War and Peace

Cartoons are a means to the daily wow, making our now consciously present to us, undressing it before us, while taking the greater outlook of before and after. Today's artwork by Fadi Abou Hassan is very much a case in point, published on the anniversary of the end of World War II in many parts of Europe. That war ended 69 years ago today, while nothing has been learned, and so the scene is yet again painfully relevant to put before us.

The blade of the scythe reaches across the picture plane, resembling the Syrian flag, only the black section is now the dotted red.

Fadi Abou Hassan, War and Peace, May 9, 2014.

The rubbles create a dynamic of zigzagging lines. When walls begin to move, it is in itself an indication of troubled times. They create a background of future possibility and the all too well-known past. The dove of peace, however, is not alone here.

Perhaps their unity will be severed, perhaps they will prove the strongest. Who shall win, we cannot tell. "Winning" is already to apply a belingerent language, making us part of the problem. Let us thus cease all use of words and step back, while underlining the cartoonist's belief in love.


The drawing is courtesy of Fadi Abou Hassan and must not be reproduced without his permission.