C&C member Julie Norman, Associate Professor in Politics & International Relations at UCL, has published a new book, Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare (Polity), co-authored with Maia Carter Hallward.
The book tells the story of Gaza from its early foundations, across decades of occupation, to the devastation of the recent war. Rather than focusing on elites or abstract politics, at the book's heart are ordinary Gazans - students, aid workers, journalists, and teachers - whose first-hand testimonies vividly illuminate the realities behind the headlines.
Refusing to sensationalize or oversimplify, the book reckons with the legal, moral, and humanitarian debates surrounding Gaza, from genocide investigations to the contested meaning of resistance and the politicization of aid. Combining a nuanced narrative with hard-hitting reflections from everyday Gazans, the book serves as a timely and necessary disruption of media cliches and political binaries, and from the perspectives of its own people.
The Irish Times called it an "excellent and accessible introduction for those wishing to learn more not just about Gaza’s past and present, but also about the ordinary hopes and dignified aspirations of everyday Gazans."
Norman has also written a one-act stage adaptation of the book, which has been performed at the Bloomsbury Studio Theatre and Palestine House in London.