Palestine (Paperback)

by Joe Sacco (Author), Edward Said (Author)
Key Phrases: West Bank, Abu Akram

Editorial Reviews

Review
Palestine deserves a place among the very best of documentary. -- The Journal of Palestinian Studies

An involving, even immersive experience....the book's brilliance is reflected in the attention to detail. -- Time Out London, 8 January 2003, Daniel Paddington

Brilliantly and poignantly captures the essence of life under a repressive and prolonged occupation. -- Nasseer H. Azuri, Professor of Political Science, The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

I may as well get right to the point. Buy and read Joe Sacco's...Palestine. -- The Comics Journal #166, Frank Stack, February 1994

Sacco has pioneered a journalistic form that manages to be both deeply informative and highly entertaining. -- Time Out New York, John Kearney, 6 December 2001

Sacco is formidably talented...a powerful piece of work. -- The Independent [London], Charles Shaar Murray, 4 February 2003

Sacco's brilliant comic strip explodes with such imagination and wit....perceptive and intensely moving. -- Omar al-Qattan, Banipal, The Magazine of Modern Arab Literature, Autumn 2002

This mature work is important and has never been more timely. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 19 December 2001

[A] compassionate, insightful primer on the lives of Israeli soldiers, Palestinian refugees and children in the Middle East. -- Salon.com, 28 September 2001

[Sacco's] obviously got the calling. His stuff is obviously well wrought, with dizzying pages and good rhythm. -- Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus

Product Description
Fantagraphics Books is pleased to present, for the first time, a single-volume collection of this 288-page landmark of journalism and the artform of comics. Interest in Sacoo has never been higher than with the release of his critically acclaimed book, Safe Area Gorazde.

Based on several months of research and an extended visit to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the early 1990s (where he conducted over 100 interviews with Palestinians and Jews), Palestine was the first major comics work of political and historical nonfiction by Sacco, who has often been called the first comic book journalist.

Sacco's insightful reportage takes place at the front lines, where busy marketplaces are spoiled by shootings and tear gas, soldiers beat civilians with reckless abandon, and roadblocks go up before reporters can leave. Sacco interviewed and encountered prisoners, refugees, protesters, wounded children, farmers who had lost their land, and families who had been torn apart by the Palestinian conflict.

In 1996, the Before Columbus Foundation awarded Palestine the seventeenth annual American Book Award, stating that the author should be recognized for his "outstanding contribution to American literature," while his publisher, Fantagraphics, is "to be honored for their commitment to quality and their willingness to take risks that accompany publishing outstanding books and authors that may not prove 'cost-effective' in the short run."

This new edition of Palestine also features a new introduction from renowned author, critic, and historian Edward Said, author of Peace and Its Discontents and The Question of Palestine and one of the world's most respected authorities on the Middle Eastern conflict.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156097432X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560974321
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,120 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much more objective than on first impression, April 3, 2003

By	Chutes (East Brunswick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

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.

161 of 182 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy two, give one away, November 28, 2001

By	Nigel Parry (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This new one volume edition of Joe Sacco's Palestine comics evokes my first trip to the occupied Palestinian territories in 1989 a couple of years before Sacco's first visit from 1991-1992. His book faithfully represents the contradictions and striking images of the conflict, and being a graphic novel/comic book renders them visually and powerfully.

I couldn't think of a better medium to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to someone than this book, which stands out as an honest account of one man's attempt to make sense of it all, as well as a work of art in its own right.

Powerfully-told stories are laced with well-researched facts, all couched in Sacco's humanity and disbelief at the people he meets and the events he sees. Particularly chilling is the account of a Palestinian father's torture experience. The book covers a wide variety of other topics, including refugees, Israeli attitudes, life inside prison, and more, introducing these issues (along with the atmosphere of a visit to Palestine) through Sacco's walk through the West Bank and Gaza, talking to people there.

The second half of Sacco's book opens up more of the conflict, this time in the setting of Gaza, but should be considered as indivisible from the first half, as the two halves represent the complete collection of "Palestine" comics originally published as individual magazines, then as a two volume edition.

The visual imagery is almost photographically faithful to the actual landscapes and cityscapes of Palestine, and accounts such as Sacco's taxi ride to Nablus will elicit delighted cries of recognition and wry laughter from those who have visited the country.

This book is a 'must have' that you will definitely not be disappointed with if you're buying them for yourself, and should be considered a necessary part of your standard tools to explain the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict to others. In the absense of a Palestinian "Cry Freedom", this is the next best thing.

Nigel Parry

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Sacco Documentary Comic, June 21, 2002

By	Bill Corporandy (Yuba City, CA) - See all my reviews

I do not have much to contribute that has not already been stated by other customer reviewers but I would like to add to the overwhelming consensus that this is an excellent book and, since it is done in comic book style, I would recommend it as an effective tool for adolescent readers in our high schools. Saccco's book was written before the most recent wave of Palestinian suicide bombings which has wreaked havoc both to Israel and to outside sympathy for the Palestinian cause. However, this book should give all open-minded readers insight into the despair that has led so many Palestinians to support terrorism. Sacco's disarmingly informal writing style and his powerful artwork convey both the constant systematic and randomly unsystematic injustice that Israel, its soldiers, settlers and other citizens have directed at the Palestinians. Sacco exposes the economic discrimination that gives incentives to West Bank Jewish settlers and imposes taxes and other bureacratic and physical barriers on Palestinian attempts to earn a living: Palestinian agricultural produce left on the docks to spoil before it is shipped to European customers, the denial of adequate water and permits to drill deeper wells, cutting down groves of olive trees, etc. Sacco also takes us inside hospitals where Israeli soldiers intimidate and beat patients, nurses, and doctors, disrupting surgeries, treatments, etc. Individual Palestinians recount their prison experiences: the psychological and physical torture and the inhuman living conditions, abuses of the legal system, etc. There is much more in this new edition--printed in 2001 and again in 2002--at roughly 300 pages, this is nearly double the size of an earlier edition. Everyone with an interest in the Middle East Crisis or terrorism should read this book. This book is pro-Palestinian but it is not anti-Semitic or against the existence of an Israeli state. It is also recommended by Art Spiegelman, the great cartoonist and author of the Jewish Holocaust comic classics, Maus I and II. For more great info on the plight of the Palestinians, I recommend regular reading of Tikkun, an excellent, liberal Jewish-American bi-monthly periodical.