by Chris Hedges
First published 2024
Atef Abu Saif steps off the plane in Gaza as a Palestinian government minister, carrying the weight of official duties and expectations. Within days, Hamas launches its surprise attack on Israeli territory near the Erez border crossing. Israel responds with devastating force. Abu Saif watches his world collapse around him as over 20,000 civilians die and a million people lose their homes. The minister who arrived with purpose and authority finds himself stripped of everything, living in a tent in a refugee camp like countless other displaced Palestinians. Through his daily observations, Abu Saif chronicles three months of destruction while Western media repeats Israeli propaganda without question. His unfiltered account cuts through the manufactured narratives that dominate international coverage, revealing the human cost of a conflict where truth becomes the first casualty.
Genres: non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, activism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Gaza, Israel, Palestine
Period: 21st-century
288 pages · Paperback · Beacon Press
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, war