From the ashes: Gaza’s first grassroots library rises amid genocide

Two Palestinian writers, Omar Hamad and Ibrahim Massri, have been working since late 2025 to build a library in Gaza during the ongoing genocide. The Phoenix Library is located in the heart of Gaza City and, per a post from the library’s Twitter/X account, is fast approaching its official opening date despite the Gaza Strip and all of occupied Palestine still being subject to Israeli apartheid violence.

Following the events of October 7, 2023 both Hamad and Massri were displaced as a result of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and both spent several months away from their homes only to return to find them reduced to rubble. They recovered books that had survived the bombardments from the ruins of their homes, and these books would go on to become the first seeds of a library standing in defiance of destruction. Massri notes on the library’s donation page, “I climbed across the debris and rescued my books one by one, as if saving living souls. And when I held the first dust-covered book, I felt my voice rise louder than the bomb that had flattened my home with barbaric force. They erased my house from the earth, but they could not erase the meaning it carried.”

The Israeli apartheid state’s siege, on top of the tangible destruction of lives and property it has caused, has also presented significant logistical challenges for Hamad and Massri. After overcoming the initial hurdle of finding a location for the library, the duo have had to contend with soaring prices for raw materials, particularly wood for shelves, tables, and more. In addition, access to electricity and the internet remain difficult. However, despite all these obstacles, the Phoenix Library has grown bit by bit, supported by donations from around the world and sustained by Hamad and Massri’s persistence. As of writing, their donation campaign on Chuffed, a crowdfunding platform, has reached nearly $110,000 of its $140,000 goal.

The library’s construction and purpose are driven by Hamad and Massri’s shared vision of free access to education and knowledge. As Hamad describes it, “I first learned that the Israeli occupation monitored our Palestinian school curricula. That was when I realized they didn’t want us to learn, but rather to memorise what they chose for us. In that moment—in the mind of a ten-year-old boy—the first seed of rebellion was planted: I would learn what I wanted to learn.”