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A review by aforestofbooks
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, Mike Merryman-Lotze
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Reading this book while watching a genocide unfold in Gaza live from my phone is the weirdest reading experience ever. The entire time, my thoughts oscillated between:
"Is this author alive? (May Allah grant Refaat Alareer and his family Jannah). Have they lost family and friends? Where are they in Gaza right now? Are the people they mentioned in their essays/stories still alive? What about the house they live in? Is it completely destroyed? Are they starving in northern Gaza? Are they getting bombed in Rafah? Are they under siege in a hospital? Have they been arrested and tortured? What are they thinking right now?"
Each essay/story highlighted a different aspect of Gaza and the issues it faces under Zionist occupation. I love how each author cites their sources with footnotes. It makes you realize the breadth of evidence we have about Israel's war crimes, especially in comparison to the Nazi Zionists who love coming up with lies based on zero evidence or sources.
Every topic that's discussed, whether it's about travelling restrictions, electricity, agriculture, art, architecture, made me think of Gaza now. The essay "Ethical Implications of Experimental Design on Affected Communities in the Gaza Strip" was especially painful to read. Seeing how hard Gazans work to rebuild their homes and communities after every zionist attack, made me think of the drone footage we got from Motaz about the level of destruction in Gaza from this genocide. Anytime I see videos of destroyed buildings, exposed beams and wires, streets that no longer look like streets, it makes me realize how enormous the scale of this attack is compared to the others. The difficulty in rebuilding Gaza after the previous attacks pales in comparison to what it'll take to rebuild Gaza if Israel is ever held accountable and forced to stop this ethnic cleansing campaign.
"Regimes of oppression work tirelessly to render the historical context of oppressed people irrelevant and obscure. Their final goal is to portray oppressed people and their struggles for reclaiming their rights as irrational and, at worst, reduce them to a threat against those who built their privilege at the expense of others." (Abusalim, J., Introduction)
"Knowledge is Israel's worst enemy. Awareness is Israel's most hated and feared foe. That's why Israel bombs a university: it wants to kill openness and determination to refuse living under injustice and racism." (Alareer, R., Gaza Asks: When Shall This Pass?)
"We hold onto our phones for dear life because we have learned the hard way that documenting what we are going through is very important to ensure our narrative remains alive and remains ours. Our stories, our struggle and pain, and the atrocities committed against us for more than seven decades are being erased. The Israeli journalist Hagar Shezaf explained how Israeli Defense Ministry teams systematically removed historical documents from Israeli archives, which describe the killing of Palestinians, the demolition of their villages and the expulsion of entire Palestinian communities. This is part of Israel's attempt to constantly rewrite history in its favour. So, we hold tight to our phones and record." (Abu Mezied, A., On Why We Still Hold Onto Our Phones and Keep Recording)
"The problem is no longer a lack of evidence against Israel's constructed myths or its powerful public relations, or even insufficient grassroots action, whether in Palestine or globally. The problem is that the international system is not prepared to truly listen to the cries of the Palestinians for justice amid immoral investment to maintain Israel apartheid. The international system leveraged its power to make the Arab regimes complicit in perpetuating Israeli occupation. Later through the Oslo Accords, the PLO also became complicit. This is happening despite the unsustainable realities that trap us, with ramifications beyond the boundaries of historic Palestine, as seen elsewhere in the Middle East, in Kashmir, and even in the US. Israel is exporting innovative models of oppression to other dictators and oppressive regimes that are using these 'tested' methods against their unwanted Others, a situation that should worry every citizen." (Abusalama, S., Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Permanent Temporality)
I only typed out a few quotes I highlighted that stood out to me and made me realize how Palestinians have been voicing their arguments, concerns, anger for years and years...only for little change to be made. This time, things have been different. Israel is scared because the world now has knowledge and awareness of their war crimes. It's why the US is moving towards banning TikTok. It's why people are getting censored on social media. It's why many individuals have lost their jobs from speaking out against genocide and ethnic cleansing and apartheid. And yet, Israel continues to commit crimes despite knowing we know these things, because they know the international powers will sit back and let them get away with it. It's why it's so important to disrupt social order, make people's lives hell, boycott, sanction, etc. It's why we can't let a UN resolution of a possible temporary ceasefire be enough to stop us from protesting and move on. It's what Israel and the US wants. And this time around, things feel so much closer to liberation than they did in the past. It's the only bit of hope any of us have, that things will be different this time.
