Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad has been a leading witness of the genocide in Gaza. In an interview with Jacobin, she explains how Western media misrepresentations have enabled Israel’s crimes.
In The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience, Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad offers a firsthand account of the first weeks of the bombardment of Gaza. Published in the United States in September 2025 by Workman Publishing, the book has swiftly become a New York Times bestseller.
Fleeting Gaza with her family in late 2023, Alaqad has spoken out against Western media distortions and the silencing of Palestinian voices. Named One Young World’s Journalist of the Year in 2024 and one of the BBC’s 100 Women of the Year, she has been a leading advocate for Palestinian rights and for the protection of journalists in so-called conflict zones.
Through personal diary entries and on-the-ground reporting, Alaqad’s book documents the destruction of her homeland, the loss of colleagues, and the resilience of a people under siege. In this interview, Alaqad discusses the role of language in documenting violence, Palestinians’ intergenerational experiences of displacement and trauma, and her critical perspective on the ceasefire agreement.
You’ve written recently on Instagram that the hardest country to publish your book in was the United States because publishers feared the word “genocide.” You’ve also criticized how language in Western media distorts reality and avoids using the term. How do you view the broader debate around language in reporting on Gaza?
For two years, while Gaza bled before the world’s eyes, mainstream outlets spoke of “conflict,” “escalation,” or a “humanitarian crisis,”…
Auteur: Plestia Alaqad
