Before the Flood
A Gaza Family Memoir Across Three Generations of Colonial Invasion, Occupation, and War in Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud frames his history of Palestine through three generations of his own family—from village life in Beit Daras before the Nakba, to May 2025, at which point Israel's latest war on Palestinians had killed at least 52,000 people and wounded 118,000, nearly all of Gaza in rubble. It has been said that all art aspires to be music. Baroud's symphony of voices—joyful, proud, brave, unyielding voices—shows a history of Zionism within its violent, colonial context, and how even after repeated periods of genocide, the Palestinian people have endured over and over again. The stories Baroud brings to light through incredible sacrifice from family members who, even today, live and have died in Gaza while being chased by Israeli armaments, are nothing short of astonishing. As Ramzy writes: "The Palestinian people will eventually win their freedom because they have invested in a long-term trajectory of ideas, memories, and communal aspirations. . . if the oppressed, the Indigenous of the land, are not fully vanquished, they will rise, resist, fight, and win back their freedom."
300 pages
Published Feb 16, 2026 by Seven Stories Press
Political Science - World - Middle Eastern
Political Science - Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
History - Middle East - Israel & Palestine