Gaza in My Phone by Mazen Kerbaj

Gaza in My Phone presents the powerful art of Lebanese cartoonist Mazen Kerbaj, drawn in response to social media images of Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza.

Gaza is the first genocide to be captured in real-time images on devices we hold in our hands. Two days after October 7, the Lebanese comic artist Mazen Kerbaj began drawing in reaction to what was appearing in his phone. This powerful and original book brings together that work.

Mazen draws in part to bear witness and raise awareness, but also as a coping mechanism, to remain sane amid the unfolding madness. His straight-to-the-point, high-contrast black-and-white art is accompanied by striking slogans and captions. It has been shared widely around the world, helping people express their solidarity with Palestine.

Produced from Berlin, a city where the repression of Palestinian support has been particularly fierce, Mazen's drawings raise fundamental questions about seeing as an act of solidarity when those in power seek to suppress news of what is happening.

Haunted by the live-streamed images, we dread seeing more when we open our phones. By representing them in simple cartoons, Mazen allows us to scrutinize and reflect on the horrors we have witnessed. The result is an extraordinary sequence of images and messages that ask us to pause for a moment, to stop, look, mourn, and summon the resolve to head out and join the fight for the living, for life, for justice.

Mazen Kerbaj is a Lebanese visual artist, comics author, and musician. He is the author of fifteen books, including Beirut Won't Cry with an introduction by Joe Sacco. His work has been shown in galleries and museums around the world. He is well known for recording trumpet solos on his balcony during Israel's 2006 bombing of Beirut, widely shared on the internet under the title Starry Night.

"Mazen Kerbaj's heartbreaking book will stand as a testament to both the power and the pain of witnessing the horrors inflicted on the people of Gaza."
-Joe Sacco

"Mazen's work is an inversion of a heavily surveilled algorithm that draws the eye and always touches the heart."
-Saul Williams

"It is difficult to find the right way in this chaotic world, but if you take Mazen Kerbaj as your moral compass you won't get lost.
-Bob Ostertag

"An accomplished cartoonist"
-Chicago Reader

"With spare, masterful ink strokes, Mazen Kerbaj is able to distill, from the daily live broadcast of the genocide in Gaza, drawings that confound the ideological shroud that systematically dehumanizes Palestinians. With the acuity of a compass and the prescience of a sage, Kerbaj's illustrated chronicles of witnessing jolt like only poems can."
-Rasha Salti

"Kerbaj captures the horror and desperation of the genocide in Gaza. When words are not enough to describe this atrocity, Gaza in My Phone serves as a witness to a war we're constantly asked to look away from, as a reminder of a disaster we're asked to forget. It's a downright necessary book, uncomplicated for an uncomplicated situation."
-Rabih Alameddine

"For most of us, Kerbaj's book will lacerate our hearts again. For those who stood by Israel and covertly or overtly called for genocide, the book catalogues the war crimes they applauded."
-Middle East Monitor

"A statement in support of the Palestinians and their innate sense of patience and determination, regardless of the circumstances."
-The New Arab