[TSS] Musings: Palestine

Joe Sacco's Palestine is a book I've wanted to read for a very long time.  Sacco is a journalist, and he reports on areas that are in the midst of dramatic conflict.  But his reporting style is of the graphic novel variety.  I was so thrilled to see his Palestine in the library, not only because I wanted to experience his very distinctive brand of journalism, but also because I have been very interested in reading more about the Israel-Palestine conflict since enjoying Mornings in Jenin some time ago.

This book is a collection of nine separate articles that Sacco published about Palestine during 1991 and 1992.  Sacco went to Israel late in the year, from Egypt, and spent the vast majority of his time in the territories that are currently occupied by the Palestinians, with increasing encroachment by the Israelis.  Interestingly, Sacco himself is very visible through this whole story.  He doesn't believe in the idea of being an objective bystander.  Instead, he lives with the people he interviews, listens to their stories, drinks their tea (lots of tea), eats food they provide but can barely afford, and gives his own opinion on a myriad of topics.  Sacco comes across as pretty arrogant and sometimes insensitive, but he has a clear passion for what he is reporting, and that comes through loud and clear.  This is in no way an objective account; Sacco makes only a perfunctory attempt to get the Israeli point of view.  But this, too, is done on purpose.  As Westerners, we nearly always only get the Israeli side, and he wanted us to see the effects of this long-term conflict on the Palestinians.  And what he presents us with is a gruelling, intensely personal and amazingly artistic account of his two months in Palestine, and the very humanizing stories of the difficulties, humiliations and terrors that the people who live there go through daily.

It is hard to review a book like Palestine without being terrified of crossing some line or coming across in a way that may set up other people's backs.  I felt the same way when I reviewed Mornings in Jenin.  These books are both very sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.  But Sacco's work, while it could hardly be described as unbiased, was very rigorously researched.  And at the end, you can see even his own helplessness seep out onto the page.  He asked so many people on different sides of the situation, with different backgrounds, "Do you think there can be peace between the Israelis and Palestinians?"  And the answer, overwhelmingly, was no.  There is so much distrust and anger on both sides.  For example, once Sacco took an Israeli woman for a walk through a Palestinian market just outside Jerusalem.  The fear on the woman's face, walking just minutes away from her own city, in her own country, was just overwhelming.  And then Sacco got frightened, too, and they both seemed to think that a riot would break out at any moment.  Nothing happened, but the woman is unlikely to ever venture out of her safe haven again.  It was amazing because she had clearly never interacted with a Palestinian before.  Even in the market, she didn't talk to anyone because she didn't want to draw attention to herself as a Jew.  I think that was one of the most disturbing scenes to me.  How can the two sides ever come to peace, if the people who have the most in common- the everyday citizens- don't ever communicate with each other?  It made me feel pretty helpless, too.

In some ways, Sacco's book was very repetitive.  He'd meet a Palestinian.  The Palestinian would start telling his or her story.  Inevitably, the story would involve Israeli police brutality, torture in prison, a very unfair judicial system, and the raiding or burning down of a home.  There was also a lot of unemployment and rock-throwing.  I got tired of this a few times because I didn't see the point of reiterating the same story over and over again; except that, in a way, I understand the need to prove to readers that these are not one-off occurrences, but regular experiences that people must deal with on a daily basis.

The most interesting section of the book, to me, was the all-too-short one about Palestinian women and their efforts to obtain equal rights to men.  It reminded me so much of the American Civil Rights movement because women's rights are being pushed aside in Palestine as people focus on getting rights as a people.  Who has time to worry about women in particular, they say, when basic human rights are being violated?  I really liked reading about the women involved in equal rights work, and I wish we had more about them.  But unfortunately, Sacco is a man and thus spoke more to men than women.

What added to my interest in these stories was Sacco's extremely engaging artistic style.  His artwork is truly amazing.  He has a true skill with perspective.  In one panel, the reader will feel claustrophobic with the amount going on inside the box.  In another, we see the desolation of a Palestinian village after curfew.  We get a close-up of a man's face to see his contorted, angry expression.  We see the tired bend of an old woman's back as she attempts once again to piece together her life after her home is trashed.  And the words are all spaced in a way that draws your eyes from one area to another, sometimes in long narratives, sometimes in short boxes, but always, always compelling you to continue.  It's brilliant.

Recently, Ana wrote a post about objectivity in reviews and how she does not love objectivity when reading about books because she wants to know how people reacted to what they read.  Reading Palestine made me wonder about objectivity in books themselves, too.  Is it better to read two, very vehement sides to a debate, rather than read one objective account of them?  On such a heated topic as the West Bank, it is clear that neither side (not that there are only two sides, either) is objective.  That is, in fact, the only clear thing about it.  There is so much exaggeration, anger and distrust on both sides that finding real facts can be a lesson in futility.  And being objective doesn't really help you make friends with all involved - people always want you to pick a side.  So is Joe Sacco right or wrong to present the conflict from only one side?  Personally, I think it resulted in a much more honest account of his time there.

There is so much in this book.  Sacco gives some context about what people are referring to, but usually he just lets them talk and relate their stories.  And it's clear that they want to tell their stories and share their experiences.  I really appreciated this book, and I have so much respect for Sacco's storytelling style.  I love the way he uses perspective in his drawings, the way he positions his words to make the most impact, particularly when combined with the drawings, and the way he is so comfortable inserting himself into the story in all his heavily biased, arrogant glory.  His authorial style is so different than any I've encountered before, and I look forward to reading more of his books on other areas of conflict in the world.