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Young Gaza Writers Share Their Experiences From “Operation Cast Lead”

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Palestinian writers Refaat Alareer, Rawan Yaghi and Yousef Aljamal talk about the new book Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine.Following the brutal 23-day attack on Gaza by Israel that started in late 2008, Refaat Alareer began the project that produced this important book.  He teaches creative writing at the Islanic University of Gaza.  Remarkably, his young writers create works of fiction based on their (often terrifying) real-life experiences living in Gaza–and they all write in English!  He chose 23 short stories from more than 100 submissions, and some of his own work in included.

Yousef tells us of the many family members and friends who have been killed in his 25 years, is is very articulate in describing the collective punishment Israel imposes on Gaza.

Rawan talks about one of her stories, about the barrier wall that Israel has built to cage Gaza.  She is very candid about life under occupation, and talks about the improbable claims made by Israel in March that they had intercepted a ship with a cargo of missiles headed for Gaza.

All three describe the harsh, unequal treatment that meet the definition of racism and apartheid.