{"id":44466,"date":"2024-06-14T01:51:42","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T08:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=44466"},"modified":"2024-06-13T09:01:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T16:01:11","slug":"vancaf-apologizes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2024\/06\/14\/vancaf-apologizes\/","title":{"rendered":"VanCAF apologizes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miriam Libicki in 2017, when she was writer-in-residence at the Vancouver Public Library. (photo by Jeff Vinnick\/VPL)<\/i><\/p>\n

The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival (VanCAF) issued a public apology to Miriam Libicki on June 2, eight days after posting online that it was permanently banning the American-Israeli graphic novelist and artist because she had once served in the Israel Defence Forces. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the apology stated, the vast majority of the board of directors who had written the May 25 \u201caccountability statement\u201d \u2013 which banned Libicki from the festival \u2013 have resigned. Those who have remained, the unnamed writers of the apology affirmed, are only there to help assist in the transition to a new board.<\/p>\n

In a June 4 social media post responding to VanCAF\u2019s about-face, Libicki, who resides in Vancouver, wrote, \u201cI applaud this. I applaud the entire board responsible for the first accountability statement (which contained no accountability) resigning.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThis is a really positive and necessary first step. I look forward to a restorative justice process with the new board when there is one, and to see the steps they make to ensure they can act ethically when (and it is a matter of when) a harassment brigade dogpiles again.\u201d<\/p>\n

VanCAF\u2019s original statement, which did not mention Libicki by name \u2013 nor was it signed by anyone on its board \u2013 lamented \u201cthe oversight and ignorance to allow this exhibitor in the festival, not only this year but in 2022 as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Libicki\u2019s appearance at the festival, the former board said, \u201cfundamentally falls in absolute disregard to all of our exhibiting artist\u2019s (sic), attendees and staff, especially those who are directly affected by the ongoing genocide in Palestine and Indigenous community members alike. Upon examining these concerns and conducts, this exhibitor will not be permitted to return to the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to ban Libicki received widespread attention in national and international Jewish and other media. Reports were published by the Canadian Jewish News<\/i>, the Times of Israel<\/i>, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the Jewish News Syndicate, as well as the popular comics website, The Beat<\/i>. According to an article on Vancouver arts and culture website Stir<\/i>, VanCAF was contacted by a lawyer representing Libicki.<\/p>\n

On May 29, VanCAF\u2019s so-called accountability statement was removed from its website and social media accounts.<\/p>\n

VanCAF\u2019s June 2 apology said the organization wished to \u201cexpress deep and sincere apologies for the impact our previous statement has caused. First and foremost, to the individual directly affected by our first post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision was ultimately wrong-headed and moved too quickly and without adequate consultation. We also wish to apologize to the wider impacted community. VanCAF has lost and continues to lose the trust of many we have sought to serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur statement was one that only represented the VanCAF board at the time of writing and had no relationship to the Roundhouse [the festival\u2019s venue], any of our sponsors, or any former staff. It was solely our own statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The apology finished by announcing that the organization was about to change and that it would strive to prioritize the safety of all attendees, volunteers and exhibitors. By the end of summer, it hoped to have a new team in charge of the festival.<\/p>\n

Libicki\u2019s work explores her Jewish identity and the clash of cultures through her own experiences. Her autobiographical comic series, jobnik!<\/i>, which she self-published in 2008, looks at her service in the Israeli army during the Second Intifada.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Toward a Hot Jew<\/i>, published by Fantagraphics in 2016, is a series of graphic essays written over about 10 years, from her time in the IDF to her position as an art professor, and is a mix of autobiography, cultural commentary and analysis. In 2017, she was writer-in-residence at the Vancouver Public Library \u2013 it was the first time the library had chosen a graphic novelist for the position. She was a 2020 nominee for best short story in the Eisner Awards, considered by many to be the most prestigious honour in the comics industry, for her graphic essay, \u201cWho Gets Called an \u2018Unfit\u2019 Mother?\u201d Libicki was one of three graphic novelists selected to tell the stories of four Holocaust survivors in the 2022 book But I Live<\/i>.<\/p>\n