Private university hosts launch of book on Gaza genocide

KARACHI: A private university hosted the launch of Gaza: The Story of a Genocide on Friday, bringing together students, academics and members of the public for what organisers described as an evening of reflection and remembrance.

The book, edited by Fatima Bhutto and Sonia Faleiro, is an anthology of testimonies, poetry, photography and frontline reportage from Palestine. The launch featured a conversation between Bhutto and Peter Lagerqvist, a Global Fellow at the university, who spoke about the urgency of documenting stories from Gaza.

Introducing the book within the context of his course Palestine, Mon Amour: Anthropology After Gaza, Lagerqvist said: “The scale of destruction in Gaza is staggering. Ammunition used on the region is reportedly seven times greater than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Israeli assault on Gaza has been a total war on life itself — on humans, trees, animals, and even the dead. This is not merely a military campaign, it is a systematic erasure of existence.”

He added that the book was produced “to resist this erasure” and “to stand as a testament to the lives lost and the stories that must not be forgotten”.

Bhutto, in her remarks, underlined the particular toll on children. “The numbers we read in newspapers are fiction. More children have been killed in Gaza than in any other conflict. Israel has changed the nature of war. We talk about the children, not because we don’t mourn the men and women, but because there is a particular evil in a force that can turn off incubators, that can shoot children,” she said.

The event was described as more than a literary gathering — serving as a forum for solidarity and critical engagement. Attendees were urged to reflect on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the global responsibility to respond with empathy and action.

The private university said it would continue to foster dialogue on pressing global issues through academic programmes and public events, reaffirming its commitment to social equity and intellectual growth.