Reviews

We live in dark times. The world over, democracy is being eroded by majoritarian governments; the corporate capture of our lands and institutions is all but complete. Since the writing of Gonzo journalist and cartoonist Joe Sacco’s acclaimed graphic novel Palestine, things have only gotten worse as its people endure increasing injustices by a racist settler-colonial administration in Israel, aided by Trump, and soon to be allowed free reign by Biden, if history is anything to go by.

Sacco walked amongst the locals in the West Bank and Gaza, and here he chronicles their lives in what [a: Chomsky|2476|Noam Chomsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1485473965p2/2476.jpg] has described as “the world’s largest open-air prison”. He depicts the systematic acts of state-sanctioned violence against them, designed to drive them farther away so that their land may be annexed, while most of the world largely ignores their plight.

A story that has stayed with me over the years is of an old woman lamenting the loss of her olive trees after Israeli forces cut them down at night, her only sustenance after her sons were detained indefinitely for petty crimes. In similar story after story about real people, some recounting their expulsion, the intifada, the Gulf War, Sacco humanises those who have been stripped of their humanity. With his detailed and immersive art that brings the chaos of the towns to life, he offers a voice to those who have lost their lands, their livelihoods and their rights... making it difficult for the reader to walk away unmoved.

It’s impossible to read this and not draw parallels with Kashmir, a land and people traumatised and trapped in the war between neighbouring nations. Sacco makes you empathise with people everywhere suffering under occupation, cut off from the world, their dignity often trampled, and their rights disregarded. This is an important book for both people seeking to understand history and the activist movements we need to build for the future, all in a palatable format, with a brilliant foreword by [a: Edward Said|16770310|Edward W. Said|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1518095868p2/16770310.jpg].

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I was really impressed and saddened by how relevant this graphic novel still feels nearly 25 years later. I think this is a very impressive blend of history, personal experience/memoir, and bearing witness to all of the testimony he got. I do think this could be difficult if it was someone's first work of graphic nonfiction--the art style and some of the tone feel very "old school" in a way. But I learned a lot from this.