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Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture

Edited by Mahmoud Muna and Matthew Teller, with Juliette Touma and Jayyab Abusafia

Profits donated to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians

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‘A city so rich in trees it looks like a cloth of brocade spread out upon the land.’ —Shamsaddin al-Dimashqi, geographer (1256–1327)

‘I remember seeing trees all about the city, olives and almond groves.’ —Ibrahim Skeik, historian (1920–2004)

This is Gaza – a place of humanity and creativity, rich in culture and industry. A place now utterly devastated, its entire population displaced by Israel’s seemingly endless onslaught. Today, as Palestinian heritage is being destroyed, the survivors of Gaza preserve their culture and history through literature, music, stories and memories.

‘Astonishing. Please read it’

Brian Eno

‘A most significant collection’

Philippe Sands

‘Essential reading’

Suad Amiry

‘Daybreak in Gaza must be shared with the world’

Fatima Bhutto

‘A heartbreaking testament’

Isabella Hammad

‘A necessary call to intellectual arms’

Alberto Manguel

Daybreak in Gaza is a record of an extraordinary place and people, and of a culture preserved by the people themselves.

Vignettes of artists, acrobats, students, shopkeepers and medics offer stories of life, love, displacement, loss and survival, rubbing shoulders with vivid accounts of the warriors and travellers of old.

Daybreak in Gaza humanises the people dismissed as mere statistics and ‘collateral damage’. It stands as a mark of resistance to the destruction and as a testament to the people of Gaza.

Published by Saqi Books in October 2024

‘This astonishing book opened my eyes to the brutality that is being visited upon Gaza, and to the humanity of those suffering it. I hope we can all learn something – about steadfastness, about dignity – from them. Please read it.’ Brian Eno

‘Heartbreaking and inspiring. Daybreak in Gaza is a necessary, intelligent call to intellectual arms and proof that hope is still possible.’ Alberto Manguel

‘A most significant collection, one that frightens, awes and inspires, the timeliest of reminders of our common humanity and the irrepressible force of the written word.’ Philippe Sands

‘These authors’ lives have been utterly devastated, but we can preserve their vital voices. Daybreak in Gaza must be shared with the world.’ Fatima Bhutto

‘Essential reading … a roar of fury and a cry for compassion.’ Suad Amiry

‘A love letter to Gaza. A heartbreaking testament to the beauty and courage of Palestinian people in the face of extraordinary brutality.’ Isabella Hammad