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A review by dhiyanah
Gaza Writes Back by Refaat Alareer
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Reading these stories in Dec 2024, alongside a real-time genocide, it did not feel like I was reading fiction. I had to remind myself that they were meant to be short stories, but, real or imagined, there was so little hope in them.
It's in the title, Gaza Writes Back. These are mourning letters, requesting empathy, addressed to the West. This is resistance acting against the erasure of reality, of the terrors lived daily for a people under constant siege and surveillance for a hungry war machine that will never rest. Most importantly, this collection is a chance for the voices of Refaat Alareer and his students to keep living, even here, in this world that has failed them.
It's in the title, Gaza Writes Back. These are mourning letters, requesting empathy, addressed to the West. This is resistance acting against the erasure of reality, of the terrors lived daily for a people under constant siege and surveillance for a hungry war machine that will never rest. Most importantly, this collection is a chance for the voices of Refaat Alareer and his students to keep living, even here, in this world that has failed them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Violence