Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine by Refaat Alareer (ed.)

Abstract

In September 2005 Israeli troops and settlers were withdrawn from Gaza after thirty-eight years of occupation and military control. The Oslo Accords of 1993 outlined that Gaza, together with the West Bank, should become part of the Palestinian Authority. A Palestinian state would potentially be formed with the two areas joined by an access strip. However the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), having previously occupied the ground space of Gaza, were merely trans-located to the airspace, border crossings and territorial waters that surround it. A separation barrier now completely encircles Gaza’s land border, with movement in and out controlled and monitored entirely by the IDF. A bureaucratic system of identity cards and travel passes is in operation, which serves to render travel in and out of the area practically impossible for many Palestinian residents. The oppression, domination and control, it seems, continues, with Gaza being dubbed ‘the world’s largest open air prison’. Residents suffer, along with regular power cuts, lack of medical supplies and basic goods, and huge unemployment, intermittent air strikes at the hands of the IDF. Between December 2008 and January 2009, Israel launched a twenty-three day full-scale military offensive, known as ‘Operation Cast Lead’, on Gaza which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 people, leaving many thousands injured. As bombs tore through the cities and refugee camps, much of the infrastructure was destroyed and many homes were levelled. It is this unimaginably harsh and distressing period which is negotiated and recorded in the recently published collection Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine. Fences, checkpoints, occupied airspace and military strikes, it would seem, cannot silence voices that demand that their stories are heard.