"If you cannot say Genocide - Essays on Conscience and Witness" by Yahia Lababidi. Publication date 6 Otober 2026

This is a tough read which I found took me longer to read as I chose to explore some of the other works (pictures, poems etc) which were referenced* and discussed in the book. I found that looking at these helped me better understand the points the author was making and also provoked my own thinkjng further. The topic of Gaza is uncomfortable and this book made me feel increasingly unsettled and concerned about our ability to tell events in a manner to suit our own consciences. The author demonstrates the inflexibility of numerous governments in continuing to support Israel in spite of their actions in Gaza and other countries. The author uses a variety of sources to raise questions about ethics and demonstrates the importance of the Arts to draw attention and to accurately report the situation in Gaza. It feels as though the use of poetry, essays and stories can help foster a collective conscience. The book is well structured with "Personal Witness", "Literary Witness" and "Political Witness" thereby enabling exploration at both the micro and macro level. It also definitely explores the importance of personal conscience in a world of denial whether intentionally or unintentionally. I have not read "Palestine Wail" by the author but this feels like it would be appropriate as it is referenced often within this book. The subtitle of this book "Essays on Conscience and Witness" is entirely what this book is about and it definitely left me with searching questions of myself and others in this respect. I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an objective review. I gave it 4 stars out of 5. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252747736-if-you-cannot-say-genocide * this poem in particular seemed so relevant to today's world, "Home" by Warsan Shire. https://www.poetryinternational.com/en/poets-poems/poems/poem/103-30925_HOME