Comma Press announced the upcoming hard copy release of “Don’t Look Left: A Diary of Genocide” by Atef Abu Saif, the Palestinian Authority’s Culture Minister. Scheduled for release in February, this book offers a harrowing day-by-day account of life in Gaza since the October 7th attacks.
Read: Refaat Alareer: books by Palestinian author killed in Gaza
The narrative started as an ebook, covering the initial 60 days post-October 7th, released on Boxing Day. Abu Saif, who lived in a tent in Rafah during this period, extends his chronicle to 85 days in the physical edition, delving deep into the Israel-Gaza atrocity.
From minister to refugee: Atef Abu Saif’s journey in war-torn Gaza
Abu Saif, originally from Jabalia Camp in Gaza, moved to the West Bank in 2019 upon his ministerial appointment. His visit to Gaza with his son Yasser, coincided with Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, a conflict resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths, over 240 hostages, and a subsequent Israeli declaration of war. At the time of writing, this conflict has claimed the lives of over 24,100 Palestinian and nearly 85% of Gaza’s population was displaced by the end of 2023.
A prominent writer featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Le Monde, Abu Saif’s diaries offer an unflinching look at the conflict’s realities. Comma Press emphasises the importance of such narratives in understanding global events, stating, “If we allow our understanding of world events to be corrupted and spun by lazy, compliant journalism, we will never understand them, even those happening in real-time, before our very eyes. These diaries give us a rare exit ramp from this state of ignorance.”
Atef Abu Saif’s books
Abu Saif’s literary contributions include editing Comma’s “Book of Gaza” and authoring six novels, along with a 2014 war diary, “The Drone Eats with Me.” These latest diaries, initially composed as WhatsApp texts and voice memos, capture his transformation from a government minister to a refugee seeking shelter, enduring multiple displacements and living in a tent for over a month.
“The accounts cover everything from first-hand reports of shockingly graphic rescue efforts – many involving close relatives or fellow journalists and writers – to living in UN shelters in schools, to being displaced multiple times, struggling to find food and maintain contact with the outside world, to the decision to leave his father in the north for his own son’s safety, as well as living for over a month in a tent, an impromptu refugee camp in UN Stores facility near Rafah.”
Comma Press
The UK edition will feature a foreword by Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times.
All proceeds from “Don’t Look Left: A Diary of Genocide” by Atef Abu Saif will benefit four charities: Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Middle East Children’s Alliance, Afaq Shadida/New Horizons Children’s Centre, and Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Khan Younis Emergency Relief. The book will be released on February 8th.
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