What do you think?
Rate this book
Eyes on Gaza: Witnessing Annihilation
A powerful and impassioned collection of essays on the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, written in real time during the annihilation by a leading scholar of Islamophobia.
All the world's eyes are now on Gaza and Palestine. Arab and Muslim-American law scholar and author Khaled A. Beydoun shares his expertise and his perspective on the conflict in essays written from October 2023 to today, accompanied by over sixty pieces of art created by Palestinian political cartoonist, Mohammad Sabaaneh during the same time period.
Since October of 2023, the world has been watching as a horrific siege has been waged in Gaza. A devastating bombing campaign carried out by the Israeli military in response to a Hamas attack on Israeli civilians. We have witnessed the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, and our hearts are breaking. Eyes on Gaza is Khaled A. Beydoun’s attempt to process what we have been seeing.
Beydoun opens our eyes to the historic events and the political motivations which impact the decision making of the leaders involved, as he shares his own story and his father's story as Arab Muslims in America. He offers his expert perspective on events as they have unfolded. This book combines personal narrative, contemporary history, and thoughtful reporting to shine a light on the horror in Palestine today.
All the world's eyes are now on Gaza and Palestine. Arab and Muslim-American law scholar and author Khaled A. Beydoun shares his expertise and his perspective on the conflict in essays written from October 2023 to today, accompanied by over sixty pieces of art created by Palestinian political cartoonist, Mohammad Sabaaneh during the same time period.
Since October of 2023, the world has been watching as a horrific siege has been waged in Gaza. A devastating bombing campaign carried out by the Israeli military in response to a Hamas attack on Israeli civilians. We have witnessed the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, and our hearts are breaking. Eyes on Gaza is Khaled A. Beydoun’s attempt to process what we have been seeing.
Beydoun opens our eyes to the historic events and the political motivations which impact the decision making of the leaders involved, as he shares his own story and his father's story as Arab Muslims in America. He offers his expert perspective on events as they have unfolded. This book combines personal narrative, contemporary history, and thoughtful reporting to shine a light on the horror in Palestine today.
- GenresNonfiction
168 pages, Paperback
Published February 25, 2025
7 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Khaled A. Beydoun
5 books61 followersKhaled A. Beydoun is a leading voice on Arab, Middle Eastern and Muslim identity, and he is widely regarded as one of the leading experts on Islamophobia globally.
He is an Associate Professor of Law at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; he also serves as an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Western Cape Desmond Tutu Center for Religion and Social Justice (Cape Town, South Africa).
He is the author of the acclaimed books American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear and The New Crusades: Islamophobia and the Global War on Muslims, which are considered foundational works in the study of Islamophobia.
He is an Associate Professor of Law at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; he also serves as an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Western Cape Desmond Tutu Center for Religion and Social Justice (Cape Town, South Africa).
He is the author of the acclaimed books American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear and The New Crusades: Islamophobia and the Global War on Muslims, which are considered foundational works in the study of Islamophobia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 14, 2025
”Back then, we were all the same. But today, we are all Palestinian.”
Eyes on Gaza by Khaled A. Beydoun is an urgent and heartbreaking read. This book is honestly beautiful-not just in its words, but in the raw reality it unveils. It's beautiful even as it confronts the brutality of war, even as it lays bare how the world has failed Gaza and Palestine.
We read the unrelenting horrors of siege, starvation, and displacement-days fading into weeks, weeks into months, as ethnic cleansing unfolds with terrifying speed. Paired with Mohammad Sabaaneh's powerful illustrations, Beydoun's essays lay bare the slow march toward genocide and the shockingly rapid escalation of violence.
This isn't just a recounting of tragedy, but a call to witness, to remember, and to act. Though I wished the author dove deeper into some topics, I still totally think this is a straight-up form of resistance, which I'm so very honored to have gotten the chance to read.
One of the quotes that resonated with me:
”The rule of life?” Aimé Césaire asks rhetorically: “I look around, and wherever there are colonizers and the colonized face to face, I see force, brutality, cruelty, sadism, conflict”—and as Gaza stands as a living case study.
Thank you, Edelweiss, for giving me the chance to read Eyes on Gaza ahead of its release.
Eyes on Gaza by Khaled A. Beydoun is an urgent and heartbreaking read. This book is honestly beautiful-not just in its words, but in the raw reality it unveils. It's beautiful even as it confronts the brutality of war, even as it lays bare how the world has failed Gaza and Palestine.
