Author: Joe Izenman

Banned Egyptian Graphic Novel Back on Cairo Shelves

The banning of cartoons and graphic novels by the foreign regimes they criticize is an all-too-common story. So, it is always a welcome change to report a formerly banned work’s re-release. A once-banned graphic novel that criticized Hosni Mubarak’s government…

French Magazine Charlie Hebdo Sued Over Mohammed Cartoons

News outlets have reported this month that the notoriously controversial French humor magazine Charlie Hebdo is being sued by a pair of Arab rights organizations over caricatures of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, which were published in September. In the wake…

Robie Harris Speaks Up On A Career’s Worth Of Challenges

Robie Harris knows more than most people about book banning. Her children’s books on sexual health and family life are perennial standards on challenged and banned lists across the country, accused of being everything from age-inappropriate to “obvious child pornography.”…

Honest Teen Life Stories Among Frequently Banned & Challenged

Nothing gets a parent quite so anxious as their child’s teen years. Burgeoning adulthood comes with sexual awakening and an introduction to smoking, drinking, and any number of other vices. For many parents it can seem easier to limit a…

French Paper Publishes Editorial Cartoons Depicting Mohammad

On the heels of a week of sometimes-violent protests over the depiction of the prophet Mohammad in the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims, French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo chose to print cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet in its Wednesday issue.…

Nipples: Facebook’s Least Favorite Body Part

What does it take to get The New Yorker banned from Facebook, even for a few hours? Apparently a couple of dots. On the front of a pair of female breasts, of course. Specifically, the following cartoon: Facebook’s banning policies…

Wagner In Israel: The Unofficial Ban

How much should artistic expression be curbed in the name of cultural sensitivity? How long should a dead creator’s works be judged, not on their merits, but on the political inclinations of their maker?

The works of legendary opera composer Richard Wagner have not been performed in the state of Israel, or indeed even pre-Israel, by the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, since the outbreak of World War II.

David Hadju Reads from The Ten-Cent Plague

David Hadju’s 2008 book, The Ten-Cent Plague, portrays the conflict and backlash surrounding the extraordinary popularity of dark horror and noir comics in post-World War II America. He describes the work as a “war story” between two generations, and two…

South African Scuffle Over Controversial Portrait Spurs Debate, Censorship

How far should newspaper editorial go to protect their free speech in the face of business-crippling boycott? What dangerous precedents are set by self-censorship? Ferial Haffajee, editor of the South African City Press, faced these concerns at their most difficult…

Chopped By The Cleaver: One Cartoonist’s Contributions to Libyan Revolution

by Joe Izenman

Freedom of speech is easy to take for granted in the United States. For all the effort we must spend protecting expression in some areas, political cartooning and the ability to poke fun at our own government officials are an accepted fact of life.

So it is easy to forget that even these seemingly basic freedoms — such as the ability to draw a caricature or to create a mocking internet meme out of your head of state — can be a truly remarkable and powerful tool in a dictatorial state. In a recent profile Chris York wrote for Huffington Post UK, longtime Libyan exile and cartoonist Hasan Dhaimish — also known as Alsature, or The Cleavertalks about the life that led him to a career of political irreverence. Click through for excerpts from the article…