Representing Gaza: Artists are using social media-based comics as resources and resistance

Comics and graphic narratives have long been used to document the events of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both by people visiting and reporting on the region, as well as by Palestinians and Israelis.

Prominent texts include comic book artist and journalist Joe Sacco’s Palestine, a detailed and visually chaotic account of the artist’s visit to Gaza and Sarah Glidden’s How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, a travelogue detailing the cartoonist’s experience as a Jewish-American tourist in Israel.

There is also Guy Delisle’s Jerusalem, a story about living in Israel as a French-Canadian ex-pat, Palestinian artist Leila Abdelrazaq’s Baddawi, a historical and familial retelling of life in a Lebanese refugee camp and Palestinian political cartoonist Naji al-Ali’s A Child in Palestine, a collection of political cartoons featuring a now-iconic child named Handala. Israeli comic book artist Rutu Modan’s Exit Wounds recounts a love story set against the backdrop of a suicide bombing.

My previous writing explored how How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less reflects the artist/author’s complicated journey of self- and cultural discovery. As a Jewish American woman embarking on an Israeli-funded Birthright Trip, Glidden faces the violence enacted by the Israeli state. The book highlights Glidden’s quest for an authentic representation of Israeli and Palestinian lived realities, and her journey towards self-acceptance.

Personal memory and reflection – whether about identity...

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