The ‘Red Colour’ that Cracks Children’s Souls: A Glimpse of Life in the ‘Otef Gaza’ in Israeli Children’s Books

Abstract

This article aims to show children’s books written about children who is living in the Israeli Gaza envelop Since 2001, the residents of the Otef Gaza have lived under the shadow of a continuous security threat, during which five rounds of fighting took place. ‘Red Colour’ is a code name for an alarm that signals people to enter a protected space (shelter). About 20 children’s books have been written on this subject, which allows young readers to examine complex realities through the experiences of literary characters and to engage in cognitive and emotional processing without being directly exposed to the experiences. The research methodology is based on a hermeneutic analysis, which examines the social and cultural processes. Three themes emerge which emphasize the poetic dimension of the use of the concept of the color ‘red’: (1) the symbolic dimension of the concept of “red colour” and (2) the transition from a state of routine to a state of emergency.