{"id":52021,"date":"2026-03-20T23:45:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T23:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52021"},"modified":"2026-03-20T23:45:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T23:45:04","slug":"anne-irfan-a-short-history-of-the-gaza-strip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52021","title":{"rendered":"Anne Irfan, \u201eA Short History of the Gaza Strip\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world\u2019s eyes are on the Gaza Strip. After more than a year of Israeli military bombardment, it is the scene of unimaginable destruction. It is also one of the most politically significant territories on the planet. Yet how many of us know anything of its history?<\/strong>

In this vital book, Anne Irfan, a leading historian of Palestine-Israel, examines six key moments that bring us to the present day. She begins with Israel\u2019s expulsion of the Palestinian people in 1948, when Israel was established and the Gaza region was truncated to a tiny territory of just 141 square miles. Going on to detail Israel\u2019s occupations of Gaza, the Palestinian national struggle and formation of the PLO, the first intifada, the creation of the Palestinian Authority and the rise of Hamas, Irfan argues that, collectively, these events help explain how we have arrived at the catastrophe of the 2020s and the genocidal violence unleashed by Israel in Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks of October 7.

Written with remarkable clarity, A Short History of the Gaza Strip<\/em> draws on a decade of meticulous research, weaving in the voices and stories of Palestinians from farmers and teachers to poets and activists. It is an indispensable read for anyone seeking to deepen their knowledge of Palestine and the wider region. In Irfan\u2019s words, \u2018History matters, especially in Palestine\u2019 \u2013 and never more so than today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Anne Irfan<\/strong> is a multiple award-winning historian and lecturer in Interdisciplinary Race, Gender and Postcolonial Studies at University College London, where her work focuses on Palestine-Israel. She is a leading expert on Palestinian refugee rights and in 2023 published the academic book Refuge and Resistance: Palestinians and the International Refugee System. She was previously lecturer at the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre and has also taught at the London School of Economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

