An incredible collection of poetry and essays about the Palestinian experience. Equal parts educational as it is heart wrenching. It covers socioeconomic among other parts of life in Gaza that one who is an outsider to the area/cultural can easily understand. Each essay tackled a topic and was so illuminating and broadened my understanding and the way I thought of the occupation.

“How many more Palestinians should be massacred for the world to care about our lives?” -Refaat Alareer

This anthology should be a required reading for those looking for more information on Palestinians and their resilience.

If you're looking to cover a lot of ground in an easily accessible anthology and have already done your Palestine 101 research, this is the book for you. From education to architecture to daring to dream, this anthology gives a holistic and well-rounded overview of the day to day struggles of living in an occupied territory. In particular, Mosab Abu Toha's essay on how hard it was to establish a library in Gaza will stick with me for a long time.

Please go read this, immediately!!

Wow, this taught me so much, yet words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is!!🥺🥺 The number of times I cried while reading this book was wow, wow, wow. I’m lost for words, but I want you to understand my feelings, so here are some quotes:

🍉
“𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 of 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴,
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘍-16𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥
𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦,
𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬
𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴”
🍉
“𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦.”
🍉
“𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 . . . 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.”
🍉
“𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴,” 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥.”
🍉
“𝘈𝘯 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 “ضيه تاه” (𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵). 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.”
🍉
“𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 u𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 t𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 b𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.”
🍉
“𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 k𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 t𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦.”
🍉

Rereading these quotes makes me want to cry all over again!🥺

!!𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 & 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗝𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗺; 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗻𝗴; 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗟𝗼𝘁𝘇𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄!!

this was an amazing collection of stories and poetry to listen to on audio, the narrators were amazing and the authors of each work did an equally fantastic job. having the privilege to engage with palestinian stories, words, and voices is something i won't take for granted; to be able to read/listen to this collection while palestinians are in the midst of a genocide feels so unfathomable and makes this book even more important of a read/listen. I hope other people will continue to pick up not just this book, but other books by palestinian authors to keep their stories alive while fighting for a free palestine.

We hold onto our phones and leave the camera rolling, recording our tears, our screams at losing our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and children, our anguish, our attempts to run for our lives, our crippling fears, our powerlessness to calm our children when our houses shake with the deafening sound of death delivered by F-35 missiles sent with love from the US government. We must record our prayers to survive, our children’s joy when they find their toys intact and their pets alive. We record our strength and our vulnerability, our disappointment in our leadership, and our rage at the silence of the world. We record the smoke, the blood, the lost homes, the olive trees targeted, and livelihoods stolen. We record how much we aged and how much we continue to love life even though life doesn’t love us back. - Asmaa Abu Mezied

“Light in Gaza is a wide-ranging anthology that includes new works by eleven Palestinian writers and poets.”

“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.”

I tried writing this review a few times, then decided to let the quotes speak for themselves. But also, please keep in mind that this book was released in 2022. Also, one of the 11 writers Refaat Alareer has been killed since this was published (possibly more).

This is why reading and posting and sharing is important regardless of the size of your account. For far too long the world has looked away saying it is all too complicated. It’s really not. Collective punishment is a war crime. Apartheid is a war crime. Killing thousands of innocent children, yep, a war crime.

LIGHT IN GAZA: Writings Born of Fire - Edited by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Michael Merryman-Lotze
.
This ebook is free from @haymarketbooks and on @netgalley as an audiobook. ❤️

This book is truly inspiring and educational. The writers of this anthology focus on cultural and social development as a way of envisioning a future for the Palestinian people. Despite the conditions and violence in Gaza, these writers center Palestinian voices in the political discourse. If you want to under more about Palestinian culture, I suggest you check this out.

This book was really difficult to read. It’s so important, but it was tough.

Not only to hear the words of poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed by the Israeli military in December, but also to hear the hope in so many of these essays and poems. This book was originally published in 2022 and while it was absolutely heartbreaking to hear the hope, during this time that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, I think it also perfectly exemplifies Palestinians, and their seemingly unending resilience. The resilience is something that really shone through in each of the poems and essays; whether it was looking at the importance of materials in architecture, the persistance it took to open a library in Gaza, the role that agriculture plays in everyday life in Palestine, and more.

This is a difficult read, but it is also fascinating, as there were many things I had never considered before and I’m so glad that I read it. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I listened to an advanced copy of the audiobook

Review of the audiobook:
5 stars
Excellent narrators, clear at speeds 0.5x-2x, and the sections/texts are clearly separated

Review of the book:
5 stars
All the stories and texts are vignettes into different aspects of life in Gaza, which included things I'd never really considered, I learned a lot

Truly fucking heartbreaking to read this in the midst of the genocide, I recommend this to everyone


Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this book.

This is an incredible collection of poetry and essays about the Palestinian experience. It's both academic and heartwrenching. So many aspects of Palestinian history and occupation are covered.

I don't have the words or the experience to truly convey the horrific plight of the Palestinian people. I can only say that this book needs to be read. It's digitally available for free on Haymarket Publishing. Thank you to #netgalley and Haymarket Publishing for my copy.

This is such a beautiful collection of essays that gave me so much more historical context about Gaza. With the genocide in Gaza continuing into 2024, these stories are so important so that people today understand that the attacks in Gaza and throughout Palestine did not begin in 2023. I enjoyed this audiobook edition with multiple narrators, as well!

A fully engaging and eye opening collection from some incredible Palestinian voices.

I have been spending a lot of time educating myself on not only occupied Palestine, but colonialism in general. This brought to my attention things I hadn’t thought about before. Education is never over. Push yourself to learn about things that make you uncomfortable.

This doesn’t talk, really, about the rubbled state of how Gaza is currently with the bombardment of bombs dropped, but showcases the ongoing torment they have faced throughout the last century. Things like what it would take to rebuild… what the process looks like. Personal stories and accounts of life in Gaza are shared in this book and one thing I see over and over again when Palestinian people are shown, how even in the face of oppression, they love and respect their home.

This was a great read that I recommend.

Beautifully written and narrated. A mix of both factual and personal accounts from Gaza. Very eye opening to their life under occupation. I believe this is a must read for everyone in countries involved.

A powerful call to action as well. What can and will we do? Personally I wish there was so much more.

A moving and compelling narration of the essays and poems by Palestinian people of Gaza.

I found Light in Gaza to be an impactful and thought provoking listen/read. As I find similarities to other colonized territories today, and it all boils down to stripping away autonomy, cultural and historical erasure, as well as other basic rights.

This is a must read/listen for those looking to learn more about Gaza and their people, and how their relationship with their colonial settlers has impacted generations and will continue as long as Palestine remains occupied.

I really enjoyed this one and am so thankful to Dreamscape Media for granting me advanced audio access to what should be required reading for years to come, especially in the current socioeconomic and political climates overseas. Light in Gaza, while previously published in print, is a collection of prose, literary pieces, and essays that animate what life is like in Palestine, specifically the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have diminished over the years.

I say this should be required reading because I learned so much that I didn’t previously know – including travel restrictions, limitations on parcels and mail, lack of access to educational materials, resources, technology, books, and career choices. Also, not to mention the acts of fear and violence that Gazans experience from IDF and other Israeli militant groups and factions. We need a ceasefire now, and we especially need all of our nations to stand up for justice for Palestinians, for they’ve suffered for far too long.