Based on a collection of diary entries written by the Palestinian poet and literary critic Talat Qudaih, this powerful essay is a “soulful lament” to Gaza. Qudaih’s beautiful, lyrical writing starkly contrasts to the terror of daily life in war zone that he is describing. As Quidaih writes, “The Gazan day weighs heavily, marked on a calendar of distorted humanity.” Whatever the future holds, these days have changed those who lived them forever.
Since the news of Oct. 7, the world has stood aghast, bearing witness to Gaza being transformed into a charnel house, seared as though in the throes of hellfire. The international community glimpsed the horrors of Gaza, engulfed in flames, its destruction tinged with the foul smell of burning flesh, an abhorrent spectacle of cataclysmic desolation.
Now, within the hollows of devastation, we stand as we watch our worlds crumble around us. A barrage of agonizing inquiries besieges us, propelling us toward oblivion: What of safety? Of dreams? These questions gnaw at our very being, both soul and flesh, in a manner never before encountered in our wartime experiences. Our minds are overwhelmed by an existential dilemma: Where shall we turn? How do we persevere through this obliteration? To which vast void will we finally ascend? From the outset, it was clear to me that only those marked by fate would weather the storm of this war.
More picks on Gaza
Hassan Took a Bike Ride. Now He’s One of the Thousands Missing in Gaza
“In a place denied access to basic forensic technology—and where people disappear into Israeli detention—the fate of thousands remains unknown. One of them is an autistic teenager.”
Degrees of Separation
“Israel’s new international college programs offer American students an escape from campus activism while training them as state cheerleaders.”
Surrealism Against Fascism
“A century ago, artists who survived the trenches captured humanity’s capacity for destruction. What can they teach us about confronting the far-right in a new age of genocide?”
House Arab
The experience of being an elite magazine’s only Arab staffer after October 7.
Crimes of the Century
“How Israel, with the help of the U.S., broke not only Gaza but the foundations of humanitarian law.”
Days and Nights in Gaza
“Watching TV that first day, we awaited the roar of planes and the rumble of explosions. We didn’t have to wait long.”
