nearly encountered isn't new, and only the tip of the iceberg. Are we to assume the VanCAF staffers who caused this whole scandal are also among the leftist deniers of the sexual violence that took place? To make matters worse, the convention's attendants this year sure seem pretty creepy:

So tell me about the confrontation that happened in 2024.

At the show, two days minus one half hour of the festival went by very unevenly. I sold almost all the copies [of my book]. There were plenty of people wearing Palestine pins, wearing keffiyehs, and slogans on their shirts. And I had no problem with them because I don't have a problem with people protesting, and they had no problem with me. Nobody questioned me about my identity or my politics.

And then half an hour before the end of the show, two people came by my table, and first they started asking about screen prints. And I talked to them about the process of screen printing. They thanked me for my advice, and they started to walk away. And then one of them turned around and said, “Aren't you Miriam Libicki who does Jobniki?” Which is not the name of my comic, but I knew what she meant. And I said yes. And then this person started on a new attack, and was asking all kinds of leading questions about why my army comics weren't out. And when I kind of admitted that VanCAF had asked me not to [display them], they were kind of trying to draw me out: “Didn't I think I had been censored, didn't I think I had been silenced?” And I really didn't know where they were coming from. I thought perhaps they were a Jewish person who was more right wing than me or something.

But I was kind of just trying to give polite answers without committing to anything they were saying. And they were like, “Do you know there's a table in the other room which is, like, covered with Palestine flags and stuff?” And I was like, okay, that's fine. And they're like, “But they're taking people's signatures, and they're taking people's names.” And I said, okay – like, I really don't know what this has to do with me. I was trying to be like, “I guess if that disturbed you, I understand why you're disturbed by it. It's a tough time for people who have ties to Israel. I kind of think that for me, the best thing is just to keep my head down and hope things get better.” And that's what I said to them. And then they smiled and walked away. And then like five minutes after that, Robin McConnell comes up to my table and he says, “What did you tell those girls, Miriam?” And that is when I realized it was the same two people from 2022, and that I hadn't recognized them. But then when he said that, I made the connection.

Before we get to more on how the 2 disgusting troublemakers showed up again despite claims they'd been thrown out 2 years prior, that anybody would show up at a festival like this carrying Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags and scarves similar to what the horrific jihadist Yasser Arafat wore leaves a very bad aftertaste, and compounds my decision that, were I traveling to Canada today, I would not set foot in VanCAF even if they offered me free bags of money along with comics. Whoever the staffers are who allowed this are truly disgraceful people, especially if it turns out Israeli flags aren't allowed there, nor Armenian flags, recalling they're another country that's been persecuted by the Religion of Peace, and a victim of the Ottoman Islamic Empire during WW1. As I may have mentioned before, based on what Libicki's telling here, it's doubtful she'd ever agree to participate in developing a GN about Medz Yeghern, and she likely won't collaborate on a GN about October 7, 2023 either. Not even a GN project about September 11, 2001 and its victims, Betty Mahmoody, or even the Ajmer serial rape case in India back in 1992. The way Libicki describes people at a table with PLO flags "taking names" is ambiguous, but it could be what was meant was that they were signing anti-Israel petitions, which makes this whole affair additionally chilling. And when Libicki didn't provide the answers the infiltrators wanted, that's what the 2 or 3 creeps used as their excuse for repeat offending. Yet exact identities are kept concealed, and Libicki seems driven by anti-conservative ideologies.

Also fascinating - she thought the creeps were right-wing Israelis?!? I get this weird feeling she's distorting and covering something up here or telling the magazine something they'd want to hear from a leftist viewpoint; I don't know. It sounds like her apparent hatred of right-wingers and/or patriotic Israelis is getting the better of her, and if they really were pro-Israeli passers-by, why would they take any positions that're hostile to Israel? Simply bizarre.

So at this point, do you have any idea who those people are?

No, and in fact, I still don't. It's something I'm kind of trying to figure out, although I don't really want to dig around. I don't know. I feel digging around might make me insane.

Basically what happened is after they left my table, they did the same scene as 2022. They went to organizers, they went to the staff of the convention center, which is why that location is mentioned in the statement. And again were just screaming and cursing people out – not me, screaming and cursing other people out, to the point where they were becoming really aggressive. Apparently they were cursing in front of one staffer's small child, and they were physically removed by security. So again, I didn't witness this, but was told this afterwards by different people who had seen it.

What did Robin say to you then when he came to your table?

