moonyreadsbystarlight's review
emotional
informative
reflective
4.5
Palestine by Joe Sacco is a comic/graphic nonfiction work of journalism that documents his travels through Palestine in the early/mid 1990's. Alongside his own experiences, he tells the stories of many Palestinians that he interviewed. He is invited into many houses for tea and food while hearing stories of brutal imprisonment, death of children, political divides within the community, and much more.
This work will certainly put the Palestinian struggle into perpective if you are unfamiliar. It also makes the crimes against humanity we are witnessing being livestreamed online even more horrific. For example: hospitals are being bombed now with doctors and patients inside, parallel is the story of a boy (15) who had already been shot by a soldier and sent to the hospital only to be beaten inside the hospital by soldier (his arm broken alongside the arm of a member of hospital staff who tried defending him). The horrors we are seeing now have a long history and this comic shows many small snapshots within that history.
Throughout the story of Sacco's time in Palestine, we see some of his thoughts and at times he outright discusses some of his biases. This was a self-aware framing that is supposed to (I think) show us some of the problems with the Western gaze. Even as I understood it, I still found some of it annoying in the moment. As I reflect on it, I do think that parts of this message are quite important in the context of journalism (particularly as we see how much western news has covered Palestine recently). I still have mixed feelings, but ultimately it's small parts that I have conflicted feelings about.
Overall, this was an intense collection of experiences and an important read. I'd definitely recommend it to people who are unfamiliar and wanting to learn more about Palestine. It is western journalism that is self-critical and even if the jurry is out on my full opinion of exactly how he did that framing, I'm glad that it was there.
This work will certainly put the Palestinian struggle into perpective if you are unfamiliar. It also makes the crimes against humanity we are witnessing being livestreamed online even more horrific. For example: hospitals are being bombed now with doctors and patients inside, parallel is the story of a boy (15) who had already been shot by a soldier and sent to the hospital only to be beaten inside the hospital by soldier (his arm broken alongside the arm of a member of hospital staff who tried defending him). The horrors we are seeing now have a long history and this comic shows many small snapshots within that history.
Throughout the story of Sacco's time in Palestine, we see some of his thoughts and at times he outright discusses some of his biases. This was a self-aware framing that is supposed to (I think) show us some of the problems with the Western gaze. Even as I understood it, I still found some of it annoying in the moment. As I reflect on it, I do think that parts of this message are quite important in the context of journalism (particularly as we see how much western news has covered Palestine recently). I still have mixed feelings, but ultimately it's small parts that I have conflicted feelings about.
Overall, this was an intense collection of experiences and an important read. I'd definitely recommend it to people who are unfamiliar and wanting to learn more about Palestine. It is western journalism that is self-critical and even if the jurry is out on my full opinion of exactly how he did that framing, I'm glad that it was there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, War, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Genocide, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Death, and Child death
rainehana13's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Wow that was a really good book. It’s really crazy to see that Palestine still has the same conditions as 30 years ago. The art in this book really provides context and humanity to what Palestinians experience. Many pages were really horrifying and just unbelievable. There’s so many different perspectives about this issue that this book covers. Must read!!!!!
brookey8888's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I’m choosing not to rate this because I don’t think it would be fair. I did learn a lot and I liked hearing about Palestinian stories and what these people went and are still going through. That being said this was told in such a confusing way to me. I also did not like the art style either. These things made it harder for me to understand and learn about some of the things mentioned. I do think this was well done, but maybe pick something else up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, Deportation, Kidnapping, Murder, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, Genocide, Racism, Child death, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Death, and Colonisation
lizswartz's review against another edition
dark
sad
an interesting format in which to learn about palestine. my jaw dropped several times reading about the daily injustices palestinians face. the organization of the novel felt a bit choppy sometimes but i still recommend. the most insane part was when the author interviewed some israeli women at the end. they talked about how tired they were hearing criticisms of their government. that was genius of the author to put in at the end after hearing about the horrors the palestinians face. excellent juxtaposition that really showcases israeli-zionist entitlement and ignorance.
notnaru's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0