There is no denying the significance of the Israel/Palestine conflict in global politics and its impact on cultural narratives. The unique lens that comics and graphic novels provide in understanding this complex issue is often focused on very personal issues within the global concern with the ongoing conflict. These manifest as personal narratives and individual experiences. Our previous post was Looking Ahead which forecasts a continued production of personal memoir in the next few decades. Prior to that we wrote Exploring the Jewish Left Through Graphic Stories which was primarily about the Jewish Labor Bund and is some history from the not too distant past. In this post we will combine memoir with the politics of Israel/Palestine and look to the future through another strong trend, Graphic Journalism.
Harvey Pekar's Not the Israel My Parents Promised (2012) recounts the disillusionment he experienced when he came to an historical understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict that contradicted his Zionist upbringing. The novel is an accurate accounting of Jewish history that leads up to the creation of Israel plus an equally accurate accounting of the modern events surrounding the conflict. His parents and the Jewish mainstream in general presented Israel as a safe haven for Jews, a thriving democratic state, and a symbol of Jewish self-determination and resilience. This perspective often emphasizes the heroic aspects of Israel’s founding, the return to the ancestral homeland, and the nation’s achievements in creating a vibrant society in the face of adversity. He contrasts this vision with the realities of political conflicts, military actions, and social issues that challenge the simplified, heroic portrayal he grew up with. This disillusionment stems from recognizing the multifaceted and often contentious history and current events surrounding Israel and Palestine, which diverge from the uncritical, idealized view his parents had held.
Sara Glidden's How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less (2010) is the autobiographical story of a progressive Jewish woman who went on a free birthright Israel trip in spite of her critical opinions about Israeli policies vis-á-vis the Occupied Territories. She goes prepared to be inundated with propaganda and ready with sarcastic quips about the presentations she hears. But this again is a personal story and her interactions with individuals on a personal level present her with a deeper understanding of the conflict and a reluctant understanding of the legitimacy of opinions contrary to her own. Unlike more polemical works, Glidden’s narrative is marked by a sense of unresolved hesitancy. Her reflections are thoughtful and often ambivalent, avoiding definitive conclusions about the complex issues she encounters. This unresolved nature adds a certain lightness and openness to her book, distinguishing it from more strident or polemical accounts. She succeeds in leaving room for compassion for the individuals in a harsh situation. Throughout her journey, Glidden’s initial preconceptions are challenged, leading to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict. This process is depicted with sensitivity, showing her willingness to grapple with difficult questions without resorting to simple answers.
Miriam Libicki's Toward a Hot Jew (2016) is an exploration of Jewish identity and sexuality against the backdrop of the Israeli conflict with Lebanon which is related to the Palestine conflict. Similar to Sarah Glidden, Libicki is an American woman who also wrote a personal memoir about her experiences in Israel but in her case rather than a birthright trip, she joined the Israeli military. The book is actually a collection of personal narrative essays with a long one on Israeli racism in regard to the Beta Israel population. This approach to writing about the conflict leads into the next topic in this current post as an example of Graphic Journalism. Other essays reveal her attraction/repulsion to the sexy and scary Israeli soldiers she worked with and the unavoidable Philip Roth. Like Glidden, Libicki leaves the reader with a sense of ambivalence that is indicative of emotions invoked by personal relationships with the characters in the stories related.
Joe Sacco's Palestine (2001) is a monumental work that documents his experience traveling around the West Bank in the early 1990s for two months while taking extensive notes. The notes turned into a series of comics that were later collected into a book format that is a genre defining work of Graphic Journalism. It has been considered a classic for years, and remains a landmark work of both comics and journalism. Emotionally, it is a difficult read but in spite of the cruelty encountered and troubled lives of displaced Palestinians in refugee camps, Sacco is able to put their humanity on full display which is surprisingly uplifting. Even though Joe Sacco is not Jewish himself, his work is clearly on a Jewish topic and that is why Palestine is in our collection as are his later works on the same topics. Also Palestine set the stage for other artists to pursue the genre which seems to have potential for future works along with the memoir genre.
In a similar vein there has always been the existence of the political cartoon and this has been incorporated into the work of many Jewish artists working in Graphic Journalism focused on the Israel/Palestine conflict. World War 3 Illustrated publishes prime examples of this trend, formerly in magazine format starting in the 1980s but more recently in book format. The editors and artists involved in World War 3 Illustrated include Seth Tobocman, Peter Kuper, Eric Drooker and others, all of whom have created comics critical of Israeli militarism and supportive of Palestinian rights, several years before Joe Sacco. Another artist who deserves mention in this trend is Eli Valley whose book Diaspora Boy (2017) satirizes the relationship between America and Israel that displays the high level of hypocrisy in that relationship.
As younger artists come on line, there is a growing trend of graphic storytelling that reflects the new Jewish left. These artists often find connections to their Jewish identities through the long tradition of Jewish radicalism. This emerging movement suggests that we can expect to see more graphic novels and comics that are critical of established narratives and supportive of progressive causes within the Israel/Palestine discourse.
The landscape of graphic storytelling around the Israel/Palestine conflict is diverse and evolving. From the personal narratives of Sara Glidden and Miriam Libicki to the satirical and political critiques of Eli Valley and the contributors to World War 3 Illustrated, these works offer a multifaceted view of the conflict. By engaging with these varied perspectives, readers can gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of one of the most complex and contentious issues in modern history. And we haven’t even mentioned the work of Israeli artists on these topics. Ah well, that will have to wait until next time.