If all we can do is give support to a people being genocided with our tax dollars than that is what we will do. Free Palestine. These stories need to be told and propped up.

5/5

An astounding and horrifying collection of perspectives on the genocide occurring in Palestine. There were many moments when I had no choice but to put the book down and stop reading, for these realities are so cruel, so barbaric. But every time I picked it back up, knowing that to look away is complicity.

No one is free until we are all free.

This one of the most urgent and necessary books I have ever read. This book hauntingly gathers testimonies, essays and poems that bear witness to unimaginable suffering and loss, but also to extraordinary resilience. Each contribution carries its own weight of truth - whether it is a father mourning his entire family, a writer describing the cruelty of starvation, or a journalist capturing the silence of a world that looks away.

This is not an easy book, nor should it be. It confronts you with the reality of genocide in a way that no headline or statistic ever could. It insists that you see the human cost, that you hold space for voices that are too often silenced.

I am deeply grateful this book exists. It is a record, a testimony, and a call to conscience. It deserves to be read widely and it deserves to be remembered.

I cannot recommend a non fiction book on the history of Palestine, more highly! This collection is devastating, but also so informative of the background leading up to the current genocide the world is watching. This covers the history, explains the politics and ways in which Palestine was split between Gaza and the West Bank. It covers before, during and after oct 7, and really puts into perspective the oppression that innocent Palestinians have been suffering their entire lives. Read this. Sanction Israel. FREE PALESTINE !!!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Verso Books for the copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gaza is a beautiful yet devastating collection of essays, poems, and arts of Palestinians that centers the Palestinian people, their love for their homeland, and the historical, generational injustice that have been done to them for decades. Just as Western media and government continue to double down in their sadistic support for the genocidal Zionist state, we must uplift and center Palestinian voices so that they won't be erased by those seeking to rewrite history.

Until the day that I die, I will never forget or forgive the people who could have stopped this heinous crime and yet decided to enrich themselves at the expense of the Palestinian people. Free Palestine. Glory to our martyrs!

This book shows Gaza through many perspectives, yet all lead to the same truth: it is genocide, and it must be stopped. Raw, powerful, and deeply moving. I cried not from fear, but from the incredible courage of the Palestinians. Definitely a book I’ll keep recommending.

This is a necessary book. So, so necessary. I wish this was required reading for everyone on this planet. How people still lack empathy for others is beyond me. Thank you to these writers, editors, and publishers. Thank you.

This was a collection of essays, poems, and art about the atrocities in Gaza that everyone needs to know about. There are a lot of insightful and heartbreaking stories are inside this volume. Thank you Net Galley and Verso for an ARC.

This is an extremely powerful, but devastating, read regarding the current genocide in Palestine. To say this is heartbreaking would be an understatement. The horrific violence and torture that the Israelis have committed, not just since October 7th, but also since 1948, is absolutely atrocious. It's full of firsthand accounts from survivors, art, poignant poems, and essays regarding the impact on the environment, the neighboring countries, and the people who have survived. The number of times I had to put this down to ugly cry was wild. I highly and passionately recommend everyone read this book.

Free Palestine. I will never forgive those who looked away as the US government funded this genocide of the Palestinian people. This collection is so important. Palestinians deserve to live. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a timely read. Watching what has been happening in Gaza has been devastating. I found myself struggling to understand how this situation even came into being. Reading this book was heartbreaking but extremely necessary. Palestinians have been stripped of their humanity by those who wish to rewrite the narrative. This book forces you to not only see the humanity in the people of Palestine, but also confront the cruelty humans inflict on each other.

'Gaza' is a heartbreaking non=fiction narrative that not only feels ominous, but also necessary. In the face of tyrannical governments who try to control the narrative, 'Gaza' highlights the victims at the center of this genocide through testimonies, stories, and memories shared by those who have experienced this genocide first hand. This book paints a horrifying picture - one that has become reality for the Palestinian people. I will carry this book with me for the rest of my life.

First things first, I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.
For me, this was one of those reads that I know I will keep with me for the rest of my life. Hundreds of sentences—testimonies, anecdotes, memories— that took my breath away because of the huge emotional charge they convey.
This book taught me about a history I didn’t know, a present that seems that I was half informed and a possible future that will terrify more than one…
Ther is also love for their land, their animals, their loved ones, their children. There is hope among the caos and all that is visible in their writings, in their poems and illustrations.
Unfortunately, it took me longer than I would have liked to read this book and I think that is because, being a collection of different points of view and different topics, in certain parts the emotional balance (so to speak) and/or the pacing of the book felt heavy.
Thanks, again, to everyone involved in the creation and distribution of this book.

Free Palestine.

A heart-wrenching look at the reality of life in Gaza. Every story is unique, with historical context and personal narratives providing plenty of insight for the novice on this subject as well as the expert. While this is an ever evolving situation, these stories provide accounts that are as recent as possible. The insights in this book are vital and this is a must read.

