Eli Valley
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Eli Valley is an American
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
and author. He is best known for his political cartoons, which often feature prominent politicians, businesspeople, and media personalities.


Early life

Valley was born in Rhode Island, and grew up
Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
, and
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. His father was a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
rabbi, while his mother was secular. Valley has one sister. He attended
Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...
until 8th grade, and received an undergraduate degree in English from
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
. While at Cornell, Valley contributed cartoons to the university's newspaper, the ''
Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent daily newspaper published in Ithaca, New York by students at Cornell University and hired employees. ''The Sun'' features coverage of the university and its environs as well as stories from the Associa ...
''.


Work

Valley was artist-in-residence at ''
The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...
'' from 2011–2013. In October 2013, after Valley satirized
Abraham Foxman Abraham Henry Foxman (born May 1, 1940) is an American lawyer and activist. He served as the national director of the Anti-Defamation League from 1987 to 2015, and is currently the League's national director emeritus. From 2016 to 2021 he served a ...
as an antisemite for his antagonism toward anti-Zionist Jews, Foxman pressured the newspaper to stop publishing Valley’s work. Writing in ''
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'', Abraham Riesman has referred to Valley's work as "expressionist ndwoodcut-esque." Valley contributed illustrations to ''
The Chapo Guide to Revolution ''The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason'' is a 2018 satirical book by hosts of the American political humor podcast ''Chapo Trap House'', published by Simon & Schuster, Touchstone. The book debuted at number ...
''. Writing in ''
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'', Will Tomer said the book resembled "an old-school
MAD Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several r ...
, thanks in part to the stomach-turning illustrations of Eli Valley." Valley's "Schlonged!," about
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's obsession with size, was selected for ''The Best American Comics 2017''. In March 2019, Valley drew a cartoon satirizing
Meghan McCain Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American television personality, columnist, and author. She has worked for ABC News, Fox News, and MSNBC. The daughter of politician John McCain and diplomat Cindy McCain, she has been a pub ...
's appropriation of Jewish identity after McCain wept while castigating Ilhan Omar as an antisemite for her remarks about Israel on " The View." McCain called the cartoon "one of the most anti-semitic things I've ever seen," which caused controversy and discussion about Christian Zionist allegations of antisemitism. Discussing Valley's book about European Jewish cities on the news website ''Jewish Journal'', Rabbi John Rosove wrote: "The chronicler of Central European Jewish history, Eli Valley, blames the current Jewish leadership of Prague for its lack of organized, serious and sustained outreach to those of Jewish heritage living in the city, and he despairs of Prague’s Jewish future."


Bibliography


Non-fiction

*''Great Jewish Cities of Central and Eastern Europe: A Travel Guide & Resource Book to Prague, Warsaw, Crakow & Budapest'' (1999)


Collections

*''Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel'' (2017,
OR Books OR Books is a New York City-based independent publishing house founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson in 2009. The company sells digital and print-on-demand books directly to the customer and focuses on creative promotion through traditional med ...
)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valley, Eli Living people American cartoonists Anti-Zionist Jews Jewish anti-Zionism in the United States People from Rhode Island American writers Cornell University alumni Jewish American writers Jewish American artists Alternative cartoonists 1970 births 21st-century American Jews