> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.merip.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# On Drawing the Act of Looking
- URL: https://www.merip.org/2026/08/on-drawing-the-act-of-looking/
- Published: 2026-08-20T12:54:50.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-20T12:54:50.000Z
- Description: A visual essay on witnessing and rendering violence.
- Author: Jana Traboulsi
- Tags: Art, #Up Front, Lebanon, Palestine, issue 319

*Lebanese artists Jana Traboulsi, Mazen Kerbaj and Bahij Jaroudi have long grappled with how to draw the violence inflicted by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon, questions that have taken on new urgency since the destruction of Gaza began in October 2023\. In this visual essay, Traboulsi brings together elements of their work created over the last three years to explore how drawing can help interrogate the act of looking at images and what it means for their subjects, viewers and themselves.* 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_01-1.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_02.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_03.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_04.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Gaza23_to-stare.jpg)

Jana Traboulsi, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Jaan-Traboulsi_2024_watching-liking-crying.jpg)

Jana Traboulsi, 2024

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Jana-Traboulsi_17102023_The-agony-of-watching.jpg)

Jana Traboulsi, October 17, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Jana-Traboulsi_17122023_Sensitive-content.jpg)

Jana Traboulsi, December 17, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Jana-Traboulsi_Gaza240509----eyes-open-closed-2-copy.jpg)

Jana Traboulsi, May 9, 2024

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Jana-Traboulsi_insomnia.jpg)

Jana Traboulsi

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---2023---watch-a-child-trembling-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---131023---speechless-eye-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, October 12, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---04112023---really-seeing-us-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, November 4, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---07072025---baby-eyes-wide-open-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, July 7, 2025

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---07112023---that-look-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, November 7, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---11112023---brain-in-smoke-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, November 11, 2023

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---19022024---witnessing-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, February 19, 2024

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/Mazen-Kerbaj---23012024---majhoul-1.jpg)

Mazen Kerbaj, January 23, 2024

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_06.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_07.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_09.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_10.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_11.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_12.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_13.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_01-Jidar_ENG_NN.jpg)

All images Jana Traboulsi, March-April 2026

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_02-Mariam_ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_03-Lina_ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_04-SME3TO_ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_05-Birds_ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_06-Plane_ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_07-Thunder_ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_08-Dima_ENG.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_09-Calm_Eng_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MEGA26_Jana_10-Ghassan-ENG_WEB.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/45/9b45c1a1-9179-4ea6-9cac-2e14c9ea334d/content/images/2026/08/MERIP_Jana-Traboulsi_15.jpg)