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Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, Mike Merryman-Lotze
5 reviews
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
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
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
This collection brings together essays and poetry by Palestinian authors about Palestine. It provides nuanced and scholarly views on Palestine’s past, present and future, in a variety of different domains: agriculture, social media, architecture, ethics, artificial intelligence, education, politics of course, etc. Some essays are more autobiographical, describing in simple words what it’s like to live in Gaza and what it has been especially since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The poems bring together all those issues in direct, heartfelt lines.
I thought this was an accessible, well-researched and important book. The publisher is offering the ebook for free and I highly recommend it for a portrait of Gazan society very different from what Western media is used to showing its viewers.
This book was published in 2022, with most of the pieces written in 2021, so it doesn’t take into account the horrific events we are witnessing. However it provides context for the colonial violence and genoc!de perpetrated by Israel, and looks at possible futures for Gaza depending on the reactions of the international community. It is both a love letter to Palestinian culture and resilience, and a plea for help.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Police brutality, War, and Genocide
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
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