{"id":37245,"date":"2025-06-06T10:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=37245"},"modified":"2025-06-06T10:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:21:09","slug":"interview-joe-sacco-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/interview-joe-sacco-on-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Joe Sacco on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
Maltese American graphic artist <\/span>Joe Sacco discusses the destruction of Gaza following his new book <\/span>War on Gaza<\/span><\/i>, drawing on his distinctive graphic storytelling to reflect on the dramatic developments in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. First published as a column on The Comics Journal<\/a>\u00a0website, the illustrations were released in book form by Fantagraphics<\/a> in December.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Elias Feroz<\/span><\/h4>\n

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For me, this is a war of annihilation against the Palestinians in Gaza.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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After the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the cartoonist was deeply shocked and knew that Israel\u2019s response would be brutal. However, as he recounts, he could never have imagined the sheer scale of destruction. For Sacco, it is unequivocally clear that Israel\u2019s warfare in Gaza has reached genocidal proportions. When we spoke, he said, \u201cMore than 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza have already been killed, and many more are likely still buried under the rubble. Hospitals, schools, universities, and infrastructure \u2014 practically everything that makes a place livable \u2014 have been destroyed. For me, this is a war of annihilation against the Palestinians in Gaza.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sacco has been galvanized by war before, having researched and then drawn comics in response on World War I, the Vietnam War and Gaza 1956.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blending critique with dark humor, the Maltese and American cartoonist\/journalist takes sharp aim at the U.S. government in <\/span>War on Gaza<\/span><\/i>, accusing the former Biden administration of complicity in the genocide. Known for his in-depth graphic reportage and previous work on Palestine, Sacco was forced to work from afar this time. \u201cLike other artists or writers, I see writing and drawing as a form of thinking \u2014 you start, and suddenly the ideas begin to flow,\u201d Sacco said. \u201cAt first, it was challenging because I don\u2019t particularly enjoy writing opinion pieces. I prefer reportage, but in this case, I had no other choice.\u201d Access to the Gaza Strip remains barred to international journalists, while the <\/span>Committee to Protect Journalists<\/span><\/a> reports that Israel has killed 187 Palestinian and Lebanese media workers, and imprisoned another 86, since the war began 19 months ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Birth of Comic Journalism<\/b><\/h4>\n

It has been over 30 years since Sacco traveled to Palestine for the first time to report on the political situation there. At the time, his use of the comic medium for journalism was unconventional, and perhaps still is for many. The individual chapters of his first comic were also published by Fantagraphics in the 1990s, later compiled into a book titled <\/span>Palestine<\/span><\/i><\/a>. This work is widely regarded as the birth of a new genre, so-called \u201ccomic journalism.\u201d The current war in Gaza has sparked renewed interest in Joe Sacco\u2019s graphic work, prompting Fantagraphics to release a new edition of Palestine<\/em>, alongside the Swiss publisher Edition Moderne, which reissued the work in German under the title <\/span>Pal\u00e4stina<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sacco\u2019s comics are characterized by clear yet dynamic line work, created in the traditional style with pencil, paper, and ink, just as he did when he first began. The process of finishing a book usually takes him years, reflecting his commitment to detailed, in-depth work. Not a single stroke seems randomly placed, giving the reader a precise sense of the surroundings in which the reporter finds himself, whether it\u2019s Jerusalem, Gaza, or Tel Aviv. \u201cI\u2019ve been drawing cartoons since I was a child, but I studied journalism. My original goal was to write newspaper reports,\u201d he recalls. However, after graduation, that plan didn\u2019t unfold as he had imagined. \u201cSince I didn\u2019t want to give up my passion for drawing, it was a natural process for me to convey my reports through the comic medium.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In his previous works, Sacco addressed themes that remain central to this day: the Israeli occupation, the destruction of Palestinian homes, detentions, and torture. These issues continue to be present in the reports of human rights organizations and on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

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