There Is Always Hope: The Writings of Shahd Alnaami

Shahd Alnaami is a Palestinian writer based in Gaza. She is an English literature and translation student at the Islamic University
of Gaza, currently living amid the hardship of the genocide.

This 28-page, half-letter size zine collects Shahd’s writing, both nonfiction and poetry, about her experiences of the most recent years of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Her writing immortalizes some of what has been lost, with precision and grace.

“This is Shahd, a survivor of genocide, still here after a year and three months. The days and months have been too hard. I have lost so much—or perhaps I should say everything. I lost my only sister, Rahaf. I lost friends, home, and any sense of stability. But I am still alive today, still holding my pen, still writing. Because stories must be told. Because my people’s suffering cannot be forgotten. Because words have the power to bring life to what others try to erase.”