{"id":50854,"date":"2026-01-09T21:45:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T21:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=50854"},"modified":"2026-01-09T21:47:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T21:47:25","slug":"jean-pierre-filiu-a-historian-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=50854","title":{"rendered":"Jean-Pierre Filiu, \u201eA Historian in Gaza\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Objavljen je prijevod na engleski jezik knjige povjesni\u010dara Jean-Pierrea Filiua, o \u010dijem smo francuskom izvorniku i jo\u0161 jednoj njegovoj knjizi o povijesti Gaze ve\u0107 obavijestili na portalu Historiografija.hr<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Historian in Gaza<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Pierre Filiu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Translated by Cynthia Schoch & Trista Selous<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Selected as a \u2018Book of the Year\u2019 by The Guardian<\/em> and Spectator<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018The Gaza I knew, and whose length and breadth I\u2019ve travelled, has ceased to exist.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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November 2025 \/ 208pp<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Description<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of Gaza, is intimately familiar with the land\u2019s people and places; he speaks the local dialect. But nothing prepared him for what he encountered there in December 2024. This is his unforgettable, unbearably intimate account of one month in a place shattered by Israel\u2019s all-out war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the historian returned to Gaza, he arrived under circumstances unimaginably different from his many past visits since 1980: only a limited number of convoys were allowed into the Strip, and he was one of the few humanitarians able to enter, this time by night. He remained inside for thirty-three days, and emerged determined to bear witness to the devastation\u2014to the Gazans fighting simply to live, every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filiu\u2019s haunting portrait of a land betrayed is a grim work of war reportage, documented with the acuity of a historian; and a lyrical narrative of human suffering, and human dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018An unflinching eyewitness account of the destruction wreaked by Israel, with Anglo-American support. Look no further for an impartial account of the tragedy of the Palestinians, caught between Hamas\u2019s fanaticism and Netanyahu\u2019s ethnic cleansing.\u2019 \u2014 Pratinav Anil, Guardian<\/em>, \u2018Books of the Year\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Jean-Pierre Filiu has just published a supplement to his wonderful history, Gaza<\/em>, called A Historian in Gaza<\/em>. His book counts as essential reading to understand what is happening in that most troubled and tragic region.\u2019 \u2014 William Dalrymple, Spectator<\/em>, \u2018Books of the Year\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018 A Historian in Gaza<\/em> is itself a vital historical document as well as a moving account of the levelling of this ancient city\u2026 brilliant.\u2019 \u2014 New Statesman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018This superb book is written by a historian who has experienced many wars and who has visited Gaza since 1980. Filiu writes, \u201cthe Gaza I\u2019d known [had] ceased to exist\u201d. The shock and revulsion at what he witnessed there, where death now can come at any time, come through on every page. Written with empathy and deep knowledge of the place and its people, Filiu puts the reader right at the centre of Gaza\u2019s horrific reality. I was moved to the bone reading his account, which is like no other I\u2019ve read on Gaza. Filiu concludes that \u201cthis is a world where giving up is disguised as \u2018realism\u2019\u201d. Not so for the author of A Historian in Gaza<\/em>.\u2019 \u2014 Raja Shehadeh, Palestinian lawyer, human rights activist and author of What Does Israel Fear from Palestine?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Jean-Pierre Filiu is not just an authority on Gaza, he was there during the genocide. This is not an impassioned screed. A Historian in Gaza <\/em>is a methodical, sober account of Israel\u2019s campaign to visit hell upon the people of Gaza and eliminate all aspects of its civil society. An important, essential book.\u2019 \u2013 Joe Sacco, cartoonist, journalist, author of Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza<\/em>, and The Once and Future Riot<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Filiu, the pre-eminent historian of Gaza, tells a factual, and yet passionate, humane story of lives subjected to genocide. In each of the short chapters, Filiu records what happens in homes, families, on the street, in hospitals, in the media and elsewhere, providing a vivid account of unimaginable destruction and ruination while the world watches, and sometimes applauds. This book is an important history of the present of Gaza and its people that should be essential reading to all concerned with humanity and what it means to be human.\u2019 \u2014 Dina Matar, Chair of the Centre for Global Media and Communications, SOAS University of London<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Never has the role of historian been more urgent. Filiu\u2019s courage, profound insight and first-hand experience make his book a singular contribution to our understanding of the Gaza genocide and its global impact.\u2019 \u2014 Mark LeVine, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of California, Irvine, author of We\u2019ll Play till We Die: Journeys Across a Decade of Revolutionary Music in the Muslim World<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018From the viewpoint of its victims, Filiu documents how Israel\u2019s extermination machine progressed. He records Gazans\u2019 struggle to escape death at the cost of living as traumatised survivors. A must-read for those who stay committed to human rights and a better world.\u2019 \u2014 Menachem Klein, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Bar-Ilan University, author of Lives in Common: Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Hebron<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018[A] searing new eyewitness account [and] a much-needed history lesson.\u2019 \u2014 Jacobin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author(s)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Pierre Filiu<\/strong> is Professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po, and former visiting professor at Columbia and Georgetown Universities. His books include The Middle East: A Political History<\/em>; and Guardian <\/em>Book of the Year Gaza: A History <\/em>(also published by Hurst), which won Middle East Monitor\u2019sPalestine Book Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Historian in Gaza<\/a><\/blockquote>