‘Antisemitic Bullying’: Comic Book Publisher Cancels Work After Author Refuses to Accuse Israel of ‘Genocide’ | Algemeiner.com
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July 13, 2026 2:00 pm
‘Antisemitic Bullying’: Comic Book Publisher Cancels Work After Author Refuses to Accuse Israel of ‘Genocide’
Illustrative Anti-Israel protesters in Athens, Greece, on May 21, 2026. Photo:
DarkHorse Comics, thethird-largest comic book publisherin the United States behindMarvel and DC, has canceledthe publication of a bookby a Holocaust scholarafter he refused to includean introduction accusingIsrael of “genocide,” accordingto the Jewish advocacyorganization StandWithUs, whichcondemned the move in a statementon Sunday
Dark Horsehad scheduled Dr. RafaelMedoff’sCartoonists Against the Holocaust— acollection of 150 editorial cartoonsfrom American newspapers of the1930s and 1940s,accompanied by Medoff’s commentaryon what Americans knewabout the Holocaust as itunfolded — for publication thissummer. According toStandWithUs, then-Dark Horseimprint editor Craig Yoe toldMedoff, the founding directorof the Washington,DC-based David S. WymanInstitute for Holocaust Studies,that he would blockpublication unless the book’sintroduction stated thatIsrael is committing genocide in Gaza.Yoe later followed up in writing, thegroup said, demanding that the bookinclude text accusing Israel of “warcrimes and crimes against humanity” andclaiming that the US operates“concentration camp-style prisons.”
Medoff refused, arguing that the claimsare false, and Dark Horse subsequentlycanceled the project
“Accusing Israelof genocide is a lie, and requiring aHolocaust scholar to denounce Israel tosee his book published is antisemiticbullying,” Medoff said in thestatement. “It’s troubling to seeMcCarthyism rearing its ugly head in21st century America. Historians shouldbe free to write about history, withoutbeing subjected to political litmustests.”
Dark Horse had previouslypublished two of Medoff’s books,WhistleblowersandCartoonists Against Racism, withoutincident. It was only after Hamas’sOct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel,StandWithUs said, that Yoe begandemanding that Medoff denounce Israelas a condition of publication
DarkHorse has disputed that account. In aJune 3 email to StandWithUs cited bythe Israeli news outlet Ynet, thepublisher’s legal counsel said thedecision was based on the company’sfinancial needs and repeated schedulingdelays, and that Dark Horse “does notplan to publish” the book
StandWithUsnoted on Sunday that a number ofinstitutions have demanded that Jewishpublic figures, writers, and artistsdenounce the Jewish state as acondition of being platformed. Earlierthis year, former NorthwesternUniversity president Morton Schapirowas forced to withdraw as acommencement speaker at Georgetown LawSchool, and, as previously reported byThe Algemeiner, the historic PlayhouseCinema in Hamilton, Ontario, canceledthe Hamilton Jewish Film Festival in2024 after anti-Zionist activistsflooded its inboxes with messagesdemanding the cancellation, some ofwhich contained threats.
In anotherrecent example, Israeli filmmaker NadavLapid was forced to withdraw from theFID Marseille film festival, held onJuly 7-12, where he had been invited toserve on the jury, after roughly adozen filmmakers threatened to pulltheir films from the event in protestof his participation
“When a comicbook publisher pressures a Holocaustscholar to denounce the Jewish statebefore his own book on the Holocaustcan see print, the irony is hard tomiss,” Carly Gammill, director of legalpolicy and litigation at StandWithUsSaidoff Law, said in Sunday’sstatement. “We are seeing an alarmingtrend in which Jewish professionals areexpected to pass ideological testsbefore they can fully participate inpublic life.”
She continued, “Whetherin academia, the arts, or publishing,Jewish authors should be evaluated onthe quality of their work — not onwhether they are willing to denounce acore part of their Jewish identity.”
Publishing is not the only sector inwhich Zionist Jews report beingpressured to denounce Israel and facingretaliation when they refuse
Earlierthis month, The Algemeiner reported onthe ongoing plight of HofstraUniversity professor Richard Himelfarb,a Jewish Zionist who is facing adisciplinary process that could end hiscareer. The proceedings began afterHimelfarb, during a faculty meeting inNov. 2025, described a colleague’sproposals for two new Jewish studiescourses — which dozens of other facultymembers also declined to support — as“word salad.” The colleague, ananti-Zionist professor who is alsoJewish, filed a harassment complaintaccusing Himelfarb of discrimination.
“Himelfarb’s remark that Slabodsky’sproposals were ‘word salad’ is clearlyspeech related to teaching and thusprotected,” the Foundation forIndividual Rights and Expression (FIRE)said in a June 5 letter to theuniversity, arguing that discussingproposed courses at a faculty meetingis squarely part of a professor’steaching duties and that disagreementsamong faculty are protected by theprinciples of academic freedom and freespeech
Columbia University professorShai Davidai endured a similar allegedpersecution in 2024. After gainingviral recognition on social media fordenouncing the university’s refusal topunish riotous anti-Zionist protesters,Columbia opened an investigation intohis conduct toward students and staff,including a senior administrator whomhe chastised for declining to cancel aprotest held to celebrate Hamas’s Oct.7 massacre
Antisemitism in academicmedical centers located on collegecampuses is also fostering noxiousenvironments that deprive Jewishhealthcare professionals of their civilright to work in spaces free fromdiscrimination and hate, according to astudy published in May 2025 by theStandWithUs Data & AnalyticsDepartment. Titled “Antisemitism inAmerican Healthcare: The Role ofWorkplace Environment,” the studyincluded survey data showing that 62.8percent of Jewish healthcareprofessionals employed by campus-basedmedical centers reported experiencingantisemitism — a far higher rate thanthose working in private practice andcommunity hospitals. Fueling the risein hate, it added, were repeatedfailures of DEI (diversity, equity, andinclusion) initiatives to educateworkers about antisemitism.
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