martedì 29 luglio 2025
Thanks to the many relationships established between associations and informal groups, and in particular to the collaboration between the Girogirotondo cultural centre for peace in Vittorio Veneto and Assopace Palestina Venezia, a project was launched in December 2024 with Ramadan Elnajeli, a small publisher in Gaza. Israeli raids, first in 2021 and then in 2023, did not spare the home, shop and workshop of this small Gazan publisher.
Ramadan, who had been displaced “only” four times, despite living in a makeshift tent, received a printing commission from a group of volunteers. This request was enough to rekindle his hope, allowing him to repair an old rusty printer found in the rubble and use it to start printing again, under bombs and drones, fairy tales that he would later give to the children of the Khan Younis refugee camp (south of Gaza) to “give them a few moments of serenity”.
But paper and ink were expensive and still are, costing exorbitant and unsustainable amounts.
This led to the idea of asking Ramadan to send us the file for one of these stories: “Going to the Market”. We decided to translate it from Arabic into Italian and English and print it thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Roberto Da Re Giustiniani – Kellermann publisher, who offered his services free of charge: “among us small publishers, it is vital to help each other in difficult times”. A fairy tale that would tell Ramadan's story and raise funds to cover his expenses, which are now unsustainable due to the war.
It was a quick and, frankly, unexpected success!
Meanwhile, at the request of a group of teachers from a school in the Khan Younis refugee camp, Ramadan began printing school textbooks for primary, middle and high school students and university students. In fact, it may seem incredible, but at the beginning of autumn 2024, even in precarious conditions, many schools in Gaza managed to reopen under tents! The textbooks were therefore an essential support for teaching activities, and the children could not be deprived of them.
To date, thanks to funds received from Italy, Ramadan has already printed and distributed over 3,000 school textbooks free of charge to various schools in Gaza. And the project continues...
Ramadan's story has recently been enriched by another completely unexpected event. Thanks to Assopace Palestina Venezia, the Marango Monastery put Ramadan in touch with Maysa Yousef, who also lives in the Gaza Strip. Overcoming the difficulties and dangers caused by the war, Ramadan managed to bring her stationery supplies for the children in her art therapy workshop. A truly remarkable gesture of solidarity and extraordinary courage!
read more about Maysa and her art project with children in Gaza
A PALESTINIAN FAIRY TALE
This book translates one of the fairy tales that the small Palestinian publisher Ramadan Elnajeli prints for the children of Gaza. We would like to create an involvement that goes beyond solidarity and connects empathetically with those who read or listen to these simple stories in a dilapidated shed, under a tent, around a fire, while bombs continue to fall.
With the proceeds from this book, we support Ramadan, through Assopace Palestina, in purchasing school books for the girls and boys of Gaza.
The book is also available at the Monastery of Marango.
THEY SPOKE ABOUT IT:
- Assopace Palestina — 22 december 2024
- Il Fatto Quotidiano — 9 january 2025
- Vanity Fair — 29 january 2025
- Terra santa.net — 11 february 2025
- LA7 - In other words - Episode of 1 February 2025 — Ramadan and books at 1:55:14