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

\u2018An excellent primer . . . essential reading for those hungry to know more about this ancient territory so as to better understand the current, desperate chapter in its history\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\u2013 William Dalrymple<\/strong>, Guardian<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Explains with wonderful lucidity the context for Gaza\u2019s catastrophe. It is a deeply depressing story, but one told by Irfan with erudition and nuance, bringing an unsparing moral clarity and deep insight to this timely, scholarly, humane and profoundly tragic tale’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 New Statesman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Written with passion, precision and clarity\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Irish Times<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A wonderfully informative account of the complexities of the situation. Beginning in 1948, she guides us through these tangled events with great clarity, drawing on a vast array of sources. The text is nuanced, humane and critical at a time when too many assumptions and untruths are floating around\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 BBC History <\/em>Magazine, Books of the Year <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The restrained clarity of this work provides a much-needed perspective on this fraught and bloody moment in history\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Sydney Morning Herald<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Beautifully written, erudite, humane: an essential guide to understanding the way the Israeli settler colonial project in and around Gaza has evolved into a brutal genocide\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Eyal Weizman, author of Hollow Land: The Architecture of Israel’s Occupation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A timely, short, highly informative history that is sure to dispel many of the misconceptions and misinformation circulating and currently widespread about Gaza. It will remind readers of what the area was like and what was lost in the course of Israel’s aggression, as well as recognising Gaza’s resilience. It could also help bring to the mind of readers the Gaza that was\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Raja Shehadeh, author of What Does Israel Fear From Palestine?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018In this stunning book, Anne Irfan contextualises the violence unfolding in Gaza today without losing sight of the humanity of Palestinians. She describes the horrors of history with a nuanced kindness and reminds us that these events are not all that matter \u2013 because the Palestinian people that experienced them matter too\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Nadya Hajj, author of Networked Refugees<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018An incredible, informative and powerful book. It tells us that you can\u2019t understand the current destruction of Gaza without going back to the beginning and then does exactly that, in such a readable and devastating way\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Rachel Shabi, author of Off-White: The Truth About Antisemitism<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (August 28, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Length: 304 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN13: 9781398536197<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.co.uk\/books\/A-Short-History-of-the-Gaza-Strip\/Anne-Irfan\/9781398536197<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/a-short-history-of-the-gaza-strip.jpg?fit=559%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53321,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53321","url_meta":{"origin":52021,"position":0},"title":"Poziv na predavanje \u201cAgainst Neutrality: Palestine, Ethical Scholarship and Solidarity\u201d","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"14. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"We are pleased to announce that Stephanie Westbrook will be with us next week, both in Zagreb and Rijeka. Stephanie is academic boycott campaigns coordinator for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel \u2013 PACBI (https:\/\/www.bdsmovement.net\/pacbi), a founding member of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions\u2026","rel":"","context":"U "Novosti"","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Inicijativa.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Inicijativa.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Inicijativa.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Inicijativa.jpg?fit=940%2C788&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52531,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52531","url_meta":{"origin":52021,"position":1},"title":"Jonathan G. Leslie, \u201eFear and Insecurity: Israel and the Iran Threat Narrative\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"17. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Why is Israel\u2019s former ally Iran now perceived as the country\u2019s greatest threat? Description To observers of the Iran-Israel conflict, its vitriolic rhetoric might suggest an ancient hatred between Jews and Muslims\u2013a biblical feud dating back hundreds, or thousands, of years. But this rivalry is a far more modern development.\u2026","rel":"","context":"U "Knjige"","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Leslie.jpg?fit=391%2C612&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52625,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52625","url_meta":{"origin":52021,"position":2},"title":"Omer Bartov, \u201eIsrael: What Went Wrong?\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"23. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Professor Omer Bartov was born on a kibbutz, grew up in Tel Aviv and served in the Israel Defence Forces during the Yom Kippur War. He went on to become an expert on the German army and the Holocaust, before turning his attention to his native country.In Israel: What Went\u2026","rel":"","context":"U "Knjige"","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bartov.jpeg?fit=320%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52586,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52586","url_meta":{"origin":52021,"position":3},"title":"Aur\u00e9lie Daher, \u201eHezbollah: Mobilisation and Power\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"22. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Morning Star \u2018Book of the Year\u2019 Social movement, liberation party or terrorist group? With Hezbollah\u2019s growing involvement in the war in Syria, this study of its impact on Lebanon, drawing heavily on first-hand interviews, could not be more timely. Description Almost forty years after its foundation, Hezbollah remains an enigma.\u2026","rel":"","context":"U "Knjige"","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Daher-Hezbollah.jpg?fit=600%2C931&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Daher-Hezbollah.jpg?fit=600%2C931&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Daher-Hezbollah.jpg?fit=600%2C931&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53443,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53443","url_meta":{"origin":52021,"position":4},"title":"The Routledge Handbook of the History and Sociology of Ideas","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"18. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Edited by Stefanos Geroulanos and Gis\u00e8le Sapiro The Routledge Handbook of the History and Sociology of Ideas establishes a new and comprehensive way of working in the history and sociology of ideas, in order to obviate several longstanding gaps that have prevented a fruitful interdisciplinary and international dialogues. Pushing global\u2026","rel":"","context":"U "Knjige"","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ideas.jpg?fit=350%2C498&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53369,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53369","url_meta":{"origin":52021,"position":5},"title":"Predstavljanje knjige Ljiljane Dobrov\u0161ak “Za\u010detnici industrije u Hrvatskoj \u017eidovskog podrijetla”","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"15. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Pozivamo vas na predstavljanje knjige dr. sc. Ljiljane Dobrov\u0161ak Za\u010detnici industrije u Hrvatskoj \u017eidovskog podrijetla u utorak 19. svibnja 2026. u 17 sati u Multimedijalnoj dvorani Instituta Pilar u Zagrebu. Nakladnici knjige su \u017didovska vjerska zajednica BET ISRAEL u Hrvatskoj i STAJER-GRAF iz Zagreba, a glavna urednica Jasminka Doma\u0161. U\u2026","rel":"","context":"U "Novosti"","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dobrovsak_promocija.jpg?fit=939%2C704&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dobrovsak_promocija.jpg?fit=939%2C704&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dobrovsak_promocija.jpg?fit=939%2C704&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Dobrovsak_promocija.jpg?fit=939%2C704&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52023,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52021\/revisions\/52023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}