Autorentext

Tareq AlSourani, 17, was born and raised in Gaza City, where he endured the profound pain and hardship of multiple hostilities. Following the latest war on Gaza, six months later, Tareq and his family-his mother and three siblings-left their home, first seeking refuge in Egypt and eventually resettling in Canada. This book marks Tareq's debut as a writer, driven by his belief in the transformative power of storytelling. His writing reflects a deep longing to preserve the truths of his experiences-not just the events themselves but the emotions and lived realities that accompanied them. For Tareq, this book is much more than a chronicle of war. It is a deeply personal homecoming etched onto its pages-a way to express himself from exile while staying intimately connected to the city he was forced to leave. To Tareq, writing is an act of reclamation, both deeply personal and profoundly universal-as he reclaims memory, identity, and hope. Yara Nasser is an 18-year-old writer and student who grew up-and continues to live-in Gaza City, Palestine. She views writing as something akin to a bellybutton, connecting her to a personal identity molded by rupture, resistance, and reflection. Her interest in journalism and literature informs a mode of storytelling and war memorialization concerned less with representation than with witnessing, always seeking to stay as close to reality as possible. For her, writing is not merely catharsis, but a practice of excavation of truth, dignity, selfhood, and interior life in contexts where all are endangered. She writes to explore the emotional weight of survival and the fragile shape of identity. This book marks the beginning of her journey as a writer, but its roots reach far deeper into her lived experience.

Klappentext

Two Voices. One Shattered Homeland. A Story the World Can't Ignore Gaza Held in Time: A Tapestry of Two Lives is a groundbreaking memoir written by Tareq AlSourani and Yara Nasser, two Palestinian teenagers whose lives were torn apart by the 2023-2025 genocide. One fled to Egypt, carrying the guilt of escape. The other stayed, documenting Gaza's descent into famine, mass graves, and the quiet rebellion of dreams. Their alternating narratives-raw, poetic, and unflinchingly honest-weave together moments of piercing beauty (the scent of jasmine in Gaza's streets, the taste of warm knafeh from Abu Al-Soud) with the horror of drone strikes, forced displacement, and the systematic erasure of their home. This is not just a book about war. It's about what it means to love a place the world is trying to destroy. Why This Book Matters A Firsthand Account of Genocide: Written in real time from inside and outside Gaza, it shatters statistics with intimate, devastating testimony. A Testament to Resilience: From cooking over open fires to smuggling words past censorship, their creativity defies annihilation. A Call to Remember: "We wrote so Gaza would not fade into headlines." This book is a lifeline to stories the world must not forget. Praise for Gaza Held in Time "Devastating... These could be our children. A brave and necessary book." -Yahia Lababidi, Palestinian poet "Their words should haunt us forever." -Lynne Segal, Birkbeck, University of London "A door left open for memory, for return, for rebuilding." -Aref Husseini, author of Half-Ashkenazi Excerpt: The Day Everything Changed "October 7, 2023. I woke to the sky screaming. By noon, the internet was gone. We played cards in silence, waiting for the ceiling to collapse. When it didn't, we realized: this was the new normal. Gaza was being unmade in front of us." -Yara Nasser Order Now Available in softcover and eBook. Join the Conversation #GazaHeldInTime - Share quotes, reviews, and solidarity. Amplify Gaza's Voices - Tag @DarajaPress & demand media coverage. "The story is not over because the sea still calls our names." Order. Read. Remember.