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Between the lines: A war diary

A caricature is a drawn opinion piece dating back to when many were illiterate. The viewers of the caricature decipher the symbols that appear in it to understand the illustrator’s intention.

The well-known saying that “one picture is worth a thousand words” repeatedly stands the test of Israeli reality.

Conservation architect Moshe Shapiro (born in 1971) began to illustrate at an early age for his own pleasure. In the 1990s, his illustrations were published in Nekuda, a monthly magazine, and Kol Yerushalayim, a local newspaper from Jerusalem.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, Shapiro began to publish his cartoons about current affairs on Facebook. Since then, he has been drawing cartoons daily using a notebook and simple markers.

On Simchat Torah this year (7.10.2023), his son, Aner Eliakim Shapiro, was killed.

In a brave battle using his bare hands, Aner defended other participants from the Nova festival while they tried to find safety in a shelter to which they fled from the brutal Hamas terrorist attack.

Shapiro’s works are a response to current affairs and criticize the hypocrisy of world media in its attitude towards Israel while ignoring the atrocities committed by Hamas, both in its attitude towards Israelis and in its cynical use of the civilian population in Gaza.

Despite his pain, Shapiro is optimistic in his hope for the eradication of Hamas.

The cartoons are presented according to the order of their creation, and the events of the Iron Swords War are reflected as if through a war diary.

Headlines from the Maariv daily newspaper accompany the eye-catching illustrations.