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Summary: Palestine, by Joe Sacco
Review: I had to read this book for a course I was taking in a Human Rights/Media course. I wasn't sure at first, never having enjoyed comic books and certainly nervous of the issue at hand. I thought that there was too much to be said, that the conflict was too old and too big to be confined in the pages and drawings of a book.Then I read it. It took all the incorporeal arguements and gave them form. It put the conflict in my face. I saw it. I heard it. I understood it. It made all these foreign places and people REAL, and not so incredibly different than the people I see day to day (despite the huge difference in lifestyles). Furthermore, Sacco's character's attitude is very Western, and he subtly critiques that attitude, but also shows how it is mostly the product of ignorance. (which may not sound so nice, but which truly helped me identify with that character and in so doing, be just as transformed by the end of the book as that character was.) For those who are interested in Ireland and its struggles - you will be shocked to hear that a very similar struggle is going on now, and in the Middle East. Sacco spoke to all facets of Palestinian society, and created a chilling and unforgetable image of what life could be like - what it is like, for Palestinians. He didn't sympathize excessively with the Palestinians - he allows room for the reader to look at the news and fit what is there into the picture, and see many sides of the Palestinians. And though the view of the Israelis is harsh, it modifies toward the end of the book when he realizes how much he has changed (how he views things the way Palestinians do), and spends time talking with 2 Israeli women, bringing their voices into the book. Read it - you will never forget it. It will change you and make you better. It will help you understand what is happening over there.
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Summary: Joe Sacco - a different type of comic artist
Review: Highy entertaining, visually rich and very thought provoking.
Throughout our lives we have heard the cause of Israel, but rarely we get such an intimate potrait of the vicitms, the sufferers, and the consequence of the occupation. Joe Sacco takes us on this rare journey through the refuge slums of Palestine to the high life of Tel Aviv painting a contrasting, sometimes deeply moving, othertimes hopeless picture of the situation. A recommended must for anybody who wants to understand the dynamics of the mid east conflict and put themselves in the position of the victims not the politics.
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Summary: An excellent look at life for millions of Palestinians
Review: Joe Sacco's book is so damning of Israel because of its complete lack of political commentary. Joe simply shows you the hell that the average Palestinian goes through and couples it with the complete indifference of the average Israeli. If you weren't pro-Palestinian before this book, you definitely were one when you finished.
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Summary: Great book!!!
Review: We have been able to access information on the Israel-Palestine conflict from the media. However, the readily-available information seemed one-sided, with the other side always being branded as the 'evil' side or 'terrorists'. This book shows the conflict from the Palestinian point of view, which is very rare.
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Summary: Excellent!
Review: Very informative and enjoyable. Really let's you see what life in the occupied territories is like by using the best means possible--the words of the people that live there themselves everyday. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Throughly recommended!
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Summary: Fantastic
Review: This books is not anti-semetic as many people have written. It hardly contains anything about jews. Its about palestinian lives ruined by 50 years of occupation by israel, nothing directed at jews in general, but rather the country israel, and techniques used by Israel to occupy. Some people I know living in Israel never realized such a thing could be going on just under their noses. But that's not the reason I have it 5 stars. Each time I opened the book to read it, I felt I was walking with the author around town. It's like it happens in cartoons, you open the book and you go into the book, you actually live through all the experiences he goes through. Even though the author could write stuff so beautifully, I wonder how this all would be seen through the eyes of children living in that occupation. I still wonder how people can migrate and take over a country and change its demographics. The book pretty much gives views of both sides on occupied terrotories.
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Summary: Reality Bites
Review: Too much coverage of the Israeli-Palestine conflict limits itself to the (almost boring by now) daily Ruters action-reaction of militant activity and IDF reprisal. Forgotten is the fact that millions of regular, normal human beings have to endure occupation in the name of nationalism and religion, backed by military might. Joe Sacco shows us that there are Palestinian men, women, teenagers, grandmothers, farmers, cab drivers, fruit sellers, and many, many other HUMANS that suffer quietly behind fences, tanks, bars, blindfolds in the face of overwhelming military might. His entire mission is to listen to stories of occupation, and he devotes many pages to stories that will make your skin crawl. He'll remind you that most Palestinian men have been to an Israeli prison, most Palestinian men have been beaten, many Palestinian men have endured torture, and that most Palestinians endure humiliation on a daily basis. If you do pick up this book (and you should), I'd urge you to keep in mind the whole time you're reading it that it takes place over a decade ago. Try and imagine if innocent lives have changed for the better. Remind yourself that mass punishment of an entire people is a war crime. Above all, remember that millions of Palestinians are not all suicide bombers as we are led to believe in the media, and those innocents caught up do in fact have aspirations of education, travel, love and freedom. And then the bulldozers came.
