Author

Anne Irfan

Primary Agent

Emma Bal

02074997550

International Rights

Valentina Paulmichl

02074997550

Film & TV

Hannah Ladds

02074997550

Information

Biography

Anne Irfan is a historian and Associate Professor in Interdisciplinary Race, Gender and Postcolonial Studies at University College London, where her work focuses on Israel-Palestine. She is a recognised expert on politics and displacement in the modern Middle East and has written for leading UK, US and Israeli-Palestinian media outlets including The Washington Post, The Nation, The Conversation and +972 magazine, as well as providing expert opinion for the New York Times, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, BBC Radio Four, Times Radio and Tortoise Media. Over the last decade, she has addressed the UN in New York and Geneva, as well as the UK Parliament in Westminster, on a range of issues relating to displacement and politics in the contemporary Levant.

Photo Credit: Raquel Carro

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Books

Featured Book

From a leading scholar of Palestine-Israel, a concise, essential history of the besieged strip of land, revealing the roots of the current crisis.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most widely-reported on regions in the world—yet misunderstandings about its history and its people abound.

In this vital book, historian Anne Irfan explains Gaza’s outsized political significance and rich cultural background through six pivotal moments in its modern history, beginning with the expulsion of the Palestinians and establishment of Israel in 1948, when Gaza was truncated to the “strip” we know today.

As she takes us through Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the Palestinian national struggle and creation of the PLO, the first intifada, and the rise of Hamas, she tackles widespread historical ignorance and untangles contradicting narratives. Drawing on a decade of research, Irfan weaves in the voices of everyday Palestinians, from farmers and teachers to poets and activists. Written with remarkable clarity and compassion, A Short History of the Gaza Strip is an indispensable read for anyone seeking to understand Palestine today.

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Press and Reviews

“An excellent primer”

– William Dalrymple, the Guardian

“Beautifully written, erudite, humane and essential guide to understand the way Israeli settler colonial project in and around Gaza has evolved into a brutal genocide.”

– Eyal Weizman, Director of Forensic Architecture

“In lean and unsparing prose, Anne Irfan exposes the history of occupation and oppression that explains the tragedy of Gaza from 1948 to the present day.…”

– Eugene Rogan, author of The Arabs: A History

“An incredible, informative and powerful book. It tells us that you can’t understand the current destruction of Gaza without going back to the beginning and then…”

– Rachel Shabi, British-Israeli journalist and author of Off-White: The Truth about Antisemitism

“A timely short highly informative history of Gaza that is sure to dispel many of the misconceptions and misinformation circulating and currently widespread about Gaza. It…”

– Raja Shehadeh, Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist

Anne Irfan

Primary Agent

International Rights

Film & TV

Biography

Press and Reviews

Related News

This Week’s Publications: 24th August – 30th August