"Is this author alive? (May Allah grant Refaat Alareer and his family Jannah). Have they lost family and friends? Where are they in Gaza right now? Are the people they mentioned in their essays/stories still alive? What about the house they live in? Is it completely destroyed? Are they starving in northern Gaza? Are they getting bombed in Rafah? Are they under siege in a hospital? Have they been arrested and tortured? What are they thinking right now?"
Each essay/story highlighted a different aspect of Gaza and the issues it faces under Zionist occupation. I love how each author cites their sources with footnotes. It makes you realize the breadth of evidence we have about Israel's war crimes, especially in comparison to the Nazi Zionists who love coming up with lies based on zero evidence or sources.
Every topic that's discussed, whether it's about travelling restrictions, electricity, agriculture, art, architecture, made me think of Gaza now. The essay "Ethical Implications of Experimental Design on Affected Communities in the Gaza Strip" was especially painful to read. Seeing how hard Gazans work to rebuild their homes and communities after every zionist attack, made me think of the drone footage we got from Motaz about the level of destruction in Gaza from this genocide. Anytime I see videos of destroyed buildings, exposed beams and wires, streets that no longer look like streets, it makes me realize how enormous the scale of this attack is compared to the others. The difficulty in rebuilding Gaza after the previous attacks pales in comparison to what it'll take to rebuild Gaza if Israel is ever held accountable and forced to stop this ethnic cleansing campaign.
"Regimes of oppression work tirelessly to render the historical context of oppressed people irrelevant and obscure. Their final goal is to portray oppressed people and their struggles for reclaiming their rights as irrational and, at worst, reduce them to a threat against those who built their privilege at the expense of others." (Abusalim, J., Introduction)
"Knowledge is Israel's worst enemy. Awareness is Israel's most hated and feared foe. That's why Israel bombs a university: it wants to kill openness and determination to refuse living under injustice and racism." (Alareer, R., Gaza Asks: When Shall This Pass?)
"We hold onto our phones for dear life because we have learned the hard way that documenting what we are going through is very important to ensure our narrative remains alive and remains ours. Our stories, our struggle and pain, and the atrocities committed against us for more than seven decades are being erased. The Israeli journalist Hagar Shezaf explained how Israeli Defense Ministry teams systematically removed historical documents from Israeli archives, which describe the killing of Palestinians, the demolition of their villages and the expulsion of entire Palestinian communities. This is part of Israel's attempt to constantly rewrite history in its favour. So, we hold tight to our phones and record." (Abu Mezied, A., On Why We Still Hold Onto Our Phones and Keep Recording)
"The problem is no longer a lack of evidence against Israel's constructed myths or its powerful public relations, or even insufficient grassroots action, whether in Palestine or globally. The problem is that the international system is not prepared to truly listen to the cries of the Palestinians for justice amid immoral investment to maintain Israel apartheid. The international system leveraged its power to make the Arab regimes complicit in perpetuating Israeli occupation. Later through the Oslo Accords, the PLO also became complicit. This is happening despite the unsustainable realities that trap us, with ramifications beyond the boundaries of historic Palestine, as seen elsewhere in the Middle East, in Kashmir, and even in the US. Israel is exporting innovative models of oppression to other dictators and oppressive regimes that are using these 'tested' methods against their unwanted Others, a situation that should worry every citizen." (Abusalama, S., Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Permanent Temporality)
I only typed out a few quotes I highlighted that stood out to me and made me realize how Palestinians have been voicing their arguments, concerns, anger for years and years...only for little change to be made. This time, things have been different. Israel is scared because the world now has knowledge and awareness of their war crimes. It's why the US is moving towards banning TikTok. It's why people are getting censored on social media. It's why many individuals have lost their jobs from speaking out against genocide and ethnic cleansing and apartheid. And yet, Israel continues to commit crimes despite knowing we know these things, because they know the international powers will sit back and let them get away with it. It's why it's so important to disrupt social order, make people's lives hell, boycott, sanction, etc. It's why we can't let a UN resolution of a possible temporary ceasefire be enough to stop us from protesting and move on. It's what Israel and the US wants. And this time around, things feel so much closer to liberation than they did in the past. It's the only bit of hope any of us have, that things will be different this time.