Gaza Through the Rubble
Historical Fiction
In Gaza, life has never been easy. Yet amid the suffocating blockade, families celebrate weddings, young adults chase their dreams, and friends gather over tea, believing that tomorrow can still be better than today.
Through the Rubble is a powerful story of courage, resilience, and an enduring love for one’s homeland. Beginning one year before October 7, 2023, and continuing through the first nine months of the war and beyond, it follows the lives of three families as they cherish life’s ordinary moments before everything they know is turned upside down.
Before the war, Amal, a beautiful young school teacher, was counting the days until she married Karim, an ambitious television journalist determined to tell Gaza’s story to the world. Omar, a kind-hearted university student, dreamed of completing his education and building a future beyond the walls that confined him. Samer, a talented young musician, was just beginning to pursue his passion.
Then everything changed.
As war engulfed Gaza, homes were reduced to rubble, and survival replaced every dream they once held. Across Gaza, people endured unimaginable hardship and cruelty as the sky rained terror upon them. Some were killed in shelling, others lost their children to hunger, and many were left permanently maimed.
Through the Rubble gives voice to the human stories behind the headlines, reminding readers that those too often reduced to numbers are individuals with families, dreams and lives that matter. It is a story of ordinary people who lived through the inferno of war yet kept clinging to their land, resisting all plans of forced emigration. Despite unimaginable loss and hunger, they refused to surrender and remained guarding the land they love, their hope unbroken and their resolve unshaken.
While the characters and their personal journeys are fictional, the historical events portrayed in this novel are based on real events, and the lived experiences of countless Palestinians.
Meet the Author
Arifa Al-Yahya
Arifa Al-Yahya was born in Hayfa,
Palestine, before the Nakba of 1948. In
May 1948, she and her family, like
thousands of other Palestinians, were
forcibly displaced from their homeland
and became refugees.
Her family first sought refuge in
Lebanon, settling in Hammana, a village
situated in the mountains of Lebanon
among forests and cedar trees.
Hammana was where the family had spent many summers vacationing before the Nakba. With limited opportunities for work
and education, the family later moved to Syria, where schools were free for everyone and better work opportunities were
available.
Arifa graduated with honors from Damascus University with a
degree in English Literature. After her marriage to Jawdat Hindi, she and her husband moved to Kuwait, where both worked in the field of education and raised their four children—three sons and
a daughter. After their children completed their university studies in the United States, she and her husband decided to retire in
the US.
Following the loss of her husband, who was her lifelong partner and soulmate, she continued pursuing her passion for
writing. She now lives in Raleigh, NC surrounded by her children
and grandchildren. This is her second book and her first published work. Her first book, a personal memoir, was written
and shared privately with family members and friends.
Let’s connect
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Gaza Through the Rubble by Arifa Al-Yahya 