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| Never in living history has such an atrocity been perpetrated in plain sight of the world's leaders and mainstream media, who have all somehow managed to give it their complete backing. Images and video clips of hourly horrors and tragedies have spread around the world, combatted by fake news propagated not by dark conspiratorial corners on the web, but by corporate media outlets and politicians. Baseless Israeli propaganda and deliberately-biased framing has been fed to journalists and repeated, without question, on the front pages of the world's newspapers and in the mouths of TV pundits and politicians. One of the few voices of Gaza to make it out into Western media has been that of writer Atef Abu Saif |
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| Don’t Look Left by Atef Abu Saif BOOK review |
Don’t Look Left by Atef Abu Saif BOOK review – in the line of fire
A Palestinian author and politician’s devastating eyewitness account of the Israel-Gaza war as he saw his relatives killed
It is hard to describe the cumulative effect this devastating chronicle has over 280 pages. It describes a mounting toll of death and destruction, with each day bringing more heartrending news of homes demolished and relatives and colleagues killed. Gradually, it makes it clear that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip. Danger is everywhere, like the low hum of a mosquito.
Atef Abu Saif
is an acclaimed Palestinian author and journalist as well as being
minister for culture in the Palestinian Authority. On 7 October he found
himself in Gaza purely by chance. He was due to speak at a cultural
event in Khan Younis to celebrate Palestinian Heritage Day, but found
himself instead at the centre of a war.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/14/dont-look-left-by-atef-abu-saif-review-in-the-line-of-fire
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Atef Abu Saif
Atef Abu Saif has been Palestinian Authority’s minister of culture since 2019 and is the author of six novels
Comma Press Statement in Relation to the Cancellation of Home’s ‘Voices of Resilience’ event and Baseless Allegations
Comma is disappointed with HOME's decision to cancel our planned event for the 22 April. We are also deeply concerned about the baseless and libelous allegations against one of our Palestinian writers, Atef Abu Saif, issued by the lobby group, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester (JRC), and repeated by the Manchester Evening News. The allegations include the claims that Atef Abu Saif is a 'confirmed antisemite' and a 'holocaust denier'. This is utterly false.
The letter sent by the JRC to HOME and published on their X account, refers to an article Abu Saif wrote on 22 August 2022 in Al-Ayyam newspaper as evidence of this. Rather than deny the holocaust, he says the exact opposite: ‘Hitler's crimes against humanity cannot be forgiven or tolerated. They may be unprecedented in history in terms of their ugliness... As Palestinians, this is a fact we have not denied and will never deny. We are a people who suffer injustice, massacres, killing and displacement. We cannot accept something similar that happened to others and say it is right.’
Both Comma Press and the author absolutely refute the allegations of antisemitism. In a recent interview, Abu Saif repeated the same acknowledgment: 'The holocaust was one of the darkest moments in human history'. Neither Comma Press nor the author were approached or given any opportunity to defend themselves by either the MEN or JRC.
Atef is an award-winning writer, who has previously spoken at Hay Festival, Shubbak Festival, Manchester Literature Festival, and other high-profile events. He has been supported by English PEN, and held events in Jewish-focussed bookshops. He has been the Minister of Culture for the PA in the West Bank since 2019, and his first-hand accounts of the current genocide have been published in multiple mainstream newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Le Monde, and so on.
This character assassination cannot be allowed to stand. Legal action is currently being considered with regard to the original libel and any repetition of it.
Comma Press
For any enquiries, please contact CEO Ra Page on ra.page@commapress.co.uk
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in The Nation
“I Have Left, but I’m Still There”: The Last Gaza Diary
After 84 days, Atef Abu Saif left Gaza. Here, he reflects on what he endured.
On December 29, Atef Abu Saif, the writer and politician whose diaries from the Gaza Strip have been featured in The Nation since November, left Gaza with his son after 84 days under Israeli siege and bombardment. He crossed into Egypt, visited his niece—who was in an Egyptian hospital after losing multiple limbs in an Israeli airstrike—and began processing the horrors of the experience he had just endured.
He then wrote this diary entry. It is the last of his Gaza dispatches.
Saturday, December 30 (The Day After)
Yesterday morning, on the 84th day of the
war, I was told my name and that of Yasser, my son, were included on the
list of those who can leave. It all happened very suddenly... READ MORE https://www.thenation.com/article/world/atef-abu-saif-last-gaza-diary/
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