A review by poorlywordedbookreviews
Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95 by Joe Sacco

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

"𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘞𝘦’𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵... 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

   

This isn’t a comprehensive book on the Balkan wars of 1992-95, more a focused illumination of the experiences and fate of civilians in the UN declared safe zones in regions being ethnically cleansed. 

   

For anyone surprised by the impotence of the UN and other international law bodies in the current Gaza crisis (or any of the other atrocities, rights violations and wars going on around the world right now - cos let’s be honest there’s a shit ton that’s not getting focused on, due to a mix of less live footage and the muffling blanket of power axis’ that are at least saying the right thing, even if devoid of action) you should really read a bit more history. In terms of the Bosnian-Serb genocidal advancements on safe zones, both the US and Russia were on the same page (basically), no one was vetoing resolutions, they’d sent in peacekeepers… yet we still sat by whilst the Srebrenica massacre took place. So maybe start here? 

   

Sacco delivers an informative and deeply moving starting point on a conflict that still echoes down to today in so many ways (locally and throughout post WII institutions) and I fully recommend. Especially given how little the Balkans seem to have penetrated wider western consciousness. Compared to his Palestine book, this graphic novel is a lot more, well, graphic. And I really think it comes into its own here, illustrating things people might not be able to imagine from text or whose brains might filter out as ‘too much’ when presented with photos. 

   

I already know a fair bit about the Balkan wars, but whats really sticking with me from this novel is the question of UN Peacekeepers, and how, if at all, they can be anything but stage dressing in highly volatile settings. What counts as peacekeeping vs fighting the war for one side?

    

𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘉𝘰𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐𝘻𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘜.𝘕. 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘴-𝘎𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥... 𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭 have 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴."