After the Smoke Clears: Gaza's Everyday Resistance

The frequent and repeated large-scale attacks on the Gaza Strip have had a blunting effect, with the oft-cited statistics and casualty tolls failing to convey the suffering and trauma entailed by the relentless violence perpetrated on the Palestinian population. In this reflection, Laila El-Haddad interweaves personal stories about families and loved ones into her essay about the summer 2014 assault on her home of origin. She humanizes her subjects and focuses on their day-to-day experiences rather than on the enumeration of the damage, destruction, and devastation wrought. She reminds her readers that in spite of being beleaguered and besieged, Gazans are not beaten down and are resorting to art and other forms of creative expression to memorialize the dead, the displaced, and the wounded, and to remind the world of their humanity.