Our Land...Our Home
Artist: Paul Peter Piech (U.S.)
Dimensions: Approximately 30” x 40”
Circa 1988

This signed, limited-edition linocut depicts a strong, vertically extended arm in salute reaching for the word “Palestine” which, though arching to conform to the hand, remains just out of reach.

Taken together the visual elements constitute a tree, an icon of Palestinian national identity. The poster is done in the four Palestinian national colors: red, green, black, and white (pale yellow substitutes for white as a concession to design).

The four-word caption at the base of the poster is a succinct statement of Palestinian national aspirations that reads several ways for richer meaning. The top row of words (Our, Our) creates a rhythmic chant denoting the Palestinian perspective as it relates to the question of ownership. The second row of words (Land, Home) denote the objects of ownership. Land and Home work as a pair and, in reverse, as a unity (Homeland). Finally, the caption communicates as two vertical lines of text: Our Land, Our Home.

The artist, Paul Peter Piech (1920-1996), established the Taurus Press in 1959 at his home near London. There he printed typographically unconventional books, often on pacifist subjects, illustrated with woodcuts and linocuts done in a brash and unapologetic style. Piech averred the use of military symbols in his art. Though this poster is clearly partisan, the hand is not clenched into a fist, nor does it contain a weapon. The caption “Our Land, Our Home” is the poster’s most militant element.

Questions for A New Democratic Discussion

1) What meanings can we read into an unclenched, open hand?

2) To what extent are “land” and “home” the main issues in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict? Are there other issues of equal importance?

3) Can the Palestinians recover their land and homes through pacifist means?