He said, “What did you say to them?” And then I was like, oh my God, it was those two. He was angry at me, as if I had fallen for something. And I was just trying to rack my brain for what I might have said that was incriminating. And so I told him that the festival told me not to display things. And at one point I might have said I'm pro-Israel and pro-peace. I don't think I would even necessarily have said I'm pro-Israel. To somebody who was coming from the left, I wouldn't necessarily describe myself that way, but I thought I was talking to someone who was a lot more right wing than me and maybe Jewish. And so I said pro-peace, but pro-Israel, and that was the closest to some sort of Zionist statement that I could have gotten. And he seemed angry that I had said that. But when I asked him what happened, he just walked away and he wouldn't answer me.

My spouse [Mike Yoshioka] went to go talk to Robin, and then Robin just screamed and yelled at him, and was saying that he [Robin] got yelled at because of me. And he was saying, “If Miriam doesn't have the proper responses to these things, then this is going to keep happening.” But Mike said, “You told us that those people were banned and they couldn't come back to VanCAF.” And Robin's like, “Well, we can't watch the doors. Like, we can't check everybody coming in.” So he was blaming me for speaking to them, but not not saying that the show had any responsibility.

Mike also found Jarett and tried to ask Jarett what happened, and Jarett said, “I can't talk to you right now.” So Mike talked to staff at the Roundhouse, and that's when he got more details. And then I later heard from other people who had been nearby and had seen the scene.

Interesting. It sounds like the staff never made any attempts even before this to have the majority of entrances closed, so they could conduct security checks more easily. Put another way, they're lazy, plain and simple. Is that a good example of management? I don't think so. And the left-wing viewpoints continue to be espoused. Later, when Libicki talks about the embarrassment of the announcements VanCAF made, she said:

Did you try to reach Robin or Jarrett after that statement came out?

No, I didn't send an email. I keep Shabbat, so it was almost sunset at that point. All I did was send a DM to the Instagram account of VanCAF and I said, “Please stop people tagging me and saying my name in your post.” And then took my Instagram to private, because I was just really frightened – like, people were already naming me and I was being tagged by people I didn't know. On that day I texted Mike. That's the only person.

I read in another article linked here that she's ostensibly religiously observant. Pretty weird for somebody who's supposedly reading the Torah/Bible - if she actually does - to be taking standings hurtful and delegitimizing to Israel, laced with the moral equivalence of a "two-state solution" that absolves Islam of anything wrong, and quite possible any religious observance on her part is all for the sake of virtue-signaling, which she seems to revel in regardless.

What's your sense of where things stand now? I mean, do you consider this an apology, or are you trying to do more at this point?

I think that it's a start. I think it's a necessary start, but that more definitely has to happen. This amount of transparency is not going to work. At least I need to know who's on the board.

But on the other hand, I think that a lot of people I wasn't in touch with were calling for VanCAF to lose their city funding and federal funding. And I really object to that, because I remember before VanCAF existed there wasn't a really great indie community in Vancouver, and there is quite an indie community [now]. And VanCAF in its inception, for the first eight, 10 years it ran, was a wonderful show. It was one of our favorite shows of the year. We really consider it our home show. I really fear that if people are going after the funding of VanCAF, once you take that away, it's really hard to get it back.

So to be clear, you’re not calling for any kind of protest.

No, I don't think a protest or boycott is the way to go. I think that they've shown that they're willing to reform, and so we're waiting to see if they really are able to be accountable and to prove that they have changed their ways so that VanCAF can continue, so that we can continue to have a good indie show in Vancouver.

I think her forgiving the VanCAF bunch has what to do with her leftist loyalties, and despite what's emphasized here, the chances VanCAF's staff will reform to the point they'll be willing to welcome right-wingers, pro-Israeli sources, 9-11 Families for a Safe America, cartoonists like Charlie Hebdo's in France, openly Republican supporters and maybe even Salman Rushdie, if it matters, are close to zero. Libicki certainly doesn't make the case for them, and continues to be quite the leftist.

So your goals at this point – you would like to have more transparency to the extent of at least knowing who's on the board. What else are the outcomes that you're trying to get?

Well, I think that I would like them to take some public actions showing that they've learned from this and that even if they are brigaded and dogpiled again, that they'll know how to deal with it, and why what they did was not the right action. They'll have plans for what to do instead, and they'll be open with the community about what mistakes were made and how they will operate differently in the future. I think that has to be a public process now. And because I think there probably will be backlash in the so-called activist left community, they'll have to be able to show that they can deal with that, that they are able to stand up to a backlash if they want to have a comic festival in this day and age that truly represents the community.

