The cultural impact of Marvel Studios films is worldwide. The “Marvel Cinematic Universe” is by far the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, grossing over $27 billion globally.¹
If Marvel goes ahead with its plan to feature a pro-apartheid “superhero,” the Mossad agent "Sabra," in its next Captain America movie, over 100 million viewers stand poised to see Palestinians dehumanized and vilified on screen.
Tell Marvel Studios: there’s no such thing as a pro-apartheid superhero.
Put the brakes on the character Sabra, and tell U.S. and global audiences a respectful story of Palestinians living under occupation.
This is not the 80s when Sabra was introduced with a comic free of the word “Palestinian,” and it was seen as relatively cutting-edge for her to acknowledge the humanity of a Palestinian child at the story’s end.²
Forty years of brutal military occupation and apartheid later, featuring a Mossad agent like the character of Sabra in a Marvel Studios release shows an extreme lack of respect for Palestinian audiences and allies who support human rights.
Even if the movie version of Sabra ends up not being a Mossad agent, a pro-apartheid superhero is indefensible.
Especially when a growing chorus of international human rights groups, from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to Israel's B’tselem and the Palestinian human rights group, al-Haq, designate Israel as an apartheid regime.
Don't endorse Israel's apartheid regime with a pro-apartheid superhero.
Sources:
- “What Are the Highest-Grossing Movie Franchises?” Investopedia, September 13, 2022.
- "Sabra will be Marvel's latest attempt at ‘woke imperialism’,” Electronic Intifada, September 27, 2022.
