{{Short description|Library and bookshop in Palestine}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}} {{coord|31.3547|N|34.3087|E|type:landmark|display=title}}
'''The Samir Mansour Library''' is a [[library]], [[Bookselling|bookshop]], and [[Publishing|publishing house]] in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]], [[Palestine]]. It is one of the first libraries in the region, and is one of the largest. It was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in 2021, and rebuilt with fundraising from a GoFundMe campaign.
== Function == The library functions as a library, bookshop, and publishing house. It is the biggest library or bookshop in Gaza.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 May 2021 |title=Gaza's largest bookstore has been destroyed. |url=https://lithub.com/gazas-largest-bookstore-has-been-destroyed/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> It has books in both Arabic and English.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kusuma |first=Nazalea |date=10 May 2022 |title=How a Bookshop in Gaza Came Back to Life |url=https://greennetwork.asia/featured/how-a-bookshop-in-gaza-came-back-to-life/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Green Network Asia |language=en-US}}</ref> The library is located near three universities, including the [[Islamic University of Gaza]] and is used by students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elbaum |first=Rachel |date=20 May 2021 |title=Beloved Gaza bookshop becomes a casualty of Israel-Hamas conflict |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/beloved-gaza-bookshop-becomes-casualty-israel-hamas-conflict-n1267996 |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The publishing house focuses on Palestinian writers, with the books printed in Egypt.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 May 2021 |title=Gaza bookshop owner's dreams buried under the rubble |url=https://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/gaza-bookshop-owners-dreams-buried-under-rubble |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524151352/https://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/gaza-bookshop-owners-dreams-buried-under-rubble |archive-date=24 May 2021 |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=Jordan Times |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
== History == The library's owner, Samir Mansour, had worked with books since he was 15 in the 1980s, helping his father in his bookshop.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=24 May 2021 |title='The Beautiful Face of Gaza'; Why Israel Bombed Samir Mansour's Library (PHOTOS) |url=https://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-beautiful-face-of-gaza-why-israel-bombed-samir-mansours-library-photos/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Palestine Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> Mansour started his own bookshop and publishing house started in 2000. It was called the Samir Mansour Bookshop, although it allowed visitors to read books in the shop "without any obligation to purchase".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=21 June 2021 |title=Donations flood in to restore Gaza bookshop destroyed by Israeli airstrikes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/21/donations-flood-in-to-restore-gaza-bookshop-destroyed-by-israeli-airstrikes |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The original bookshop contained around 100,000 books.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Saber |first=Indlieb Farazi |last2=Humaid |first2=Maram |date=24 February 2022 |title=Books across borders: Rebuilding Gaza's destroyed bookshop |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2022/2/24/books-across-borders-rebuilding-gazas-destroyed-bookshop |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>
=== Initial destruction === The Kuheil building, where the bookshop was housed since 2008,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bulos |first=Nabih |date=1 June 2021 |title=He watched two missiles destroy his bookshop. 'My soul came out of me' |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-01/missiles-destroy-gaza-bookshop-war-israel-hamas |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> was destroyed in [[Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip|Israeli airstrikes]] in May 2021, along with the nearby Iqraa library and two other bookshops.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=McKernan |first=Bethan |date=4 December 2021 |title=Bookseller Samir Mansour: 'It was shocking to realise I was a target' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/04/bookseller-samir-mansour-bookshop-gaza-bombed-faces-of-year |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Mansour was at home when he saw a warning on television that the building his bookshop was in was going to be destroyed. He ran to the shop, but stopped 200m away and saw Israeli planes fire two missiles at the building.<ref name=":3" /> The [[Israel Defense Forces|Israeli military]] said that the bookshop was not a target, but that the building the bookshop was in "contained a [[Hamas]] facility for producing weapons and intelligence-gathering."<ref name=":1" />
=== Rebuilding efforts === A [[GoFundMe]] to rebuild the bookshop was started by human rights lawyers Mahvish Rukhsana and [[Clive Stafford Smith]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=28 January 2022 |title='More than wonderful' … Gaza bookshop to reopen after unexpectedly successful global campaign |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jan/28/gaza-samir-mansour-bookshop-reopening-after-global-campaign |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and managed by the non-profit organisation [[Reprieve (organisation)|Reprieve]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Skopeliti |first=Clea |title=Gaza's main bookshops bombed to ground by Israel |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-bookshop-bombed-israel-palestine-b1851330.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250628221550/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-bookshop-bombed-israel-palestine-b1851330.html |archive-date=28 June 2025 |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=The Independent |language=en-GB |url-status=live }}</ref> The campaign raised over US$200,000 for the rebuilding of the bookshop and over 10,000 books were donated. Books2Door, a UK children's bookseller, donated 1000 books to the library.<ref name=":0" /> Many people who donated books left messages and their email addresses in the books.<ref name=":3" /> Mansour's only request of those donating books was for [[Harry Potter]] books, saying they are very popular with children in Gaza.<ref name=":2" /> This led many people to donate boxsets of the series.<ref name=":2" />
The owner, Mansour, reopened it as a bookshop and library<ref name=":0" /> with plans to build a Gaza Cultural Centre library next door.<ref name=":1" /> Seven months after the initial destruction, the library was 90% rebuilt.<ref name=":1" /> Nine months after initial destruction, the library was ultimately rebuilt to triple the size of the original building with a collection of 400,000 books.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Zakaria |first=Sherouk |date=13 October 2023 |title=Gaza's iconic bookshop damaged again in Israeli strike |url=https://arab.news/y4wmy |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> It was reopened on 17 February 2022.<ref name=":3" />
=== Second bombing === In October 2023, the library was damaged in an Israeli airstrike,<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Saber |first=Indlieb Farazi |title=A 'cultural genocide': Which of Gaza's heritage sites have been destroyed? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/a-cultural-genocide-which-of-gazas-heritage-sites-have-been-destroyed |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> along with eight other publishing houses and libraries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Second Preliminary Report on the Cultural Sector Damage: War on Gaza Strip October 7th - December 6th, 2023 |url=https://www.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2024/03/11_palestine_cultural.pdf |website=UNESCO}}</ref>
== Honours == In November 2021, the library was nominated for the [[International Publishers Association]] 2021 Prix Voltaire prize, which honours freedom to publish.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samir Mansour Bookshop for Publishing: Rebuilding a Cultural Oasis in Gaza |url=https://internationalpublishers.org/samir-mansour-bookshop-for-publishing-rebuilding-a-cultural-oasis-in-gaza/ |website=[[International Publishers Association]]}}</ref> In 2024, it was again nominated for the Prix Voltaire prize and won.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Porter |date=6 December 2024 |title=Gaza Bookseller Samir Mansour Wins the 2024 IPA Prix Voltaire |url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2024/12/gaza-bookseller-samir-mansour-wins-the-2024-ipa-prix-voltaire/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |website=Publishing Perspectives |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
[[Category:Libraries in Palestine]]