Promotion of books 'Dawn in Gaza' and 'Awakening of Gaza' drew great attention: Gaza is a truth that hurts

(Patria) - As part of the event "Selam, ya Resulallah" at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library on Friday evening, a promotion of the books "Awakening of Gaza" and "Dawn in Gaza" was held.

Promoters academician Dr. Sead Alić, poet Enes Kišević, and moderator Professor Enes Durmišević spoke about what rarely reaches global media – the real life of people in Gaza. Not in numbers and statistics, but about mothers, fathers, children, poets, and fighters for dignity. About ordinary people who did not give up.

The focus of the promotion was not only on crimes, but also on the resistance, strength, faith, education, and culture of the Palestinian people. It was emphasized that Gaza is not only a symbol of a humanitarian crisis, but a spiritual fortress of a free person.

– The people in Gaza are not numbers. Behind every death there is a name, a smile, a story, a childhood, a desire for an ordinary life without fear – Alić said.

Speaking about the importance of truth, Dr. Alić cited Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, who said that Palestinians had a choice: to submit to ethnic segregation or to resist. According to Pappé, they chose dignity, even though they know it might mean the end.

– The book "Dawn in Gaza" is not just a collection of numbers; it is touching stories about people whose lives are not numbers in statistics – they are mothers, children, brothers and sisters, whose days are filled with fear, but also with unquenchable hope. And while children's kites fly over the sea and planes bring death, they continue to believe in freedom, as the only light in the darkness – Alić said.

Speaking about the works that were promoted, it was emphasized that they contain testimonies from more than 60 authors, including journalists, artists, and ordinary citizens of Gaza.

Their messages are simple and powerful:

"Do not reduce us to victims. We are fighting. We exist. And we have not given up."

During his presentation, Dr. Alić also mentioned some tragic but deeply human scenes: boys throwing stones at a tank, then returning home in the evening and crying. Children asking if they will die because their mothers write the truth. People who do not celebrate surviving because they know death then struck someone else.

– Those who kill do not only kill people – they also kill feeling. Gaza has not fallen. It has outlived us – he emphasized.

The importance of reading and understanding was particularly highlighted – that what is happening in Gaza is much more than news and media reports. It is a struggle to preserve humanity in a world where spiritual values are collapsing.

– We must simply keep in mind that it is faith alone that has sustained the Palestinians in their desire to remain in their homeland, and that this faith is in some way a form of liberation and redemption of the world – Alić added.

The participants of the promotion reminded that Gaza – despite the blockade, wars, and constant violence – had one of the highest literacy rates in the Arab world. That the people of Gaza believed in knowledge, in the book, in the word, and that it is precisely this word that makes them unconquered.

– Gaza is a truth that hurts, but liberates. A paradigm of God's message on earth. While others kill, it bears witness. While others are silent, it cries out. And even if it may no longer be on the map – it will be in the conscience of the world – was the message from this gathering.

Mustafa Bećirović, owner of the publishing house "Kupola" which published these two works, also addressed those present.

Speaking about life in Gaza and the messages conveyed through the books and stories of the people that emerged, Bećirović shared a deeply emotional and intellectual experience that changed his understanding of Gaza.

Gaza is not just a geographical point on the map; it is a symbol of something much deeper. Bećirović, through his experiences with collaborators and authors, emphasizes that Gaza is not just "land," it is "light."

– Gaza teaches us that East and West are no longer values, but only geographical terms. The awakening of Gaza's dawn is a new dawn of life on earth, shaking the foundations of false values and human suffering – Bećirović emphasized.

For him, Gaza has become a symbol not only of resistance, but also a warning to all the powerful who do not react to the crimes and injustices happening before their eyes.

– The world has built its edifices on blood, and Gaza has become a mortal warning to those who abuse entire nations," Bećirović concludes, calling on us not to forget that every struggle for freedom, every human life, is worthy of respect and defense – Bećirović said.

In a time when the world is often silent in the face of injustice, this promotion and these books offer a different perspective: one that does not seek pity, but truth, empathy, and action. Gaza, perhaps more than anyone, teaches us what it means to remain upright and dignified in a time of darkness.