To The World: A Comic From Gaza - Written by Jehad Abu Dayya, Illustrated by Esraa al-Banna (Coast Line Press)

“The inspiration to write a comic started with my many experiences of displacement, as I left my house next to Al-Shifa Hospital and was then displaced from one place to another and from one tent to another. I thought of the art of comics as an international art to convey the images of our suffering to the whole world, and this is the least of daily suffering.” —Jehad Abu Dayya

“In the midst of the genocide and without any pretense, the charcoal that remains from burning wood to prepare food is the drawing tool that saved me from the whirlpools of drowning while waiting for a ceasefire.” —Esraa El-Banna

“This comic gives us outsiders a small, searing glimpse of life inside the occupation. There are four stark black-and-white panels that will stay with me for a long time, in which an Israeli soldier degrades the protagonist, Farah. Farah is courageous in the face of the soldier’s petty cruelty: she will go on writing, just as the author and illustrator have. May we all have this bravery in the face of genocide. This is an urgent appeal to the world to listen, and a wonderful example of the power of comics.” — Sarah Leavitt, cartoonist and educator, Canada

“Jehad Abu Dayya’s sharp writing and Esraa Al-Banna’s bracing illustration provide an urgent dispatch of grief and steadfastness from the worst horror imaginable. The work of these two artists is a gift -- one the world does not yet deserve, but I hope can one day earn.” —Michael DeForge, Author of Holy Lacrimony, Birds of Maine, Heaven No Hell, and others.

Coastal Lines Press is a collective of writers in Gaza. Through Zines from Gaza, they publish independent booklets of poetry, essays, and testimonies that travel like vessels from coast to coast, turning words into vital aid for their families.