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Kotzo shel Tzabar (The thorn of Tzabar):

The cartoons in this small sized, now out of print, yellowing book, published by Tversky Publishing House in 1951, are the earliest of Shimon Tzabar's art works for the Israeli press (read about his life as a cartoonist in Introduction to cartoons). In the inner title page of the book, Tzabar acknowledges the newspapers and magazines Davvar, Dvar Hashavu'a, Basha'ar, Niv Lanno'ar, Hever Hakvutzot and Bamahanne for permission to use their printing blocks. The book summarizes the first three years of his work, during the first three years of the State of Israel. The cartoons are strikingly Jewish-centred and there is only one mention of the conflict with the Arab world.

The cartoons are signed as Shimon (rather than Shimon Tzabar) which is often said to be a sign of not yet having the fully fledged confidence of a mature artist. Nevertheless, his style of drawing and sense of humour both in line and words are already in evidence here. The book is reproduced here in full, including translations of the captions which, admittedly, may remain obscure for the reader from the distance of time, space and language.