The Lost Lives of Gaza

Israel's relentless response to the October 7^th murders on its southern border has turned Gaza yet again into a bloodbath, bringing unimaginable suffering to its inhabitants. There have always been two opposing tropes about those who inhabit the Strip: On the one hand, they are crazed terrorists. On the other, they are perpetual victims. Each characterization feeds a dehumanization of Gaza's Palestinians.

While in no way diminishing the horrors that have been visited on the Strip in recent weeks, or the prior suffering of those forced to live in what was effectively an open prison, Mohammed Omer, born and raised in southern Gaza, here presents a necessary corrective: What the news reports have never shown are the ways in which, prior to Israel's onslaught, the people of Gaza were able to rise above their hardship, to experience the simple joys of human existence despite the bombs and barbed-wire fences.

In these pages Omer takes the reader on a tour of this most misunderstood and hidden territory, allowing us to discover the community spirit, the enduring family ties, the festivals and recreations, and the creativity and resourcefulness of people, who, in lives now tragically lost, refused to surrender to the deprivations visited on them.

Now, more than ever, we need to recognize the humanity of people referred to by Israel's defense minister as "animals", and by news organizations around the world by numbers of nameless dead. With the sensitivity and compassion available to someone who comes from inside the community, Mohammed Omer's magnificent book parts the smoke and dust to show us the extraordinary resilience of people whose lives war is now destroying.

Mohammed Omer Almoghayer is a Palestinian author and journalist, born and raised in Rafah, south Gaza Strip. He has reported for various media outlets, including The New York Times, Al Jazeera, New Statesman, The Nation and Democracy Now. Omer Almoghayer is the author of Shell-Shocked (OR Books) and co-authored The Oslo Accords 1993-2013: A Critical Assessment (American University Press). In 2008, Omer Almoghayer was honored with the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, recognized as "the voice of the voiceless" and commended for documenting the injustices faced by a forgotten community. Omer Almoghayer was further recognized with the Ossietzky Prize in 2009 by the Norwegian branch of P.E.N. International for his outstanding contributions to free expression. He received an honorable mention in Pulse Media's "20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009." In addition to these accolades, Omer Almoghayer was awarded the title of "Best Youth Voice" in 2006 and was ranked 398th on the Arabian Business Power 500 list in 2013. Omer Almoghayer's has a PhD in communication science and has worked as a research fellow at Harvard University's Center for Middle East Studies.