Voices of Resistance: Life and Defiance in Gaza

We at the book club feel very fortunate to have received a copy of Voices of Resistance, Diaries of Genocide from Comma Press in Manchester - an extraordinary collection of diaries from four women in Gaza. It’s a subject we care deeply about, and with all proceeds going directly to the authors and their families, it’s also a way to offer tangible support.

Book review written by our lead reviewer, Jessica Pagel, follow her on her Instagram (@fiftytwo_books), and see more on our Instagram.

Featuring the diaries of Batool Abu Akleen, Sondos Sabra, Nahil Mohana, and Ala'a Obaid, Voices of Resistance, Diaries of Genocide is translated and co-edited by Basma Ghalayini, herself Gazan, with forewords by Gillian Slovo and Caryl Churchill.

Over the past two years, the world has watched Israel’s bombardment of Gaza - cities reduced to rubble, families pulled from the wreckage, children deprived of the most basic necessities - all witnessed through fragmented snapshots on Instagram and social media. The effect has been numbing, and the enormity almost impossible to process. Knowing what to pay attention to - and what to set aside - has been an ongoing struggle. In reading Voices of Resistance, Diaries of Genocide, I discovered the clearest and most vital account amidst all of the noise: a profoundly human perspective of what is happening in Gaza, and one I simply cannot recommend enough.

In this book, we are privy to the diaries of four Gazan women - Batool Abu Akleen, Sondos Sabra, Nahil Mohana, and Ala'a Obaid - who describe, with stark honesty, the daily realities of airstrikes, forced displacement, and severe shortages of food and medicine. Yet alive in their stories are moments of quiet defiance: from the grocer giving his last egg so a child can have a birthday cake, to displaced neighbours pooling what little they have to hold a wedding amid the rubble. These are not stories of pity, but stories of hope, humour, individuality, and pride.

Batool Abu Akleen is a twenty-year-old Palestinian poet and translator born and raised in Gaza City. Her diary begins in January 2025. She and her family are displaced, living in a tent on the Gaza Strip. Despite it all, Batool is still a student, attending lectures, submitting assignments and working on her poems. The noise of the camp - over 900 people living in close quarters - overwhelms her, stirring her anxiety. All she longs for is peace and quiet. 

Sondos Sabra, twenty-five, is a writer and translator. When her diary begins in October 2023, she eagerly awaits the rains in northern Gaza - a signal of the olive-picking season, when families come together to work and celebrate. Her greatest joys are her father and her four-year-old sister, Fatima. And yet, when evacuation orders arrive, that simple happiness is shattered, and she is torn from those she loves most.

Nahil Mohana is a novelist and playwright who lives in northern Gaza with her young daughter, Habiba. Like so many Palestinian women, she is a force - full of love, humour, and a deep affection for coffee. When it finally returned to the markets in August of 2024 at the staggering price of 400 shekels, she joked about finding fellow “crazy people” willing to split the cost. Soon enough, she did, and together they shared a single jar. Despite evacuation orders, airstrikes, and constant terror, Nahil and her family remain in their home in the north. 

Ala’a Obaid is a writer and mother of three. She gave birth to her third child, Ibrahim, on Valentine’s Day of 2024. Her story stands in sharp contrast to much of the book - new life emerging amid relentless death and destruction. It acts as a simple reminder that life continues - stubbornly and tenderly - without food, proper healthcare, or something as simple as baby clothes. In Gaza, that act of carrying on, of insisting on life, is itself an act of resistance.

Reaching the end of this book was difficult, because of course, it is not the end. The relief, exhaustion, and fleeting joy these women felt at the announcement of a ceasefire marked a pivotal moment in their diaries - yet reading it now, knowing what was still to come, was devastating.  Finishing their words, I felt both overwhelmed and helpless. Yet when I look at the images of Gaza online, I can now see what lies behind them: ordinary lives of hope and love, of babies and birthday cakes, shared coffee, marriages celebrated, and life undiminished. These diaries are a testament to that, a testament to survival and defiance, and all that’s asked of us is that we read them.

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