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My Father Was a Freedom Fighter:
Gaza's Untold Story
a New Book By Ramzy Baroud
ccun.org, December 15, 2009
A Million Hits on Gaza
A promotional short film for a new book on Gaza is being
released worldwide today, days before the official book
launch in the U.K., to commemorate the first anniversary
of the Gaza massacre - Israel's so-called Operation Cast
Lead, which killed and wounded thousands in Gaza a year
ago.
Told from the perspectives of the refugees,
My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story
is heralded as an incomparable chronicle of the history of
the Gaza Strip, and has been endorsed by leading
intellectuals and academics.
The book's author, Ramzy Baroud,
was born and raised in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
He was witness to much of Gaza's tumultuous
history.
"Gaza's story is the most fascinating story there is, yet
somehow it's reduced to a few simple, redundant, and
misleading clichés
that barely grab attention anymore," Baroud said.
"I am determined to challenge and change that.
Thanks to courageous publishers like Pluto Press,
and the dedicated efforts of many talented individuals out
there, we shall together change the ways the Gaza story is
told."
The short film, carrying the name of the book, is being
released on YouTube, in both
English
and
Arabic
versions. The
film will also be broadcast on a number of TV stations
around the world.
The filmmakers and book author are calling on
readers and activists around the world to ensure the
widest possible dissemination of Gaza's untold story, by
reading and helping to promote the book, and by
encouraging others to watch the film at YouTube, through
sharing the film with friends, family, and colleagues -
with an aim to reach a million views at YouTube.
The "A Million Hits on Gaza" film-sharing movement at
YouTube
is just the beginning of a worldwide campaign to raise
awareness of the book, and of Gaza's untold stories and
history, a campaign that will also include readings, book
tours, the screen adaptation of the book into a feature
film, and various educational, grassroots, community, and
international film festival screenings of the completed
feature film.
The promotional short film was created in a matter of
days, with zero budget, by a team of artists in Canada and
the U.K. that included filmmakers Paul Lee and Cathy
Gulkin, editor and screenwriter George Kaltsounakis,
composer and jazz musician Gilad Atzmon, and with the
collaboration of writer and journalist Hani Yared (who
helped with the translation and the preparation of the
Arabic version
of the film).
The book is available through the
Pluto Press website (www.plutobooks.com),
and also through
Amazon.com.
Beginning March 2010, the book will be distributed
in the United States by Palgrave Macmillan, which is
promoting the book as a "trade title."
To view the film in English, click
here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K2VpARDkzw
To view the film in Arabic, click
here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0NSpmrMZ4w
To purchase the book from Pluto Press, click
here
or visit:
www.plutobooks.com
To purchase the book at Amazon, click
here or visit:
www.amazon.com
For more information, reviews, book tours, click
here
or visit:
www.ramzybaroud.net, or
e-mail:
info@ramzybaroud.net
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