We read the unrelenting horrors of siege, starvation, and displacement-days fading into weeks, weeks into months, as ethnic cleansing unfolds with terrifying speed. Paired with Mohammad Sabaaneh's powerful illustrations, Beydoun's essays lay bare the slow march toward genocide and the shockingly rapid escalation of violence.
This isn't just a recounting of tragedy, but a call to witness, to remember, and to act. Though I wished the author dove deeper into some topics, I still totally think this is a straight-up form of resistance, which I'm so very honored to have gotten the chance to read.
One of the quotes that resonated with me:
”The rule of life?” Aimé Césaire asks rhetorically: “I look around, and wherever there are colonizers and the colonized face to face, I see force, brutality, cruelty, sadism, conflict”—and as Gaza stands as a living case study.
Thank you, Edelweiss, for giving me the chance to read Eyes on Gaza ahead of its release.
June 22, 2025
I wanted to read out of my comfort zone, and it was incredibly enlightening. The author, a law professor, has a great talent. He has published a selection of his Substack ramblings that are misinformed, deluded, misguided, inaccurate, and replete with errors by omission, lies by omission, and outright untruths. He has produced a classic example of doublespeak, hypocrisy, and displaced moral equivalence. I commend the author. While reading the book, I kept having to look up people, dates, and events, so this was a true learning experience.
He related truly horrible things: the murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old stabbed 26 times by his crazed Illinois neighbor; famine and genocide in Sudan and Congo; and no mass outcry from Christian communities about their co-religionists in Gaza. But he also failed to mention that Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007. They are still holding hostages, and bear the responsibility for the misery of their people. Nor that Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8th, and that “Operation Grim Beeper” targeted only Hezbollah operatives.
In the “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it” (Joseph Goebbels) department, he mentions genocide 6 times, massacre (never referring to October 7th) 16 times, Famine 14 times, Ethnic Cleansing 39 times, Prison/Panopticon 18 times, Dystopian 10 times, Apocalyptic 6 times, and Subaltern - the colonial populations who are socially, politically, and geographically excluded from the hierarchy of power of an imperial colony. – 7 times.
He related truly horrible things: the murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old stabbed 26 times by his crazed Illinois neighbor; famine and genocide in Sudan and Congo; and no mass outcry from Christian communities about their co-religionists in Gaza. But he also failed to mention that Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007. They are still holding hostages, and bear the responsibility for the misery of their people. Nor that Hezbollah attacked Israel on October 8th, and that “Operation Grim Beeper” targeted only Hezbollah operatives.
In the “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it” (Joseph Goebbels) department, he mentions genocide 6 times, massacre (never referring to October 7th) 16 times, Famine 14 times, Ethnic Cleansing 39 times, Prison/Panopticon 18 times, Dystopian 10 times, Apocalyptic 6 times, and Subaltern - the colonial populations who are socially, politically, and geographically excluded from the hierarchy of power of an imperial colony. – 7 times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2025
"You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming." - Pablo Neruda (p.152).
"I am an Oriental, writing at the Orientalists, who for so long have thrived upon our silence." - Edward Said, from 'Out of Place: A Memoir'. (p.125).
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." - Stephen Bantu Biko, from 'Black Consciousness in South Africa.' (p.119).
"I kissed her, but she wouldn't wake up." Reem, the granddaughter of Khaled killed by Israel. "She was the soul of my soul." (p.61).
"I am an Oriental, writing at the Orientalists, who for so long have thrived upon our silence." - Edward Said, from 'Out of Place: A Memoir'. (p.125).
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." - Stephen Bantu Biko, from 'Black Consciousness in South Africa.' (p.119).
"I kissed her, but she wouldn't wake up." Reem, the granddaughter of Khaled killed by Israel. "She was the soul of my soul." (p.61).
December 12, 2025
A collection of essays from Khalid A. Beydoun on the siege of Gaza during 2023-24 with accompanying art from Mohammad Sabaaneh.
Obviously harrowing descriptions of slaughter and violence against Palestinians, but the words are eloquently articulated.
The book could have benefited from a copy editor (spotted typos and errors in the book) but it serves as an important time capsule of resistance during this digital era.
Obviously harrowing descriptions of slaughter and violence against Palestinians, but the words are eloquently articulated.
The book could have benefited from a copy editor (spotted typos and errors in the book) but it serves as an important time capsule of resistance during this digital era.
June 26, 2025
If you read nothing else about Palestine, read this book. It is a tough read, and an utterly necessary one.
August 11, 2025
a great summary.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews