A fragile dove of peace hangs in the balance in the Middle East

We are a lucky country indeed.

We live in a nation that is free of deadly conflict and has stable government and for that we should be grateful and also guard closely.

Elsewhere in the world people are not so fortunate.

The deadly attacks by Hamas* terrorists* on Israel on October 7 saw 1400 Israelis killed and hundreds taken hostage* and led to the Jewish state’s* retaliation* in Gaza*, plunging the Middle East back into war.

Israel has vowed to dismantle* Hamas and has attacked targets it believes are part of Hamas’ terrorist organisation, which governs the small Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Unfortunately Israel’s strategy has seen Palestinian civilian casualties* in the thousands and calls for a ceasefire* have intensified so that humanitarian aid* can be brought into Gaza. A ceasefire would also be an opportunity for Jewish hostages, taken by Hamas and held in Gaza, to be returned to their distressed families in Israel.

This week we saw a ceasefire finally negotiated, with the two sides agreeing to a four day cessation* of hostilities. Fuel, food and medicines would be trucked into Gaza and a deal to release some hostages (women and children only) would take place.

I thought I would highlight this event in my daily cartoon for the Herald Sun. Political cartoons on delicate matters like the Middle East conflict are a fine line to walk. War is no laughing matter, so the cartoons are usually not designed for humour but more a reflection on the tragedy at hand. This is the way I approached this ceasefire cartoon.

I decided upon using the white dove with an olive branch in its beak, a universal symbol of peace, as the centrepiece for the cartoon. The white dove is symbolic throughout history and religions, most famously in the Christian Bible when Noah* released a dove from the ark* and it returned with a twig from an olive tree, delivering a sign of dry land.

Peace has always been a threatened species in this Middle Eastern part of the world, so I have drawn our dove looking perplexed* with bloodied bandages and the scars of war. The wilted olive branch in its beak denotes* hard times but the cartoon shows that our dove is still doggedly* trying to fulfil its assignment to bring about peace, however tenuous*, this time through a ceasefire.

I have placed the dove between the two opposing sides, Hamas and Israeli, two gun barrels facing each other. And in a desperate act to halt the conflict, the bird has stuck its wing tips into the muzzles of the weapons, silencing the guns for now.

The final act of the cartoon is to connect with my audience through eye contact. The dove of peace is looking at the reader of the cartoon with an expression that might be saying, “Do you have a better idea?”

As of Tuesday 28 November, it has been reported that the four-day ceasefire is being extended by two days.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• Hamas: a nationalist group, dedicated to establishing an independent Islamic state in Palestine, including via terrorism, that controls the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian section of the Mediterranean coast
• terrorists: individuals or groups who commit criminal, often violent acts – often targeting civilians – to further political, religious, social, racial or environmental ideologies
• hostage:
• Jewish state: refers to Israel
• retaliation: harming someone because they did or said something harmful to you
• Gaza: coastal territory along the Mediterranean Sea just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula, bordering Israel and Egypt
• civilian casualties: deaths of innocent people with no connection to military action
• ceasefire: temporary truce, agreement between countries or people to stop fighting each other
• humanitarian aid: delivering assistance to people in need in times of crisis, including food, water, shelter and medical assistance
• cessation: stopping something, either temporarily or completely
• Noah: a biblical figure from the Old Testament, who built a boat (Noah’s ark) to save himself, his family and a male and female of every type of animal before the world was covered by a great flood
• ark: the large wooden ship built by Noah
• perplexed: confused, bewildered, filled with uncertainty
• denotes: signifies, indicates, represents
• doggedly: with great determination and tenacity
• tenuous: in doubt, weak, flimsy and uncertain

EXTRA READING

What is the Israel and Palestine conflict?

Pen mightier than sword in conflict

Sword from Crusades salvaged at sea

QUICK QUIZ

1. What happened on October 7?
2. Hamas rules over what territory?
3. Why have calls for a ceasefire intensified?
4. How long is the ceasefire the two sides have negotiated due to last?
5. What has been the unfortunate consequence of Israel’s strategy?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Cartoon analysis
After reading and analysing the Mark Knight cartoon in the Kids News article, answer the following questions to help you get the full meaning out of his drawing:

What is the main issue Mark Knight is highlighting?

Who is portrayed in the cartoon?

How are they portrayed?

What is the humour in the drawing?

Who might agree with his viewpoint?

Who might disagree or possibly be offended by this viewpoint?

Do you think he makes a good point? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Look through the most recent stories on Kids News and choose one to draw a cartoon about.

Use Mark’s three-step process to get started:

What is my subject?

What do I want to say about this issue?

How do I say it? Do I use visual metaphors (an image that the viewer is meant to understand as a symbol for something else), multiple panels or symbolism (when one idea, feeling or emotion is represented by something else such as a picture, character, colour or object)?

Time: allow at least 40 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum links: English, Humanities, Visual Arts, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.