Palestine in Black and White By. Mohammad Sabaaneh

• Imprint: Saqi Books
• ISBN: 9780863569401
• Published: February 2018
• UK Price: £10.99
• Binding: Paperback
• Extent: 128pp

Palestine in Black and White is an intimate and powerful portrayal of life under occupation from one of the most talented cartoonists working today.

Mohammad Sabaaneh has gained worldwide renown for his black and white sketches. His stark geometric figures and landscapes are rich with Palestinian visual traditions and symbols, while his haunting figures depict a vivid perspective of the occupation.

This first collection brings together one hundred of Sabaaneh’s most striking works, including cartoons that portray the experience of Palestinian prisoners, drawn while Sabaaneh himself was detained in an Israeli prison. The drawings do not flinch from revealing the reality that confronts Palestinians, from Israel’s injustices in the West Bank to their military operations on Gaza.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Mohammad Sabaaneh is a Palestinian painter and caricaturist. He has a daily cartoon in the Palestinian newspaper al-Hayat al-Jadida and his work is published in publications across the Arab world. Sabaaneh is the Middle East representative for Cartoonist Rights Network International and the Palestinian ambassador for United Sketches, an international association for freedom of expression and cartoonists in exile. His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows around the world. Sabaaneh is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2017 Marseille International Cartoon Festival Prix d’Or. He lives in Ramallah, Palestine.

REVIEWS

‘Incisive artwork … multi-layered.’ Mint Press News 

‘Art manages to impart what can easily be lost or given less importance within mainstream media. Palestine in Black and White is an intense communication of Palestinian life; bludgeoned, displaced, yet still resisting … Sabaaneh goes beyond the usual symbols associated with the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle [and] depicts Palestine’s open wounds as a collective experience.’ Middle East Monitor 

‘Narrates real stories of Palestinians’ The Daily Star Lebanon 

‘Sabaaneh’s moving and incisive cartoons are urgent and necessary reminders of what life is like under an ongoing and agonizing occupation.’ Bookwitty 

‘A good read underpinned by an open mind can change your lifeview irrevocably. Palestine in Black and White by Mohammad Sabaaneh is one such book.’ Bookblast Top Ten Reads for Independent Minds 

‘Hard-hitting cartoons … offer a candid view of Palestinian experience.’ The Church Times 

‘The cartoons themselves cry out for a different future where both occupied and occupier can break out of their current patterns and frames, past walls and ribbons, into a freer life.’ Qantara

‘Each of Mohammad Sabaaneh’s powerful drawings is like a gut punch that gets straight to the essence of the stark reality of Palestinian life under Israeli occupation. This is how an artist resists.’ Joe Sacco 

‘Despite working at a very complicated crossroads of ideology and political pressures, Mohammad Sabaaneh continues to produce sharp, incisive cartoons. His tenacity and courage is an inspiration for cartoonists around the world.’ Matt Wuerker, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist at Politico 

‘If you want to get a smart Palestinan’s view of what’s happening in the Middle East, you can’t do better than look at Mohammad Sabaaneh’s cartoons—they tell you more than words can say.’ Victor Navasky, The Nation

‘Brings together one hundred of Sabaaneh’s most striking works that do not flinch from revealing the reality that confronts Palestinians.’ 
Nasher News

‘Glimpses of hope … “each image is worth a thousand words” ringing ever so true here.’ 
5* Canvas Magazine