Unfortunately again, the chances they'll be willing to work with openly right-wing creators is next to nothing, and if Chuck Dixon isn't invited, that's yet another example of where they continue to stand. So is she talking about the whole community? Not really. But interesting that she mentions leftist activists, because that's actually those who've been responding to the scandal based on Libicki's politics being more aligned with theirs.

Is there anything else you want to add at this point?

I feel like I need to get the word out that my IDF service happened 24 years ago. It happened from 2000 to 2002. Indeed I was not drafted. I did volunteer because I had received my citizenship after my 18th birthday. So I did volunteer for the service, but the service I did was the same service and I was the same age as Israelis who were drafted. And my reasons for joining the Army at the time – I was already in the pro-peace camp. I already believed that Israel and Palestinians needed to both have human rights and self-determination in that land. But at the time, it was more about having a sense of belonging and proving that I could belong. A way to prove that I could be a real Israeli, too if all of the real Israelis had to go into the draft.

And when I joined in the summer of 2000, there was still a peace process in place. It was during the Oslo peace process which, you know, wasn't perfect, but it was the negotiated peace process between leaders of Israel and leaders of the Palestinian people. And then Second Intifada started two months into my service, and that's kind of the backdrop of Jobnik! I was never a right winger, I never planned to be part of an occupying force. For some people, military service anywhere in the world is beyond the pale. And that's fair. But if I can set the record straight about when and what my army service was, I want to get that out there.

Do you feel in general that your Army service or your position on Israeli and Palestinian politics are valid grounds to decide whether you should be at the festival?

I think that if my IDF service in 2000 is grounds for barring me from a festival, then anybody who served in any military in the world ... because all militaries commit violence and injustice. Canada was part of the invasion of Afghanistan. The US invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan, and other places. Unjustifiably, many places in Central America. So if when you served doesn't matter, and your current politics doesn't matter, then that disqualifies a lot more people than me.

Yikes...is she saying there was no justification in any way whatsoever for raiding Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban, despite the totalitarian regime they practically reestablished after the Biden government's disastrous pullout 3 years ago? This has to be the most mind-numbing part of the whole interview. At least she admits she's not a right-winger, but she apparently believes anybody with such politics is nothing more than barbaric conquestors, while blotting out the bigger pictures, with the worst part being she strongly implied she believes Israel is evil. What this means, worst of all, is that she has no concerns about Islam's own atrocities that she accuses the west of. I guess this also means she's got no issues with the huge disaster for women's rights the botched Afghanistan withdrawal resulted in, among other horrors. And what's this about "real" Israeli? Even that's jumbled up, as is the part about her service. Does she also believe the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose the despot Manuel Noriega was wrong, ditto the defeat of Saddam Hussein? And she doesn't seem to actually mention or address the issue of October 7, 2023, if at all. No wonder I'd rather not spend money on her GNs, and no sensible person should work with her either.

Now, coverage of this incident in the comics specialty press has been rather unsurprisingly muted, but the far-left Comics Beat did write about it, and predictably, their approach is hostile to Israel, and favorable to sources siding with Islam like the BDS movement (or PACBI, another acronym used here for Palestinian Campaign to Boycott Israel). For example:

The specific public safety concerns were unclear in the Accountability Statement but the other references relate to Libicki’s past voluntary service in the Israeli military as a teenager, which were the subject of her self-published graphic memoir jobnik!. Libicki, who comes from a religious Orthodox Jewish background would have been technically exempt from service – which is compulsory for most Israeli citizens on graduation from high school – but volunteered. The period in which Libicki served would later coincide with the outbreak of the Second Palestinian Intifada – also known as the Al Aqsa Intifada – which took place between 2000 and 2005. This period of violent upheaval saw the deaths of over three thousand Palestinians and a thousand Israelis. While her position in the Israeli army was a secretarial one on a remote base, her association with the institution, voluntary enlistment, and it being the setting of her debut work has incensed pro-Palestinian activists.