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Summary: Much more objective than on first impression
Review: You have to read Palestine carefully, especially if you are either strongly sympathetic or hostile to Israel. It would be easy to see the book as condemning Israel. It is not, but since Sacco's intention was to get to know the community that we in the US don't know well, the Palestinians, the book shows mainly their experiences and interpretations of them. (It would have been a good idea to include a timeline of the historical events related to the Israel/Palestine tragedy, so that people who do not know the facts could put into perspective the versions of history that Sacco's Palestinian interviewees have.) I emphasize that this is not the book to turn to in order to figure out whether to side with the Israelis or the Palestinians. It does not give that kind of information, and there are other books for that (Thomas Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem is a good one). For the most part there are no terrorists or major political figures interviewed and there is no survey of the historical background, the mistakes and crimes that have left both peoples in this mess. What I saw in this brilliant piece of comic journalism is an on the ground look at what is going on with people caught in the storm. Palestine is about the human spirit, often humorous and courageous. It is also about the tragedy that is what happens when people suffer at each other's hands, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, as well as physically, and lose the ability to see the human face. Victims turn into villains. The scenes of the settlers attacking the Arab villages at night reminded me chillingly of Kristalnacht. A 16 year old Palestinian terrorist-in-training is chilling as he describes his recruitment at 13, his loss of interest in anything but the violence, and the version of history that he believes in. Sixteen year old settlers strutting through town with their Uzis are just as chilling. You are appalled by them all, and by the societies that have turned children into murderers. And you are touched by the crowd scenes, where you see tiny figures of men and women in the background, hurrying their children away, keeping them away from the stone throwing crowds. You see the mythologies that both sides, though mainly (because of the nature of the book) the Palestinians, have created in order to give themselves pride and explain all the pain. You see that these mythologies are not going to save anyone. Sacco does not idolize his Palestinian subjects, though he is very sympathetic to most of them. He shows the irrational hatred, the elevation of victimhood to almost divine status, and the self-destructiveness of some of the people he interviewed. He really likes the children, especially inquisitive little girls, but he shows that there are some nasty kids too. I emphasize that he likes these people, despite their human failings. Their errors do not mean they are to be dismissed, just as their suffering does not mean that the lines on which Arab politicians have chosen to explain the situation are right. It was Sacco's irony, actually, that allowed me to trust his observations of life in an occupied region, with all that "occupied" implies. The most troubling part to the book, therefore, was the portrayal of the Israeli soldiers. I wish that he had interviewed Israeli soldiers, since they (and settlers) are the only Israelis present in the Palestian refugee camps, and the soldiers come off looking brutal much of the time. But in looking through the book a second time, I noticed that many of the soldiers looked terrified. This terror coupled with the brutality throws another light on the tragedy afflicting both Israelis and Palestinians. I've been left haunted by one particular image, the depressed face of his last guide, an educated, unemployed volunteer with a school for the handicapped. It is not a dramatic, self dramatizing depression. Sacco's skill is impressive here, as he shows the man's face change, subtly, according to what is going on (sad tales, checkpoints, the charming chatter of a 10 year old girl)--he has other feelings, but his hopelessness has smothered the intensity.
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Summary: An Eye Opener!!!
Review: This is an eye opener! Joe Sacco has done a brilliant job in showing what the "other side" of the story is about. In America, all we hear are negatives about Palestinians, and never about why they do the things they are "accused" of. This book is brilliant in opening our eyes to the horrors behind the "curtain" and has great visual images depicting horrific scenes. One doesn't say to believe everything you read, but this is an enjoyable book to read!
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Summary: A remarkable blend of journalism and comics
Review: A riveting and eye-opening work about the miserable realities of life for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Joe Sacco's incisive observations and artistry provides a necessary balance to the pro-Israeli bias in American media and politics. Unflinching but also containing healthy doses of irony and humor, the book eloquently reaffirms that peace will finally come only when we are able to recognize the humanity of the other side.
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