Mark Karlin: Your book is an extraordinary account of a Gazan journalist with a family enduring the 51-day Israeli killing spree both personally and as a journalist reporting on the assault. How did you overcome the fear of possible death – and limitations such as the infrequent availability of electricity – to file such informative and vivid accounts, something akin to a written version of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica”?

Mohammed Omer: I have known this fear all my life, so far, personally and nationally. If you let the fear of death paralyze you, then you can achieve nothing for yourself, your family, homeland or dignity. You grab whatever chance, whatever time, light and energy to carry on and get the message out to the world. We love our homeland and are proud of our identity; that is always worth defending with my pen or camera.

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