Fragments of Being
A collection of five personal essays detailing what remains of life in Gaza for those that still possess “the radical hope of living.” Bound to an incomplete existence, where loved ones and locations vanish in an instant becoming fragments of memory and longing, the author fills in the gaps and chasms with words of resistance and remembrance. Illustrations create a whimsical continuity to these essays, previously published separately by a variety of media outlets.
Editions: English
Letter to the Reader
Dearest Reader,
This zine is titled “Fragments of Being” because what remains to us Palestinians, under constant erasure, are fragments– memories that refuse to disappear. These pages gather pieces of lives interrupted—family members, friends, teachers—people who lived fully, loved deeply, and were taken too soon by an occupation that makes our existence provisional.
The words you hold are acts of remembrance and defiance. They speak of grief that does not quiet, of envy for the dead, of pride in those who resisted, and of the unbearable weight of survival. They insist that Palestinians are not abstractions or headlines, but human beings whose inner worlds matter as much as their deaths are politicized.
To read these stories is to bear witness. To sit with them is to accept our discomfort, anger, and tenderness all at once. These fragments do not seek pity; they demand recognition. They ask you to see how life itself is contested here,and how, despite everything, it persists.
If these words stay with you, let them honor those who could not finish their sentences, whose lives were interrupted mid-thought, mid-dream. Let them stand beside those who continue to write, not because survival is assured, but because testimony itself has become a way of resisting disappearance.
With Memory as Resistance,
Khaled Al-Qershali
Images and Text
Request for Recognition
Gaza has been under an intellectual embargo for decades. We ask members of the literary community to lend the strength of their voices to our authors. This zine has yet to receive words of recommendation. If you are an established author willing to read and recommend this zine, email us at coastallinespress@gmail.com to receive a digital or hard copy.
About the Author
Khaled Al-Qershali is an ambitious Palestinian writer from the besieged Gaza. He studies literature and English language at the Islamic University of Gaza. Khaled was a student of Dr. Refaat Alareer, whom Israel killed. Israel also killed Khaled’s best friends, Mohammed Hamo and Abdallah Al-Khaldi. For Khaled, writing can be used as a tool to resist the occupation. He has contributed to We Are Not Numbers, Baladi Magazine, The Electronic Intifada, and Palestine Nexus.
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