A Historian in Gaza w/ Jean-Pierre Filiu

As the war in Gaza shows no sign of abating, Cambridge Literary Festival welcomes Jean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of the region who entered the Gaza Strip in December 2024. He remained for 33 days and emerged determined to bear witness to the devastation — and to the Gazans fighting to survive every single day. Join Filiu, whose new book A Historian in Gaza is forthcoming, as he shares his deep knowledge of the place and its people.

About the book

Jean-Pierre Filiu, acclaimed historian of Gaza, is intimately familiar with the land’s people and places; he speaks the local dialect. But nothing prepared him for what he encountered there in December 2024. This is his unforgettable, unbearably intimate account of one month in a place shattered by Israel’s all-out war.

When the historian returned to Gaza, he arrived under circumstances unimaginably different from his many past visits since 1980: only a limited number of convoys were allowed into the Strip, and he was one of the few humanitarians able to enter, this time by night. He remained inside for thirty-three days, and emerged determined to bear witness to the devastation—to the Gazans fighting simply to live, every single day.

Filiu’s haunting portrait of a land betrayed is a grim work of war reportage, documented with the acuity of a historian; and a lyrical narrative of human suffering, and human dignity.

About the author

Jean-Pierre Filiu is Professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po, and former visiting professor at Columbia and Georgetown Universities. His books include The Middle East: A Political History; and Guardian Book of the Year Gaza: A History (also published by Hurst), which won Middle East Monitor’s Palestine Book Award.