Book Talk- Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare

In this urgent and compelling book, Julie M. Norman and Maia Carter Hallward tell the story of Gaza from its early foundations, across decades of occupation, to the devastation of the ongoing war. Rather than focusing on elites or abstract politics, at the book's heart are ordinary Gazans - students, aid workers, journalists, and teachers - whose first-hand testimonies vividly illuminate the realities behind the headlines. Refusing to sensationalize or oversimplify, the book reckons with the legal, moral, and humanitarian debates surrounding Gaza, from war crimes investigations to the contested meaning of resistance and the politicization of aid. Combining a nuanced narrative with hard-hitting reflections from everyday Gazans, the book serves as a timely and necessary disruption of media cliches and political binaries, from the perspectives of Gaza's own people.

Dr. Julie M. Norman is an Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at University College London (UCL), the Director of UCL’s Israel-Palestine Initiative, and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. She is the author of Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare and many books and articles on conflict and peacebuilding in the Middle East, including The Palestinian Prisoners Movement and The Second Palestinian Intifada. She has worked with various NGOs in Israel-Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq, and she has provided expert insights to the UK Parliament, UK Foreign Office, UK Ministry of Defence, and US Department of State. She is a frequent commentator on the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, and Al Jazeera, and her insights have been featured in the Washington Post, The Guardian, The Independent, The Hill, and other outlets. She holds a PhD in International Relations from American University in Washington, DC.

Dr. Maia Carter Hallward holds a PhD in International Relations and has over twenty years of experience in the field of international peace and conflict resolution, including living and researching in fragile and conflict zones in the MENA region. She is the Director of the PhD Program in International Conflict Management and Professor of Middle East Politics at Kennesaw State University and served as executive editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. She is the author or co-author of nine books and dozens of articles on Middle East Politics, nonviolent resistance and civil society activism including NGOs and Human Rights (2021, with Charity Butcher), Transnational Activism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2013), Struggling for a Just Peace (2011) and the SAGE Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies (2025). She regularly serves as an external evaluator for research projects, has served on multiple grant award panels, and was a Fulbright Scholar for Conflict Resolution in Jordan.

This event is co-sponsored by American University's School of International Service's Peace, Human Rights, and Cultural Relations Department, Global Inquiry Department, as well as the Abdul Aziz Said Chair for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

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