featuring the art of Tracy Chahwan, Ganzeer, Ghadi Ghosn, Omar Khouri, Sirene Moukheiber, Hicham Rahma and Enas Satir.
Hoo boy, readers, what a book. If you’re as unfamiliar with current events in the Middle East and North Africa as I am, then this book is likely to be a jarring experience for you, as Yazan Al-Saadi takes readers on a tour of what’s been happening recently in some of the area’s most politically repressed nations, moving from the better-publicized crises in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, to the ones that receive less coverage in Bahrain, Yemen and Sudan, with other stops along the way. The author himself is Syrian Canadian, and worked as both a journalist and with Medecins Sans Frontieres. There are many rightful targets of his ire who all share this in common: the desire to centralize power in themselves alone, and by doing so strip others of their rights and dignities.
As such, Mr Al-Saadi sets any number of dictators and authoritarian regimes in his sights, as well as the imperialist/settler-colonial powers of the West and Israel. This is, ofc, old hat to anyone with any awareness of the area and even half a heart, but the sheer amount of detail he puts into narrating the crimes against the people of MENA sheds light on some truly awful situations. In doing so, his aim is to raise both awareness and inspire solidarity worldwide. Tyranny and economic exploitation must be fought against by the many below: we cannot expect to be rescued by the (perishingly rare benevolent) few in power above.