About us:
We are a team of thirty people. We work on three continents and in three languages – French, English, and Arabic. We operate on both sides of the blockade and the war, in Gaza and outside Gaza.
The scientific and civic mission we have undertaken is to document and map the destruction of reading and writing sites in Gaza. This systematic and intentional destruction has a long history, which [re]started in October 2023 and affects libraries, universities, cultural centers, bookstores, publishing houses, printing presses, and newsagents. We are committed to reading by all and writing by all: any reading and writing, be they daily, common, ordinary or extraordinary.
We also seek to identify and locate sites that are simply damaged. Over the coming years, we plan to monitor all reading and writing sites that have been affected or “wounded” but remain standing in order to protect them.
Lastly, we are also working to build a Digital public library for students and families in Gaza, in collaboration with the NGO Academic Solidarity with Palestine, the team behind Gaza Histoire : Inventaire d’un patrimoine bombardé (Gaza History: Inventory of a Bombed Heritage), and the collective visionscarto.
We are a transdisciplinary scientific team working across literature, history, geography, cartography, anthropology, sociology, information science, and archaeology – a team composed of experienced teachers and researchers. Our team also works in collaboration with students, writers, artists, and librarians. All of us work in parallel with our professions, our research, our studies, and our artistic work. We are also organized into trilingual tandems and teams, systematically including members from Gaza, students, teachers, and researchers, around Binômes Solidarity Research.
Our Charter is available in three languages here
In the current situation, our only position is in favor of peace, and therefore in support of civilian victims of war. Indeed, the rights of readers are fundamental human rights. To violate them is always to violate humanity. We resolutely defend access to information, reading, and education. In the same vein, we oppose all practices of educide, scholasticide, bibliocide, and urbicide, which are instruments of the unacceptable: the destruction and annihilation of peoples.
To join the team, contribute, or request information:
please contact Dominique Dupart.