The New Dark Age

For 17 months, the world has stood by asPalestinians in Gaza have documented, largely on social media, a war of annihilation being waged against them by Israel with the full backing of the U.S. government and most Western nations. More than 200 media workers have been killed since October 7, almost all of them Palestinians. Israel has blocked unembedded journalists from entering the besieged Strip. As the people of Gaza have fought against insurmountable challenges in their effort to document and broadcast the horrors to the world, they have faced not only bombs and bullets, but pervasive censorship by social media companies resulting in the erasure of their documentation of this war. Despite these challenges—and the sporadic and unreliable access to the internet in a Gaza under siege—Palestinian archivists, media workers, historians, and others have fought diligently to not only store vital evidence but to preserve memory. And they do so while trapped in a killing cage.

Lila Hassan—an independent journalist whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize and the George Polk Award—came to Drop Site with the gripping story of Palestinians in Gaza who have risked their lives on a mission to thoroughly document the horrors and vast destruction unleashed by Israel over the past 17 months. The archivists abroad who have stepped in to preserve their work risk arrest and intimidation, and have no international support. This story is a long read, but one we believe is well worth your time.

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