Last week, MECA staff in Gaza joined our partner in celebrating the re-opening of the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza City, the library’s team described it as “rising from the ashes.”

The library branches in Gaza were targeted and destroyed with Israeli airstrikes, not once but twice; first time in 2024 and then again in 2025 after the library’s team rebuilt it again in the midst of the ongoing genocide.

Doaa receives a group of schoolgirls at the Edward Said Library in Gaza before the start of the genocide

Yet this re-opening in 2026 was a bittersweet moment as it comes after Israel’s genocidal attacks killed Doaa Al-Masri, the former librarian, in early 2024.

Doaa and her family were killed 64 days into the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. We were and we remain infuriated and heartbroken by this loss.

Doaa was not just one role; in addition to being the librarian, she also volunteered in many other projects. During each Israeli attack on Gaza, she joined her colleagues at MECA partner Youth Vision Society in procuring, packing, and delivering emergency aid to children and families. Just a week before her death, in the midst of intense Israeli attacks, she joined two other volunteers to provide warm clothes to children in northern Gaza.

And as we move forward with building and growing the ESPL to provide a space for Palestinian children in Gaza to read, to learn, and to come together to heal; we’ll always honor the legacy of the precious souls that made dreams like the Edward Said Public Library become a reality.

And as our partner’s has described it:

“We refuse to despair. We rise again to rebuild the Edward Said Public Library, to restore hope, culture, and humanity.”

Donate to the ESPL directly here: www.mecaforpeace.org/espl