Don't Look Left

About

On October 7, Israeli territory around the Erez border of Gaza Strip was invaded in a surprise attack by Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades. In response to this, the people of Gaza have been subjected to nearly three months of wholesale genocide. Over 40,000 civilians have been killed, an estimated million made homeless and displaced, tens of thousands injured, and an entire population traumatised. Never in living history has such an atrocity been perpetrated in plain sight of the world's leaders and mainstream media, who have all somehow managed to give it their complete backing. Images and video clips of hourly horrors and tragedies have spread around the world, combatted by fake news propagated not by dark conspiratorial corners on the web, but by corporate media outlets and politicians. Baseless Israeli propaganda and deliberately-biased framing has been fed to journalists and repeated, without question, on the front pages of the world's newspapers and in the mouths of TV pundits and politicians.  

   One of the few voices of Gaza to make it out into Western media has been that of writer Atef Abu Saif', whose diary entries have been occasionally serialised (with edits and framing) in places like The New York Times, Washington Post, Le Monde and elsewhere. Here, the complete, unedited diaries show the journey of a man who arrived in Gaza just a few days before October 7 as a government minister and ended the period, like most other Palestinians, living in a tent in a refugee camp.

    If we allow our understanding of world events to be corrupted and spun by lazy, compliant journalism, we will never understand them, even those happening in real-time, before our very eyes. These diaries give us a rare exit ramp from this state of ignorance.

WITH A FOREWORD BY PULITZER PRIZE WINNER CHRIS HEDGES.

All proceeds from this book will go to the following three charities: Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Middle East Children's Alliance, and Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign (Khan Younis Emergency Relief).

OUT NOW

Press

‘Few who read this will have direct experience of war; we are among generations in the west that have been blessed to live without conflict. That is why we are duty‑bound to place ourselves in the shoes of those who do suffer these horrors, especially when our governments supply the armaments that make war possible.’ – The Guardian.

''In publishing his diaries, the author not only exposes the acts of the IDF to a world determined to look away, but also demands compassion and offers a critique of how the world makes news of war and genocide.' – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

‘Outstanding… Saif is an expert diarist, his prose succinct and poetic in devastating measure... Don’t Look Left is necessarily incomplete, given its author left before the humanitarian situation got even worse. But, even in a conflict as thoroughly documented (and sometimes mis-documented) as this one, it is a vital testimony.' - The Irish Times.

‘Comma Press provide an effective antidote to the poison of corporate-controlled journalism… Atef's writing is precise and vivid. The facts are horrendous…’' – Morning Star.

‘Reading Abu Seif’s diary entries poses several reflections, not least the importance of Palestinians themselves sharing their own narratives. Genocide is occurring in real time on our screens, a macabre spectacle unfolding, and the little details are overlooked. ’ – Middle East Monitor.

‘Don’t Look Left is wrenched from death’s jaws. How some Western democracies continue not just to let this barbarity continue day after terrible day, but to fund Israel to the tune of billions of dollars of military “aid” to be used against defenceless, corralled and starving people is unfathomable to most normal human beings.’ - The Irish Independent

‘This is a distressing but essential read. But great writing is a powerful weapon. Every line of this book is a howl of outrage against Israel’s brutal collective punishment of a dispossessed nation.’ - Labour Hub

'Trapped inside Israel’s genocidal campaign against Gaza, Atef Abu Saif has chronicled the destruction of his city and the heroism of his people with a clarity and eloquence profound enough to silence bombs  ' – Molly Crabapple

Atef Abu Saif talks about his diaries with award-winning journalist Chris Hedges - The Chris Hedges YouTube Channel

Accurate Coverage of the Voices of Resilience Event (22 April, HOME Manchester):

'We all, as an audience, as a venue, as passersby – in whatever capacity we have – carry a responsibility to listen and bear witness. And to expect a safe place to hold these testimonies, in whatever form they come in, is the least we should expect from our institutions. The event itself was triumphant, due to the amazing organisers, performers, HOME venue staff that were present on the night and the writers whose work was so beautifully evoked. It is imperative that as a community we have opportunities to come together, to grieve, to hold, and to bear witness. To engage in a solidarity which is not a projected fantasy, nor a selective empathy reserved only for the archetypes that fit a preconceived agenda. Voices of Resilience presented a reality as well as an ambition for liberation.' - Corridor8

Palestinian Voices Will Not Be Erased - Tribune 

Coverage of ‘Voices of Resilience' at the Barbican

‘Heart-wrenching… commendably balanced…’ The Daily Telegraph 

“When you deny my existence it is a lot worse than victimising me. When you victimise me, you acknowledge that I’m there … But if you deny my music, you deny my existence.” - Reem Kelani, in BRian Whittaker's article, Cultural genocide, Al-Bab.  

'Art “workers are with Palestine. It’s the funders and the administrators that are not. That’s cracking. It is only being held back by the power of a small elite.” Let’s hope so. - British Theatre Guide, 

‘’Harrowing, comedic, defiant' - Victoria Brittain in Middle East Eye 

Voices of Resilience: Confronting Censorship in the Arts - Maddalena Luberti, The Strand