Book review: Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco

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      Published by Metropolitan, 418 pp, $35.95, hardcover

      The footnotes Joe Sacco refers to in the title of his latest—and arguably his most ambitious—work of graphic journalism are people. Specifically, they are Palestinian men, almost 400 of them, from the neighbouring Gaza Strip towns of Khan Younis and Rafah who were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in two separate incidents in November of 1956. Sacco’s book details his efforts to get to the heart of what happened on those two days, and to rescue those killed from the oblivion of forgotten history.

      The Portland, Oregon–based cartoonist (who pioneered the field of graphic journalism with previous works such as 2001’s Palestine) returns to Gaza to interview survivors and piece together a coherent narrative. With their houses falling to the Israeli bulldozers that roll through on a regular basis, however, Rafah’s current residents don’t have much opportunity to dwell on the past, and many question the value of Sacco’s inquiries. “Why are you writing about ’56?” asks one incensed homeowner, pointing to bullet holes in the walls of his house. “It’s much worse now. Every day here is ’56!”

      Still, Sacco persists, reasoning that the earlier tragedies are still painfully relevant, because “they often contain the seeds of the grief and anger that shape present-day events.”

      He’s right. The fallen of 1956 and the thousands of other footnotes added since then in no way excuse suicide bombings and other actions taken in retaliation, but they certainly explain the rage that fuels them.

      By inserting himself into the story, Sacco (who draws himself as a gawky figure whose eyes are never visible behind the round lenses of his glasses) provides a context while showing how much work he put into dusting off decades-old events. In doing so, he makes a strong, if implicit, case for his work’s being taken as seriously as that of any other reporter. Footnotes in Gaza contains real journalism; it just happens to be accompanied by some especially vivid drawings.

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