Daniel Schwartz

Not the Israel His Parents Promised

I was never Harvey Pekars biggest fan. He hovered over lifes unremarkable moments in
a way that I found well thoroughly unremarkable. !here is a line between life and art.
"nd when it came to American Splendor the comic#book series for which $r. Pekar is
famous Harvey crossed that line time and time again. Heres Harvey at the drugstore
Harvey getting directions Harvey babysitting%the &arade of unvarnished and frankly
uninteresting anecdotes marched along with an almost methodical disregard for all that is
aesthetic about e'istence.
"nd of course that was &art of the &oint. American Splendor was su&&osed to be about
the life of the everyman de&icted in all his (uotidian glory. Harvey gave us this life. )ut
he never gave us the reason for its de&iction. *ne could argue as Im sure many have
that Harvey aestheticized the unaesthetic sim&ly because it had been neglected for so
long. )ut if thats the case then American Splendor merely serves to remind us of why+ it
does not &ersuade us or at least this reviewer that things ought to be otherwise%that
what we need are more comics about drugstores navigation and babysitting.
,oes of American Splendor and &erha&s some of its fans will take heart in knowing that
Harvey Pekars latest -and last. work Not The Israel My Parents Promised Me is not like
this. It takes u& the weighty theme -a theme/. of Harveys evolving and oftentimes
ambivalent attitude toward 0ionism. !he story is set in Philly where Harvey and 1!
2aldman the books resourceful illustrator are discussing their forthcoming gra&hic
novel%the one youre reading. "s the two roam about Harveys hometown they consider
what it would take for readers to emerge with a big#&icture &ers&ective on the 1ews the
State of Israel and the relationshi& of both to the author.
!he book delivers on this weaving together anecdotes from Harveys 1ewish u&bringing
and highlights -flash&oints mostly. from the history of the 1ewish &eo&le. !he yarn that
emerges is e(ual &arts Hebrew School and 3hmelnytsky. )ut the effect is something
more4 an evocation of the historicized 1ewish consciousness. Incidents from Harveys
own life are here transvalued into continuations of a centuries#long struggle for 1ewish
continuity. !hus 5omes con(uest of Palestine follows on the heels of Harveys torah
reading the authors &resent taking on the drama of his &eo&les &ast.
It is in this conte't that Israel emerges%a symbol of 1ewish endurance after so many
years of &redation. !he States mythic dimension its aura of historical vindication comes
across with an earnestness usually relegated to 0ionisms religious ranks. In this way $r.
Pekar does the 1ewish narrative admirable 6ustice even as he goes on to (uestion the
entitlements of its &rotagonists.
7uestioning is eventually established as the novels central motif one that gains
&rominence during Harveys account of !he Si'#Day 2ar and ultimately sets the tone for
the remainder of his reminiscences. 2ith the end of 89 Israel went :on to take the ;olan
Heights from Syria !he 2est )ank<from 1ordan and most of the Sinai Peninsula from
=gy&t.> 2hile Harvey remembers being &roud of Israel for winning against all odds he
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Daniel Schwartz
also recalls being disconcerted by his @eftist friends those who wondered whether :the
"rabs living over there> would ever get :a fair shake.>
)ut des&ite the land#for#&eace theories that might have given them one the Palestinians
:were so humiliated by the war> that they refused to negotiate. !hen came the 1ewish
settlers who with )egins blessing began moving into the *ccu&ied !erritories
sabotaging Israels :best chance for lasting &eace.> Harvey goes on to denounce the
continuing occu&ation the settlements and the increasing chauvinism of Israels
*rthodo' when it comes to things like marriage and conversion. His criticisms are
common&lace though no less damning as a result. @ess common&lace is his frank
uncom&romising tone. Heres Harvey &utting things &lainly as only he can4
I know that we 1ews have been the most viciously &ersecuted ethnic grou& to
survive. 2e were scattered from our homeland yet after ABBB years weve come
back to regain some of it. )ut the Palestinian "rabs are not going anywhere. !heir
ancestors lived on the same land. !hey still live in Palestine. "nd as long as they
do they will fight for inde&endence.
It is shortly thereafter that Harvey makes his most sobering observation%that :the
1ews<are not making a serious effort to come u& with a two#state solution.> *f course
this view and this &ortion of the book in general will draw fire from the usual corners for
the usual reasons. In fact this is something of which $r. Pekar seems acutely aware and
may e'&lain his re&eated attem&ts at &reem&tion. "t one &oint 1! 2aldman warns
:Peo&le will 6ust say youre heckling from the sidelines and that your &oint of view is
skewed and negative.> :,ind me a te'tbook or newscaster who isnt biased> Harvey
retorts.
In another of these self#conscious moments 1! asks :how CdoD you<have a two#state
solution when you dont have a &artner on the other sideE> Harveys res&onse4 :2ell
what you do is<you stay out of there and dont go &o&ulating the settlements and the
border with hundreds of thousands of &eo&le they can terrorize/> Harvey doesnt address
all the &oints on which his detractors are likely to har&4 "rafat Hamas !he Second
Intifada Palestinian re6ectionism. )ut he is sure to remind us that :there are &lenty of
other &laces that &eo&le can get a blow#by#blow of historical events> and that he has
intentionally avoided rehashing :every detail of every failed attem&t at &eace over the last
FB years.>
Des&ite the criticisms that can be made%the books highly abbreviated account of
modern Israeli history -&recisely that history on which so many of its arguments de&end.
its omission of Israels many liberal accom&lishments%one finishes with the sense that
Harvey has made his &oint. !his is sim&ly not the Israel his &arents &romised him. !his is
not a country animated by the idealism the Pekars embodied one that combined the
imagining of new social forms%Harveys mother was a Gommunist%with a s&ecial
anti&athy for ethnic o&&ression.
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Daniel Schwartz
Nor is this the country the 1ews seemed to &romise. )y &arents we can take Harvey to
mean his mother and father but we can also take him to mean his 1ewish ancestry.
Harveys disillusionment with the 1ewish State is only e'acerbated by his dee& res&ect
for the 1ewish &eo&le a &eo&le whose commitment to 6ustice he always admired. !he
1ews insofar as Israel re&resents them have not made good on this commitment or at
least not as good as Harvey would have ho&ed. :I thought the 1ews were different> he
muses :straight shooters who would never grab more than what they deserved.>
Harveys &rofound sense of national &ride is unmistakable throughout Not The Israel but
it is a &ride earned through merit.
Some may ob6ect to the standard Harvey holds the 1ews. 2hen he asserts that :Israeli
treatment of Palestinians eats at 1ewish claims of fairness> we may well wonder if
anyone could have fared better. )ut I sus&ect Harvey who died in 1uly of AB?B would
have bristled at this thundering as he does near the end of his book :I do know the
difference between right and wrong.>
Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me
Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman; Epilogue written by Joyce Brabner
Hardcover
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Hill and Wang
7/3/2012
Hardcover
ISBN !7"0"0!0!#"20
ISBN10 0"0!0!#"27
$ x ! inc%es, 17$ &ages, Blac'(and(W%ite Illustrations )%roug%out
$24.95
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