Art can be a good way to restore pain, heal it, or at least get rid of it or expel it. Comic book author Uri Fink has achieved some of this, curating the comic “In the Heart of October 7, Testimonies,” which is … Now edited in Spanish by Nagrela editors. The comic includes a story by him and 11 Israeli authors: Michel Kishka, Reut Portes, Shai Sharka, Ilana Zifrin, Yonatan Waxman, Moshek Golst, Jay Linneman, Corin Shadmi, Noa Katz, Tohar Sherman-Friedman and Nosko. “The idea was to create a very diverse collection, reflecting the diversity of Israeli society as much as possible. So there are veteran cartoonists, young people, men, women, homosexuals, heterosexuals, secularists, religious people, everything,” Uri Fink tells us personally during his visit to Madrid.
“I was very lucky with this project. When I first met Maya, I had already planned everything. She chose all the stories. This is the key to this project. It was something we were all excited about. Not just me. It was something we were all excited about. We all had to do something substantive about it, something meaningful. This was not about drawing another cartoon to explain Israel’s position, but about doing something for humanity. That was the goal,” he explains.
Comic strips
Journalist Maya Pollack, of the Makor Rishon newspaper, published a report with stories of people whose heroic actions saved lives in the Hamas attacks that devastated Israel on October 7, 2023. Pollack selected a series of stories and linked the authors to the heroes of the stories. Then Fink’s friend, the translator and literary agent Dorit Daliot, put him in touch with the French publisher Delecour. “I think 9,000 copies were sold in France. “We started in French because France is one of the most important countries in comics culture, it is the mecca of comics,” confirms Fink, who tells us that it has also been published in Hebrew.
We don’t know the comic tradition in Israel. One of the main problems is that there are only 8 million people in the world who can read Hebrew. Fink shows us that this market is very small. “Then people didn’t grow up reading comics like in Europe. When I was a kid, there were almost no comics, because the culture of Israel’s founders was Russian and Polish, and they didn’t like comics. “It took a while for the comic book tradition to take hold, but then the intellectual legitimacy of the comic book was established very quickly,” Fink says.
As for the purpose of the comic, Fink is clear. “One of the goals was to show the awakening of humanity against terrorism. It shows some of the things that happened on that terrible day, reflecting the lights of humanity amidst all the darkness. “It was not intended to explain Israel’s position.” One issue that comes up in many accounts is where the army was that day. “Stupidity plays an important role in the story in general. So I think it was just stupidity and some arrogance, but I don’t know. “I hope they investigate it soon, we know,” Fink says.
The eleven authors did not give any instructions. “Most of them are my colleagues, so I didn’t have to tell them anything. The amazing thing is that if you read this book, you will not find a lot of blood, violence, or disgusting or horrific things in it. I think it’s because all artists talked to people, went places, so they had that connection, and didn’t act instinctively. They wanted to show humanity. And that’s the wonderful thing, that all of this happened without any instructions. Some of the heroes of these stories are people from kibbutzim that were attacked, who were part of the group (kitat konenut) that acted in case of threat or attack.
When I asked Fink if he thought this comic could be a good way to bring the Palestinian and Israeli communities together, he pointed out that she belongs to the group Catholics for Peace. “Any form of communication is useful for promoting peace and humanity. He concludes, “I am willing to talk and make comics together at any time. It would be my pleasure and I look forward to it, but they always refuse.”
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