Gaza Authors ‘Writing Away Like Crazy, Whilst They Have Power’ Throughout Hostilities

The Electronic Intifada (EI), an independent online publication, reports that many Palestinian wordsmiths “have responded to the latest onslaught by doing what they know — writing.” According to EI, Ra Page, the founder of Comma Press, which recently published a collection of short stories from the Palestinian territory, wrote in an email that “all of the Book of Gaza contributors are writing away like crazy, whilst they have power.” The comment alludes to the fact that electricity is hard to come by in the region and also highlights the fragility of the writers’ lives as they continue to work despite the threat of death looming all around them.

One such author, Najlaa Ataallah, penned a powerful response to the ninth day of Israel’s bombardment on her blog, which was reprinted by the not-for-profit publication:

You are delirious. Your temperature skyrocketed. Your body trembles uncontrollably. Your mother recites the verses from the Quran over your head. The bed shakes.

“What day is it today?”, you asked your mother.

She lowers her head, trying to answer you. It looks like she too has forgotten the day and the date.

But that’s not what you are asking for…

You wanted to know which day of the aggression is this day. Did you pass the ninth day without death harvesting you, or are you still inside this ninth day cycle?

—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata