Drinking the Sea at Gaza | Amira Hass, Elana Wesley, Maxine Kaufman Lacusta

In 1993, Amira Hass, an Israeli reporter, drove to Gaza to cover a story -- and stayed for four years. She was the first journalist to live in the grim Palestinian enclave so feared and despised by many Israelis that in the local idiom "Go to Gaza" is another way to say "Go to hell". Now, in a work of calm power and painful clarity, Hass reflects on everyday life in Gaza's gutted streets and destitute refugee camps. She gives voice to Gaza's doctors and housewives, its taxi drivers, farmers, and Islamic leaders. She writes about slipping across sealed borders and stealing through night streets emptied by curfews. And she movingly recounts Gaza's early euphoria over Palestinian autonomy and the subsequent despair as hope gives way to unrelenting hardship. Full of testimonies, stories, facts, and impressions, Drinking the Sea at Gaza makes an urgent claim on our humanity. Haunting and profound, it is a landmark addition to the body of wartime reportage and Middle Eastern history.