Thousands of people have donated time, money and books to help rebuild a bookshop in Gaza that was destroyed by Israeli missiles in May.
After a "visceral" reaction to seeing a photo of the bombed site, writer and human rights lawyer Mahvish Rukhsana contacted the shop’s owner, Samir Mansour, with an offer of help.
"It wasn't just his bookstore. It was the medical bookstore next door and it was multiple bookstores and this whole street called University Avenue," she told The National at her home, where the rooms are now stacked with donated books.
This has been my life. I established it and built it and in a split second it's all gone.
Samir Mansour
“Knowledge is a source of empowerment and a means of escape and I felt that, as a book lover myself, this was an easy way for everybody to tangibly feel how these people must have felt. It was such a huge loss.”
Rukhsana requested help to rebuild Mansour’s shop and thousands of books flooded in to several collection points across the world, including London.
“It's not about race or religion," said Farah, a volunteer in the UK capital. She said that because people were "taking away the little that these people have, if we can help in any way or form then it’s fantastic”.
The Samir Mansour Bookshop had been running for 21 years and employed 10 people. Up to 90,000 books were destroyed in the air strike during the 11-day conflict that killed more than 250 people in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
Standing amid the rubble that used to be his shop, Mr Mansour told The National he was in complete shock after the attack.
“This has been my life. I established it and built it and in a split second it’s all gone,” he said.
He was only 200 metres from the two-storey shop when he saw the missile hit and his life’s work disappear.
“I felt my soul leave my body when I saw the building come down,” said Mr Mansour, holding a partially shredded book that he salvaged from the rubble.
An important pillar of society in Gaza, Rukhsana was concerned that the bookshop would not be a priority in any post-conflict relief and rebuilding efforts from international organisations.
A 14-year Israeli blockade on Gaza means the import of any raw materials is subject to approval, meaning goods can be limited and expensive.
It's just a tragedy and it's one we've got to redress.
Clive Stafford Smith
After getting fellow human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith on board, the organisers set up a GoFundMe page and raised $100,000 within three days.
Thousands of donations later and that figure has passed $200,000. The money will go towards rebuilding the shop as well as establishing a new project – the Gaza Cultural Centre, a library where books are free to borrow.
"Gaza has so little and the people there who want to make something of their lives have so little opportunity," Mr Stafford Smith told The National. "Here is Samir doing a tremendous service for all the youth and other people in Gaza. It's just a tragedy and it's one we've got to redress."
The two are now trying to identify missile fragments in the rubble and hold the manufacturers responsible for the destruction.
“I think these people don’t just need to be held to account, they need to be shamed that they’re making a big profit out of this madness, so that perhaps we can move people to a rather more civilised world,” Mr Stafford Smith said.
Heartened by the widespread generosity, the organisers are now hoping to use the campaign as a way of creating links between people in Gaza and the rest of the world by asking for short messages and email address to be written inside the books donated, “so that the recipient in Gaza ... has a contact with the outside [world]".
"And hopefully those human contacts will make us view the people of Gaza as human beings as opposed to just targets.”
Mansour says the generosity and kindness he witnessed since the bombing has helped him recover and look to the future.
“It really does lift our spirits and helps me to go on when I see people helping me in this way. It pushes me to rebuild and hopefully it will be better and stronger than before,” he said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
The view from The National
The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
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THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 10am:
Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog
Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan
Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)
Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)
Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)
Court 1
Starting at 10am:
Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska
Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh
Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet
Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)
Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage
Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse
Court 2
Starting at 10am:
Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang
Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka
Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic
Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri
Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova
Court 3
Starting at 10am:
Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang
Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar
Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova
