Published in print at the tail end of 2024 but added to online through the year, anthology/website Cartoonists for Palestine was undoubtedly one of the year’s most important comics projects. And yet somehow we failed to give it the attention it was due last year. Edited by Yazan al-Saadi, Tracy Chahwan, Shay Mirk and Andy Warner (some names there may be familiar from our recent review of Lebanon is Burning and Other Dispatches) this 250-page anthology with work from around 60 creators is available in physical format by Crucial Comix but is also available to read or download for free online here.
The book is described as “a collection of cartoonists responding to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people” and its objectives include centring those artists’ responses to the events we have been witnessing on news media over the last year. As you would imagine from so many different creative voices, and so many nationalities, the work on show here is as representative of the differing dialects of the language of comics as it is of the transnational identities of those involved. It is powerful and deeply affecting material, and no review can do the voices to be heard here and the stories to be told full justice. In that regard it’s important not just to read and absorb but also to spread the word about the project.
“Words seem not to be sufficient to describe the gravity of genocide” says Yazan al-Saadi in the first scene-setting comic strip ‘Editor’s Note’ (illustrated by Kazimir Lee, above), and yet when those words are combined with images what follows is so eloquent and visually articulate in delivery. Again, where does one even begin to analyse a book like Cartoonists for Palestine? I can only think of approaching this by selecting examples of the varying styles of comics and the multiple perspectives featured. In truth, each and every one of these entries deserves to be written about in its own right.
Some of the comics herein are longer-form, some are simply one-page offerings but no less expressive for that. ‘Collateral Damage’ by Jana Traboulsi, for example, gives us one isolated image and a handful of words to remind us of the casually brutal nature of the loss of innocence in the region. Or Sarah Firth’s ‘The Simple Question’ which in six panels on one page emphasises our common humanity with those to the attacks on Gaza. Other comics use dark humour to make their point. Deena Mohamed’s ‘Settler Colonialism’s Greatest Hits’ (above) is a cuttingly bleak piece that quietly eviscerates the logic of settler colonialism. While Matt Bors’ ‘Operation Iron Equality’ is a brilliant piece of satire that blends comedy with biting wit.
One of the most distressing things from the societal collapse we have been experiencing over the last several years is how desensitised we become to the extremes around us. This is depicted by Al Benbow in ‘Post-Apocalyptic Media’ (above) who pointedly compares the situation in Gaza to the genre fiction media we consume, and the contrasting ways we react to essentially the same kind of horrors. There are a number of Jewish voices in these pages commenting on events too. Julia Mata, for example, provides raw commentary on her shame at Zionist justifications in a one page slice-of-life comic that is so effective for its relative simplicity.
The sheer humanity of Trinidad Escobar’s ‘For Basel’ (above) brings things to an even more personal level detailing her friendship with artist Basel El-Maqosiu whose response to the bombing of Gaza is to use art to comfort children and to retain his sensitivity to the world. It is, quite frankly, one of the most quietly powerful comics I have ever read with a pronounced application of colour that draws the reader into its emotional heart with deep empathy. Graphic poetry is also in evidence with Melissa Mendes being just one creator adapting ‘If I Must Die’ (below) by Refaat Alareer (himself killed by an Israeli bombing in 2023) who juxtaposes verse with stark imagery of the ruins of Gaza. A final image will bring a tear to your eye. But then much of this collection will.
Graphic journalism from Tom Humberstone questions the inexplicable decision of the International Olympic Committee not to impose sanctions on Israel at the 2024 Olympics despite airstrikes killing hundreds of Palestinian athletes and sportspeople. While Othman Selmi’s ‘Diary of a Genocide’ (below) tells the story of the atrocities committed in Gaza and the hardships lived through via single artefacts and/or illustrations. So much is said here without the need for elaboration.
Some of the work here is very specific and intensively researched, looking at historical background and socio-political aspects. Other strips zoom in on the very individual circumstances of one person or family group. Jess Peng’s ‘I’ve Been Thinking About Aaron Bushnell’ (below) is a devastatingly haunting visual essay on activism which puts a focus on both Bushnell, who died after setting fire to himself in protest at the situation in Gaza, and the playwright Victor I. Cazares who went without his HIV medication for 125 days in an attempt to make the New York Theatre Workshop call for a ceasefire. A very basic request that they failed to respond to, and one that echoes the complicity of many similar institutions.
Included in Cartoonists for Palestine are the relevant chapters from Lebanon is Burning and Other Dispatches. Check out our review of that book here for commentary on those pages.
Ultimately this is barely even scratching the surface of what is covered in Cartoonists for Palestine. And, honestly, this is barely even a review. Instead it’s a plea to share this powerfully communicative comic and, though this is an international effort, also to share the stories of any Palestinians who may have created work in any field of the arts bringing the horrors of these last months of genocide to wider audiences. Cartoonists for Palestine is a vital social record which we will be adding to our nascent, upcoming (and very much work-in-progress) Palestine comics resource list in due course.
Yazan al-Saadi, Zhen, Jana Traboulsi, Cooper Lit, Sarah Firth, Bala Seshasayee, Urjuen, Ella O’Grady, Douglas Lambert, Francesca Mannocchi, Gianluca Costantini, David Blumenstein, Jennifer Camper, Sirene Moukheiber, Solomon J. Brager, Adam Whittier, Selim elGahry, Deena Mohamed, Parisa Karami, Can Yalçınkaya, Madeline Berger, Al Benbow, Dimitrea Tokunbo, Trinidad Escobar, Mohammad Sabaaneh, Sam Nakahira, Julia Mata, Holly Casio, Billy Ruffian, JAD, Matt Bors, Ethan Heitner, Sam Wallman, Golrokh Nafisi, Lena Merhej, Elena Mistrello, Jess Peng, Dan Archer, Maia Kobabe, Melissa Mendes, Othman Selmi, Nicki Newell, Leila Abdelrazaq, Anuj Shrestha, Rotem Anna Diamant, Rachel Deutsch, Aml El Nakhala, Tom Humberstone, Barrack Rima, Sammy Glavina, Safdar Ahmed, Jen Sorensen, Soolagna Majumdar, Niccolo Pizarro, Eli Valley, Kaitlyn Quach, Sole Otero, Simón Rodríguez, BeneDí, Mazen Kerbaj, Emma Kim Rust, Michael Fakhri and Omar Khouri • Crucial Comix, $25,00
Download the book as a PDF for free here
Review by Andy Oliver
