READING in GAZA
is a response to the systematic destruction of all books and
possibilities to read in public and private places in Gaza, a war-torn territory
reduced to rubble. Libraries and archive repositories housing collections
deemed cultural heritage are covered by the Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. But libraries
are not just collections of books or writings. Beyond the heritage value that
some of them have, they are also spaces for living and sharing. As unarmed
buildings, they are intended to shelter the most vulnerable in times of war.
Yet, all types of libraries, archive repositories, bookstores, printing presses
and publishing houses have been massively and systematically targeted since
the first week following the massacres of October 7, 2023. Relentlessly to
date.
READING in GAZA therefore unconditionally stands on the side of the civilian populations in Gaza whose living environment is being destroyed. Bombing libraries, schools, and archive repositories is an attack on the inalienable right of residents to read—it is an attack on their very humanity, which is the same humanity in Gaza as outside Gaza. When books are deliberately destroyed somewhere, the humanity that lives around books, in books, in all human worlds, is also destroyed. That is why READING in GAZA was born: to join forces for the return of reading, of books, of all forms of writing despite the destruction, to remain standing, with those who suffer this wound in addition to all their other wounds.
In Defense of Reading, and Readership
READING in GAZA was born out of an interest in reading and in books, from
the way they are made to the ways they are used, be it in libraries,
universities, bookstores, schools, publishing houses, and printing houses, be
it in educational settings, family life, as a parent or child, or in the private
creative spaces of writers and poets.
We defend all types of reading and readers, even in the direst circumstances,
particularly in the ongoing war in Gaza, characterized by the systematic and
deliberate destruction of all books and hence readership.
Fighting Destruction
To read, one need books, periodicals, texts, or images – be it in hard or
digital copies. One needs the living world of ideas in publications. The
complete blockade imposed on Gaza as well as the systematic bombings of
schools, universities, libraries, and server computers have made the
conditions for reading very difficult, if not impossible. A systematic and
massive destruction of books and written resources has taken place and is
still ongoing as we write.
Tens of thousands of books and texts, of documents of all kinds
(manuscripts, historical archives, private collections, children's books,
school and academic textbooks) have been destroyed, burnt, stolen or
vandalized. Deprived of academic libraries, students have lost access to
learning resources.
Our aim is to get books and journals back online before, in due time, making
them available in print. Our aim is to help restore the conditions for reading
in Gaza: so that university students can keep studying with the support of
Academic Solidarity with Palestine, and so that children can read with their
parents and educators. READING in GAZA has identified three work streams to
support the restoration of public and private reading in Gaza.
Stream 1 – Creating a virtual library on a lightweight digital platform accessible on smartphones
To recreate the conditions for reading, electronic resources will be available
for different types of audiences such as children, university students or
learners of foreign languages.
The destruction of university servers and all types of libraries in Gaza has
made the physical access to books and other written resources impossible.
That is why it is urgent to lay the ground for a digital library providing
resources for all readers in Gaza. This library will help restore the conditions
for education at all levels, support students learning foreign languages
online, and make reading possible again for children and all those who
cannot live without books.
The development of this virtual library involves a key technical component.
It also entails sharing multilingual resources for young people with the help
of libraries, universities, digital package providers, and publishing houses,
globally. Students in Gaza did not wait for us to create and rally around their
own type of virtual libraries. Alongside their educators, they have been
sharing textual resources via messaging services. It is up to us as institutions,
booksellers, and publishers to support them and enhance their actions.
Steam 2 - Assessing the Destruction of Written Materials and Places Housing Them
We aim to produce as complete an inventory as possible of the destruction of places where books and other written materials are created, produced, stored, and disseminated, and of the written items destroyed or damaged since October 2023. This inventory should include precise details of the history and destruction of each institution or collection: date of creation, date of destruction, georeferencing, history, items and activities, photographic documentation, testimonials, etc. This inventory is also intended to assess the reading needs of university students in Gaza, of which 4,000 are pursuing their education thanks to programs put in place by Academic Solidarity with Palestine. We wish to map all the places related to reading that have been destroyed, as a prelude to the reconstruction to come.
Stream 3 - Building a Case for Reading
We strive to develop an advocacy strategy, and mobilize all actors related to books and the written world willing to collaborate and support the efforts of READING in GAZA. Making visible and public the destruction of all libraries and archives is a way to raise awareness and call on the diplomacy of books as a means of action and resistance against the war.
Who we are
The READING in GAZA project was born out of the desire of a group of people with a deep interest in books, writing and reading. This interest is fueled by a professional or literary commitment to the written world in the form of teaching, research, librarianship, curatorship, publishing, bookselling, and writing. We work closely with Academic Solidarity with Palestine and Gaza Histoire - Inventaire d’un patrimoine bombardé.
