About book Gaza 1956. Note Ai Margini Della Storia (2009)
Beautiful format for telling this kind of story. You get a real sense of place through the illustrations and short narratives woven in and out of each other. I was disappointed to not find more context for the history; some interviews with IDF officials or international diplomats serving around that time would have been really interesting, though understandably difficult to track down. With all that quality illustration, though, I sense that any graphic novel providing a richer historical commentary would be a lifelong achievement. Could be interesting to weave in some written companion chapters or something, though. An impressive account of two forgotten incidents in a war most people these days know nothing about. Joe Sacco travels through one of the most desolate and dangerous places on earth -the Gaza strip- to collect eye witness stories about the brutal killings of innocent Palestine civilians by Israëli officers in Rafah and Khan Yunus. The result is a graphic novel which transcends simple narrative, but instead becomes a historical document in its own right.Perhaps a little history lesson is in order. Khan Yunus and Rafah are two Palestine settlements in the Gaza strip, near the border with Egypt. After being strong-armed by an influx of Jewish immigrants after World War II, a large group of Palestines was contained within this small region. In 1952, colonel Nasser took over control of Egypt. His dream was an ambitious one - to create one large, pan-Arabic block, which would be strong enough to oppose the Western-European and Soviet alliances. To be able to achieve this, Nasser sought Soviet weaponry to reinforce his army. In the context of the Cold War, this was a disgrace for the West. A plan was initiated to punish Nasser and take over the Suez Canal, a vital transport route for the English and the French, which had been nationalised by Nasser a short time before. The Palestines had always been supported by the Egyptians, as they shared the same Arab background and Nasser felt the Palestines might eventually serve his pan-Arabic purpose. The Israëli chose to collaborate with the French and the English, using the whole situation to occupy the Gaza Strip once and for all (the Gaza Strip separated Egypt and the Israëli lands).The two events -war crimes- described in this graphic novel take place during this manoeuvre of the Israëli troops through the Gaza Strip. It's a startling collection of deeply personal stories. Sacco talked to many people with first hand experience, evaluated their credibility, and tried to compile a general image of the massacres of '56. The whole story is built up brilliantly, in a sort of documentary style which makes it easy to get emotionally involved with the different stories.Perhaps the most powerful element is the fact that Sacco entertwines the story of these old war crimes with the events that take place during his stay in Khan Yunus and Gaza City. Essentially, nothing has changed. Characters are constantly reminding him that his quest is in fact a useless one. He should be writing about the thousands of people who are still being oppressed today! Who are still losing their homes, being shot, being blown up or being torpedoed by rockets even if they are totally innocent. For those of you that know nothing about the whole Palestine-Israëli conflict, I highly recommend reading this graphic novel. It's concise, powerful, well-documented and should be enough to get you to care about the whole situation. After all, the story of Gaza is a universal one - it's the story of heinous war crime, abuse of power and oppression all over the world. And if you don't care about that, well - I don't quite know if you can care about anything.
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Incredibly moving. Just an absolute masterpiece.
—joyinjuly
