"Palestine" by Joe Sacco

Posted by J

Palestine
by Joe Sacco

http://www.amazon.com/Palestine-Joe-Sacco/dp/156097432X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-6640961-8433428?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175477629&sr=8-2

4.5 stars. It may be a comic book, but this one might well be the best book I know to introduce people to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Basically the author is a cartoonist who took a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories in the early 90s just as the first Intifada was winding down. He spent a few months there, met as many people as he could, and recorded his experiences in comic book format.

The result is powerful. He doesn’t leave anything out from his experiences, positive or negative about the Palestinians or the Israelis, and the result is a really good way to understand the human dimension of what Palestinians go through and how callous Israelis are to that reality. And in a way that doesn't get bogged down in maps and history lessons. What you see is the routine brutality Israelis mete out on Palestinians every day which never makes the headlines, the way Palestinians have learned to live with it, the negative stereotypes Palestinians and Israelis have of each other, and bottom line the sheer misery with which Palestinians live under Israeli occupation while most Israelis simply couldn’t care less or else are actively engaged in creating the misery (though don't get me wrong, Sacco presents Israelis honestly and notes things like the Israeli soldier in Nablus who points out how nice the old town is while intoning he wishes he wasn't there as an occupying soldier, or the Israeli girls he meets at the end and enjoys hanging out and discussing his experiences with).

Two of the more poignant parts are a long description from one Palestinian of how the Israelis tortured him in jail (worked especially well in comic book format somehow) and at the end after wading through Palestinian misery for so long, Joe Sacco’s time spent hanging out with some cute Israeli girls who – while nice enough – show just how ignorant they are of how Palestinians are treated and how little they care. There's tons more. While I wouldn’t recommend “Palestine” as a genuine primer on the history (it’s not that at all), there is simply no substitute for understanding the human dimension and this is as good a book as I’ve ever come across to show that.

Oh, and it’s worth mentioning: Sacco clearly doesn’t have an axe to grind, he approaches the thing from a “pox on everyone’s houses, I’m just an outsider anyways” attitude, is not afraid to let Palestinians he meets know it when he thinks they’re saying disgusting or stupid things, and yet what he sees and shows is so overwhelmingly powerful, you can’t help but come away understanding the fundamental issue here: the abuse of power by the powerful (the Israelis) and the misery and desperation of the weak (the Palestinians). That is the core of the conflict, and showing it so effectively is what makes this comic book so good.