“Netanyahu needs to erase images of civility and humanity”: in Gaza, books and culture targeted by bombs – L’Humanité

“The library is as important as the sea, the air we breathe, the morning coffee: it is our link with the place. Genocide is there to force us to live only in our memories.» These words are those of Mariam F. (name has been changed), Palestinian writer currently taking refuge in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. She witnessed the destruction of the places of writing and reading that she frequented in Gaza which were targeted, in a methodical and systematic manner by the Israeli army. This is how the entire book culture and its institutions have been, since October 7, 2023, left in rubble.

The offensives carried out by Israel have in fact caused the ruin of the main book establishments in the Gaza Strip, outside of all international law. A team of academics, librarians, writers and artists – in France but also in Gaza itself – was formed to list and map these losses, as part of the Reading in Gaza collective, led by Dominique Dupart (University of Lille). L’Humanité magazine was able to consult this dizzying database. Libraries, bookstores, printing houses, media, press, nearly two hundred places suffered complete or partial damage.

All types of establishments were thus targeted, showing the systematic nature of the strikes. The library of Al-Aqsa University was set on fire, as was that of Al-Isra, destroyed on January 17, 2024. Municipal libraries are also affected, but also specific establishments such as those for…