An iconic Gaza bookshop, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike last May, reopened on Thursday, lifting the spirits of its ecstatic owner and a large crowd of well-wishers celebrating the moment, The New Arab reported.
Last May, an Israeli air raid turned Samir Mansour’s library into a heap of rubble after serving for many years as a primary intellectual source for Palestinian authors, researchers, and students. The 100,000 books at the shop became piles of torn papers mired in ash and dust.
Nine months after an Israeli airstike flattened it during the May 2021 aggression against the #Gaza Strip, renowned Samir Mansour bookshop reopened on Thursday.
Days of #Palestine pic.twitter.com/Wx0J9nITs8
— DAYS OF PALESTINEᅠ (@DaysOfPal) February 19, 2022
Prior to the destruction of the library, a reader could find an endless list of books, whether scholarly books, religious volumes, or a large number of translated international works – Russian literature, English novels, or South American authors.
“I was devastated when the shop was destroyed and our friends and loved ones have boosted my morale. But today I was born again, today is a new birthday for me,” he said.
‘The Beautiful Face of #Gaza’; Why #Israel Bombed Samir Mansour’s Library (PHOTOS) #Gaza_Under_Attack https://t.co/P7YItlaJr4 via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/s112Iz5pIA
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 24, 2021
In the early 1980s, Mansour was only 15 years old when he assumed his first job, helping his father with the library. In 2000, he developed his father’s project further by establishing a publishing house, which later became an essential outlet for Palestinian authors and educators, especially after the hermetic blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2006.
(The Palestine Chronicle, The New Arab, Social Media)
