Marvel recently announced that Shira Haas, a famous Israeli international actress with international accolades for portrayals in projects such as the acclaimed "Unorthodox" was tapped to play a blue and white superhero in the fourth installment of the "Captain America" movie franchise.
As soon as it was announced that Haas was playing the role of the Zionist superhero 'Sabra', Twitter and other social media networks became hubs for antisemitic hate. Many comments attacked the casting and came from supporters of Palestinian causes and BDS activists. This prompted Marvel to pivot, caving to the pressure and altering the script and perhaps Sabra's role in the movie.
Many Twitter accounts made the mistake of thinking that the name of the superhero "Sabra" is somehow related to the massacre in 'Sabra and Shatila'. The killing was carried out by the members of the Christian battalions during the civil war in Lebanon against hundreds of residents of the Palestinian refugee camps Sabra and Shatila in 1982.
Marvel characters and their back-stories come from all over the world. They have even run stories with heavy religious based messaging.
— David Collier (@mishtal) September 17, 2022
Once again the 'exceptionalist' uproar against 'Sabra' shows that global anti-Israel hate is just Antisemitism in disguise.
@matthewjohn666 posted: “Israel’s Marvel superhero Sabra has many powers, including demolishing Palestinian homes with her mind and assassinating Palestinian children with her laser beam eyes”
Israel’s Marvel superhero Sabra has many powers, including demolishing Palestinian homes with her mind and assassinating Palestinian children with her laser beam eyes pic.twitter.com/5mye32ZH7f
— Matthew (@MatthewJohn666) September 10, 2022
Surprisingly, “The Independent”, a newspaper supposed to be independent as the name would suggest, shortly after the announcement of Sabra released an Op-ed on with the title “New Israeli Forces Superhero is Beyond Problematic”
Strange that those who vilify Marvel have no issues with American super heros!https://t.co/nVzDVFuqaA
— Kris (@GmailKris) September 15, 2022
Of course, Sabra's character has nothing to do with the massacre, and Sabra's name is taken from the term "Saber", which defines a Jew born in Israel, it is a prickly cactus pear, hard and tough on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside, and the Marvel character was introduced before the Lebanese massacre, in 1980.
The superhero Sabra is actually Ruth Bat Sharaf, an Israeli mutant who was sent to grow up in a special kibbutz after her powers first appeared. Sabra’s powers As a mutant, are her super strength, speed and endurance, and faster-than-average healing ability.
The funniest thing I’ve seen is antisemites losing their shit over a fictional Israeli super hero because her name “sabra” meaning cactus, has the same name as an atrocity committed by a Lebanese Christian militia two years after her introduction which antisemites blame on Israel
— Max (@lilbuddymax) September 13, 2022
In addition, she is able to transfer energy from her body to another body, in order to keep other people alive. Thanks to her training at the Mossad, Sabra is also a skilled fighter in the Israeli Krav Maga fighting style. She is able to use and defend against any weapon known to the Israeli army and thanks to her time in the Israeli police, she is considered a good detective who specializes in gathering intelligence.
Sabra is best known for her wrist guards, from which she can produce plasma shots, and a cloak that shoots paralyzing feathers. However, she does not maintain a uniform suit, but periodically improves it with newer technology. She even uses anti-gravity devices so that she can fly faster.
Anti-Israel activists are upset because the Israeli Marvel comics superhero is named Sabra סברה, which sounds similar but is unrelated to the Arabic names صبرا وشاتيلا Sabra and Shatila — The camps in Lebanon where there was a massacre committed by other Arabs (not Israel)🤦🏼♀️ pic.twitter.com/x3YnkiDGEs
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר (@emilykschrader) September 16, 2022
The outrage that appeared in social media is typical of Palestinian activists. The Palestinian propaganda machine is largely driven by organizations that have little to do with Palestine or Israel, and are driven by thousands of accounts of people who are either compensated for their posts or are fictitious individuals as part of a broad 'tweet farm' campaign. While there are many who truly sympathize with the Palestinian cause, few have any idea what the actual issues are, instead choosing to get their news from social media sources, often run by anti-Israel sources like Al-Jazeera and other Qatar-based organizations.