And this effectively erases any clear understanding of what went on in the early 2000s, like Islamic terrorist attacks. Making things more ambiguous is that they don't even actually make use of the word "terrorists" when referring to "palestinians". This is exactly why Comics Beat is worthless, and it's a wonder their writers are even into the whole medium to begin with, if they're going to make it sound like Israel did worse for no reason, and in doing so, they devalue the lives of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Israeli brethren by obfuscating the seriousness of the issues involved, not making any clear distinction between ordinary Arabs and those who commit terrorist attacks. What even Libicki may not understand is that there's Moslems who don't care whether a book by Israelis sides with their beliefs or not, they'll be hostile even to a left-wing Israeli. It reminds me of recent news of a left-wing IDF soldier named Naama Levy, who sided with the Palestine-fabrication, and was kidnapped and tortured by the Hamas regardless. Point: jihadists like them are completely indiscriminate in whom they attack, including other Moslems, and it makes no difference what the victim's political standings are; what matters is that they're Jews and other "infidels", along with anybody they consider a traitor to the cause of the Religion of Peace.

The CB article also highlights several people who defended Libicki, and who, most unfortunately, are as leftist as she is, and likely only came to her defense because of her politics:

Shortly following VanCAF’s Accountability Statement being issued, members of the comics community spoke out including Derf Backderf, Nate Powell, and MariNaomi – many of whom implied this ban may be considered anti-Semitic.

Backderf, if anybody, is a sadly bad lot himself politically, but what really takes the cake here is when CB's writer downplays the seriousness of any antisemitism involved. Hugely disappointing, but not surprising they'd do that.

According to Powell,

“Their published statement is knowingly incomplete to the point of being misleading & disingenuous – I know this because the blacklisted creator is a good friend of mine, and I’ve been aware of all information & context regarding the last year’s worth of discussion with VanCAF as it developed in real time, including prior to the attacks of Oct. 7th.”

He added,

“The blacklisted creator…discussed and complied with all requested VanCAF concessions (importantly, removing all books & imagery featuring IDF depiction – very reasonable concession in 2024 context, and which I support). Organizers received digital versions of the creator’s recent award-winning work (first person comics narratives directly from Holocaust survivors’ experiences) – but did not download or read the requested work before trying again to deny her a table – still intending to blacklist creator many months ago.

“Even with no IDF-related imagery at the creator’s table, the outbursts of a couple of misguided attendees was the “public safety concern” serving as pretext. The creator had nothing to do with a public safety concern, and the disruption was not even at her table (which had none of the content originally cited as the objectionable issue). VanCAF’s action, including knowingly incomplete & misleading statement afterward, has a hint of antisemitic aftertaste to it – and I know this is likely not their intent. But it is one of the takeaways.”

Well the politics expressed by the staffers who resigned certainly provides evidence something's terribly wrong. Now here's more, and at least 3 more names most should be wary of, who took part in a letter that's otherwise hostile to Israel too:

A letter of protest was submitted by indigenous Canadian creator Alina Pete, and was signed by a number of creators including Alex de Campi, David Brothers, and Reetta Linjama. It said:

“We, the undersigned comics arts professionals, would like to state that we also oppose the current genocide being perpetrated upon the Palestinian people by the state of Israel. However, we see and affirm that there is a clear distinction between the Israeli state and the Jewish people as a whole—even those who have previously served as part of the IDF.”

Adding:

“These guidelines are not a call to boycott all Jewish forms of expression. The PACBI’s guidelines specifically call to “comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions” —i.e., state-sponsored sources of pro-Israeli propaganda. Ms. Libicki is not an Israeli academic, and her publications are not sponsored by the Israeli state. Thus, the PACBI guidelines do not apply to her works.

“It is unconscionable, and frankly anti-Semitic, to bar someone from your convention for simply being Jewish and having personal ties to Israel.”

And what does that mean? That it's okay to be antisemitic towards anybody who does live in Israel? Or that because Libicki doesn't live in Israel and is left-wing, that's why antisemtism should be avoided? That aside, this letter indicates de Campi, already known as quite a far-leftist, and even Brothers is a leftist, who turned against another leftist, C.B. Cebulski. These are most decidedly not people worth supporting, and their approach to the subject is very disappointing too.

So in the end, while VanCAF's initial approach to this whole affair was indeed reprehensible, it's very sad simultaneously that people like Libicki are a very bad lot themselves too, and beyond what happened, it's just not worth supporting their comics. The politics people like her support are offensive and insulting to the intellect, and completely disregard any and all common sense, suggesting that beyond certain topics, she won't address others convincingly, which makes her writings about the WW2 Holocaust unconvincing, because if she doesn't take the issue of Islam seriously, how can we be sure she does take Germany's evil deeds during WW2 seriously? Or even the Viet Cong's during the 1960s in southeast Asia? Such leftists as Libicki are only undermining the ability to confront serious topics clearly, and that's why there's no point in supporting her products.