Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco

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As Joe Sacco writes at the end of his book, “There is more to life than bad news and awful history.” At least one hopes there is, for the sake of the Palestinians in the Gaza strip written about in “Footnotes in Gaza.” As he explains, his project was born as part of his role as an illustrator for a feature by Harper’s but ultimately some pictures about the 1956 incident in Khan Younis, one of the two places written about in the book were not carried. So Sacco pursued the story further and also added another neighbouring town, Rafah to his work. Due to the format in which it is written, that of a graphic novel, the book makes reading an easy exercise although the mind is not necessarily rested due to the heaviness of the content. And the content is definitely not light.

Here are a few things I will remember from the book

• Kids couldn’t keep long hair due to the impending threat of insects and diseases. Can you imagine growing up scarred like that?
• Israel has/had apparently got Thais doing tough low-paying jobs. I didn’t know that Thais went anywhere outside their homeland for work given the general prosperity of Thailand?

Of course, the book is another slap in the face for conflict mongers, but what will we learn? At some point in the book, Sacco quotes from a Ben Gurion speech where Gurion seems to display some empathy for the Palestinian's anguish and rage, while continuing to lead hostilities against them. The book is a must read, despite the fact that it won't be easy to eat food or even sleep well after doing so.