Footnotes in Gaza

Footnotes in Gaza (2009) by Joe Sacco. This book tells a side to the story that Americans seldom hear -- the Palestinian side. It's gruesome to see the way (in Sacco's representation) the occupants of the Gaza Strip are mistreated and brutalized by their Israeli overlords. One particular incident is explored in this book -- the events of November, 1956, when hundreds of Palestinians were rounded up and shot dead by the Israeli occupiers. Sacco's book is sometimes a little awkward in its artwork, and his viewpoint is certainly slanted, but his sincerity is not in doubt. This book should make us rethink our blind support for the Israelis, who have been anything but benevolent occupiers to the Palestinians, who after all were the original occupants of the land now called Israel. Grade: B