PERSPECTIVES: “Beneath Gaza’s Stars” and “Midnight Thoughts in Gaza” rewire my associations with my own memories
This piece is a companion to the article: “I want people to understand”: Writers in Gaza publish zines through volunteer-led Coastal Lines Press I read Coastal Lines Press zines Beneath Gaza’s Stars by Heba Ali and Midnight Thoughts in Gaza by Mohammed Al-Bardawili with a deliberate slowness, trying to build pictures in my mind, trying to open my heart further and further like training a muscle. I needn’t have tried so hard. Their words surrounded me with their sights, sounds, and thoughts in a way that rewired my associations with my own memories. Pain, when woven into language, becomes a…