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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, Mike Merryman-Lotze
13 reviews
lettuce_read's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, and War
Moderate: Islamophobia and Genocide
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
This anthology, compiled with support from the American Friends Service Committee, centers the voices and perspectives of Palestinians in and from Gaza as they reflect on the district's past and present while imagining its future. Published in 2022, many of the writers reference Israeli bombardment in 2014 and 2021, and it is a particularly harrowing experience to read their contributions now, in 2024, as Gaza is under far more deadly siege. Less than two years after his essay Gaza Asks: When Shall This Pass? was published in this anthology, poet and activist Refaat Alareer was killed in a strike that also killed his brother, brother's son, sister, and her three children. It's this stark contrast - the scale of death, displacement and structural devastation in today's Gaza and the cautious hope of Palestinians in 2021 and 2022 envisioning futures for another generation - that makes this anthology a challenging read.
While structured loosely around future visions of Gaza, the essays, poems and reflections range from highly academic to deeply personal, covering the lived environment and home construction, agrarian practices and the future of farming in historic Palestine, the use of AI in Israel's surveillance and oppression of Palestinians in Gaza, and so much more. The scale of creativity and resilience required for those living under military occupation and blockade is staggering - how do you build a home when you can't use concrete, how do you run a business when you don't have consistent access to electricity, how do you stock a library when you can't order books, how do you survive when arbitrary borders separate you from family, healthcare, employment, education and freedom? For those who've never experienced this level of surveillance and restricted movement - not to mention the constant threat of aerial attack, search and siezure, or imprisonment - the description of Gaza as the world's largest open-air prison takes shape into something visceral. By the time you get to the second-to-last essay, Let Me Dream, by Israa Mohammed Jamal, you begin to better understand the reality of multi-generational trauma and how it shapes those attempting to build lives in Gaza.
Another through-line in this anthology is Gaza's current population density and large refugee population. I hadn't realized that around 70% of those living in Gaza are refugees, and I appreciated how intentionally each contributor engages with the legacy and continuation of the Nakba in shaping Gaza's present and future.
I highly recommend this anthology to anyone interested in learning more about Gaza - its history, its present, and its people dreaming of survival. Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listener's copy - I'm grateful that this new audiobook recording will make this collection more accessible to readers.
While structured loosely around future visions of Gaza, the essays, poems and reflections range from highly academic to deeply personal, covering the lived environment and home construction, agrarian practices and the future of farming in historic Palestine, the use of AI in Israel's surveillance and oppression of Palestinians in Gaza, and so much more. The scale of creativity and resilience required for those living under military occupation and blockade is staggering - how do you build a home when you can't use concrete, how do you run a business when you don't have consistent access to electricity, how do you stock a library when you can't order books, how do you survive when arbitrary borders separate you from family, healthcare, employment, education and freedom? For those who've never experienced this level of surveillance and restricted movement - not to mention the constant threat of aerial attack, search and siezure, or imprisonment - the description of Gaza as the world's largest open-air prison takes shape into something visceral. By the time you get to the second-to-last essay, Let Me Dream, by Israa Mohammed Jamal, you begin to better understand the reality of multi-generational trauma and how it shapes those attempting to build lives in Gaza.
Another through-line in this anthology is Gaza's current population density and large refugee population. I hadn't realized that around 70% of those living in Gaza are refugees, and I appreciated how intentionally each contributor engages with the legacy and continuation of the Nakba in shaping Gaza's present and future.
I highly recommend this anthology to anyone interested in learning more about Gaza - its history, its present, and its people dreaming of survival. Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listener's copy - I'm grateful that this new audiobook recording will make this collection more accessible to readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Torture and Homophobia
alyssapusateri's review
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Genocide, War, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Child death, Gun violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol
cleansetolovers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
5.0
Light in Gaza really broke open my brain in new ways. This moving anthology gives voice to the folks living in Gaza, using personal essays, photos, poetry and critical analysis of what Israel has inflicted onto Gazans and the ways they have focused on creating a meaningful life in the face of oppression. This book has taking me some time to reflect on, especially the rage I’ve felt over the death of contributing writer Refaat Alareer. It was such an informative, engaging and emotional work, especially the chapter on architecture for me. Human-centered architecture can really create a powerful bond for folks, and seeing how often Palestinians have had to be creative in their place making in the face of Israel’s bans is astounding. I got this collection for free on @haymarketbooks and I can’t recommend folks this book enough if you want to understand what Gazans have been dealing with even before 10/7. #palestine #lightingaza #lightingazawritingsbornoffire #refaatalareer #nonfiction #palestinewillbefree🇵🇸 #palestinesolidarity
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Torture, and Abandonment
laurareads87's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire is a collection of writings by Palestinian authors. It is extraordinarily diverse in terms of genre, including scholarly essays, poetry, first-person autobiographical narratives, and more. Informative, deeply impactful, and urgent. Reading this book right now - in early 2024, so soon after the murder of contributing author Refaat Alareer - is devastating.
As the introduction notes, this book "is an attempt to put into words certain aspects of the Palestinian experience in and around Gaza that have been ignored, underrepresented, and dismissed" as well as an "attempt to break the intellectual blockade and the political exclusion of Palestinian voices." Thank you Haymarket Books for making this collection freely available.
Content warnings: colonialism, violence, racism, war, grief, police brutality, murder, forcible confinement, gun violence
As the introduction notes, this book "is an attempt to put into words certain aspects of the Palestinian experience in and around Gaza that have been ignored, underrepresented, and dismissed" as well as an "attempt to break the intellectual blockade and the political exclusion of Palestinian voices." Thank you Haymarket Books for making this collection freely available.
Content warnings: colonialism, violence, racism, war, grief, police brutality, murder, forcible confinement, gun violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, War, Grief, Confinement, Violence, and Police brutality
ska1224's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Racism, Classism, Islamophobia, Violence, War, Murder, and Grief
heliacentr's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, and Murder
megansoetaert's review
emotional
medium-paced
5.0
such a good essay collection about life in Gaza. this book tackles a wide variety of topics, from architecture to daily life to libraries, all under Israeli occupation.
some of the essays felt more academic, but all were great and important reading. thank you to the authors for sharing these contributions with the English speaking world for a better, more whole understanding of Gaza.
peace and safety be with every author of this book.
some of the essays felt more academic, but all were great and important reading. thank you to the authors for sharing these contributions with the English speaking world for a better, more whole understanding of Gaza.
peace and safety be with every author of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, War, and Violence
thewordsdevourer's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
light in gaza offers a relevatory look into gaza, its history, present, future and inhabitants, both from inside the area and those in the diaspora. i esp appreciate how the authors of the various essays included in the book each focus on a different aspect of the occupation and resistance, examining the past and present with their implications, as well as imagining a better future.
while im not at all knowledgable abt certain topics explored - such AI and architecture - they are nevertheless enlightening and offer a truly unique, fresh perspective. i also particularly enjoy learning abt the deep bond between palestinians and their land thru peasantry, and the importance of humanitarianism that instead focuses on liberation and return. this is def a collection to be read and learned from, straight from palestinians themselves.
while im not at all knowledgable abt certain topics explored - such AI and architecture - they are nevertheless enlightening and offer a truly unique, fresh perspective. i also particularly enjoy learning abt the deep bond between palestinians and their land thru peasantry, and the importance of humanitarianism that instead focuses on liberation and return. this is def a collection to be read and learned from, straight from palestinians themselves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, Racism, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Death, Murder, Genocide, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Child death
oliviagarby's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, and Grief