Palestine (1993)

I was wary what I will find in this book, having been to Middle East quite a few times and studying the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I found a masterpiece. Well balanced journalism, at its best; stories that would not make it to the newspapers and if they did, without the pictures they would be unimaginable. After a while I found the Palestinians' cries tiring, as it happens in real life too because there is only so much one can take without becoming a little numb. The pictures are there to remind me of the reality. When he meets with the Israeli women they say all the cliches by the book. Mind you, they represent the majority, not everyone thinks (or at least speaks) like that. They are also a big reminder to take everything said with a pinch of salt, on both sides. This is not a conflict of reasonable minds. ( )

Joe Sacco delivers a scathing piece of comic-journalism with [b:Palestine|769712|Palestine|Joe Sacco|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327884409s/769712.jpg|755771]. The Arab side of the story is fully ignored by the Western media since, well, the beginning of the conflict.

The treatment inflicted upon the Arab refugees is horrendous, but the Western media is never going to acknowledge it. They come and kick you out of your home. There are almost no Arab youngsters above 16 years of age who have not received a jail term. The soldiers can hold you up for 6 months. Without reason. And that term could be extended again for 6 months. And again. The interrogation techniques remind you of NKVD and KGB. The uncaring attitude of the soldiers towards the dying reminds you of the SS and SD. There are dozens of stories here and all of them are without fail, heart-wrenching.

This is a very important piece of journalism which is not to be missed especially if you are a neutral like me who has no connection whatsoever with either side in the Palestine-Israel conflict. ( )

For something supposedly unbiased, Sacco is awfully forceful about those evil Israelis. This book appalled me with it's utter "woe is Palestine" attitude, completely ignoring the other side of the problem. I am loathe to touch more of his work after reading this.

Also, hated the art. ( )

I am re-reading the first of Joe Sacco’s political comic books and the first of two on Palestine. It is a reissue with a foreword by Edward Said that was originally published in 9 issues as a comic-book series in 1993. It has the format of a visual diary recording a two month visit in the winter of 1991-92 to the occupied territories in the last months of the First Intifada. He meets people and records what he hears visually and in words, in the West Bank: from Nablus , East Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah; he meets Jabril in the Balata refugee camp , visits a village that had just been attacked by settlers and hears accounts from the notorious Ansar III prison camp. He meets people who have been tortured and comments on the Landau report. In Gaza he visits Gaza Town, the Jabalia refugee camp and briefly the Egyptian border at Rafah. In Jerusalem he meets two Israeli women and accompanies them to Tel Aviv listening to their side.
Though he seldom comments on what he hears, he ends with a (rhetorical) question: “and if I had guessed before I got here, and found with little astonishment once I had arrived, what can happen to someone who thinks he has all the power, what of this – what becomes of someone when he believes himself to have none?”

I like his self-mocking style and his drawings are just brilliant. (VIII-12)

The Guardian (London) brought a series of “snapshots” of life in Gaza on 8th June 2012. ( )

Palestine is often in the top 10 best nonfiction graphic novels lists. Sacco's journalism is scrupulous. His artwork and writing captures the colossal weight of depression, frustration, and anger that is the Palestinian experience. This is a heavy book, regardless of the medium. And you have to keep in mind this is Palestine in the 1990s, before the War on Terror.

My only issue with the book, and it is an important one, is that none of the Arabs ever really develop into characters. Their stories all blend together. They all sound the same. Many ask Sacco the exact same questions. Even Sacco's character states several times when he is interviewing Palestinians that he has "heard this all before." I understand that we are to see how common the terror is and how it touches all of the Palestinians, but flat characters just don't punch you in the gut with the Kafkaesque horror of it all. With no character to hold on to, the repetition begins to dull the senses about two-thirds of the way through the book.

Ironically, he meets two Israeli women in the last chapter, and they feel more developed in a few pages than most of the Arabs in the first 8 chapters. I imagine this could be because he frantically tried to cram as much experience in the refugee towns as he could in the time given. He was under pressure and too focused on details. With these two women, he was more relaxed, and they seemed to not be part of the original research plan. They just happened. Of course, this is all amateur speculation on my part.

It is still a great wok of nonfiction, and like Maus, it validates nonfiction graphic novels as serious literature. ( )