First off I just need to say that I initially saw this book on Verso Books’ Instagram and made a mental note to myself to preorder this, THEN when I saw I could request an arc I leapt at the opportunity (thank you for approving my request!)

This was such a raw, heart shattering, haunting, beautiful collection of stories that presented so many different angles of the same subject: Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people.

Another addition to my personal required reading list and I will 100% be purchasing my own copy.

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“Gaza: The Story of a Genocide” is a raw and extraordinary collection of voices that the world desperately needs to hear from right now. Palestinians, and people directly affected by the Israeli violence and colonization, share poignant poems, historical narratives, scientific data, and anecdotes on the decades-long Israeli colonization and settler violence in Palestine. These testaments are especially crucial during this time where news about atrocities in Gaza are actively being distorted and suppressed.
Each piece is fierce, incredible, and a call-to-action. Topics range from ecocide, surviving prisons, the purposeful, destruction of hospitals, the significance of BDS, and the importance of Palestinian art and creativity. Bhutto and Faleiro edited and created this compilation with such care, emphasizing just how current this devastation is happening, the continued hypocrisy and complicity of Western governments and corporations,and how the Zionist settler movement is effectively and strategically aiming to destroy every facet of Palestinian identity.
Among these pages is an also theme that is powerfully encapsulated in the afterword: “War is torture, displacement, hunger, death, blood, and fear. War is the opposite of love. But in Gaza, despite being faced with all these horrors for over a year, love surrounds it. Love is what keeps the tiny occupied land from being wiped off the face of the earth. It is choosing to remain even as the most powerful nations try to force you out with their arms and influence.”
Thank you to all the authors who contributed to this generation-defining work.

(Thank you NetGalley for this ARC)

Like most of us, we learn about what is happening in Palestine through the news or social media but this book offers a much deeper insight with Palestinians telling us their own personal stories. I found this deeply moving and upsetting, the horrors that persist, and, have done for decades, by Israel is inhumane. This is genocide and how anyone could even remotely justify the annihilation of the Palestinian people is deluded. It is there in black and white - there is absolutely no rhyme or reason for Israel's continued attacks, except greed.

The book also covers the environmental impact of Israel's endless bombardment - contaminated land and water sources, depletion and destruction of flora and fauna. Reconstruction, if it is ever allowed to take place, will take decades, the effects of this war on the environment is incredibly detrimental, so what does Israel plan to do with land that is not habitable? It goes against their entire aim of claiming it for their own use.

It has only bolstered my stance in standing against Israel and standing with Palestine.

Heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking, but something everyone must read. The victims of, and observers to, a genocide telling their stories in this medium, is so valuable and important, as we come to more than 2 years after an increase of violence against the Palestinian people. Every single person should read this book. Every single one.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in October. Absolutely yes. Such an important work. Through different types of poetry, essays, reporting, art and photography, we get a story from and about Gaza shared from many angles. I recommend it with a passion.

It’s the end of July 2025, and we’re witnessing a genocide that has murdered, displaced, maimed, and broken the Palestinian people. Since 2023, we’ve seen homes, hospitals, schools, places of worship, orchards, and whole neighborhoods raised to the ground, and the ongoing blockade of medical supplies and food. We’ve watched Israeli soldiers film themselves committing crimes against humanity, with seemingly psychopathic glee. Gaza is a living, breathing hell.

Gaza: The Story of a Genocide, edited by Fatima Bhutto and Sonia Faleiro, is a compilation of essays, poems, and art by a people suffering the violent repercussions of Hamas's murder of more than 1,000 Israelis in October 2023. It's also about 75 years of Israeli occupation. More than an appeal for mercy from a merciless world, Gaza is a prayer, a history, a testimony, and a warning. It’s a story that is ready to be told. May we have ears to hear.

Standout pieces include Yara Hawari’s On Settler Colonialism; Mary Turfah’s The Feeds of the IDF Depict What Zionism Can’t See; Mosab Abu Toha’s Unsafe Passage; and Eman Basher’s On Teaching in Gaza. Nina Lakhani’s piece on Ecocide in Palestine and Susan Abulhawa’s Final Earth detail how the bombardment has destroyed nature, livestock, olive groves, orchards and habitats—not to mention migration patterns.

We learn that, despite living in what amounts to open air prisons, Gazans are a highly educated people who value community, family life, gardening, tending orchards and livestock, and creating art, poetry, and music. Their hope in a better future, no matter the recent past and horrific present, shines through. The future for the Palestinian people—especially for thousands of orphans, many of whom are amputees—will be beyond challenging. The way the world responds to the aftermath of this atrocity is a test of where humanity is headed.

Thank you, NetGalley and Verso Books for the ARC. Gaza: The Story of a Genocide is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s incredibly well curated and edited, making it a pleasure to read. This collection will haunt you.