Dr. Refaat Alareer
We Christians know the power of a story. We’ve been known throughout history as the “people of the book,” and before we ever think analytically about theology, our world is shaped by stories of burning bushes, parting seas, and a man who proved death isn’t the end. But we’re not alone in this—everyone’s lives hang in a web of the stories we tell each other and ourselves.
One such storyteller was Dr. Refaat Alareer, a decorated professor of literature and creative writing who studied all around the world and taught at the Islamic University of Gaza. A poet and essayist, Refaat’s writing pulls me in like I’m sitting beside him, hanging on his every word—I’ve linked a couple of his essays and his now famous poem, “If I May Die,” below so you can see for yourself. He also had a passion for equipping Palestine’s youth with the skills to share their stories as well, and in 2015 co-founded the *We Are Not Numbers* project with the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor to help them do just that. He spent his life reflecting on and employing the power of stories to connect, inform, and impact the decisions we make. But he also recognized their shortcomings.
Two days ago, America’s leaders allowed Benjamin Netanyahu, the president of Israel and war criminal wanted for arrest by the International Criminal Court, to speak in the highest decision making room in America (and thereby, realistically, the world) : the US congress. He was given the highest platform he could be given, and was allowed to tell his story. So he told a story full of lies, fearmongering, and calls for continued American support of Israel’s genocide. “Give us the tools and we will finish the job faster,” is what he said, as back home in Gaza those very tools continued to fall on innocent men, women, and children.
Israel used one of these ‘tools’ to kill Refaat on December 6, 2023, in what Euro-Med Monitor called a targeted strike that “surgically bombed out the entire building” after receiving “weeks of death threats…online and by phone from Israeli accounts”. He died with his brother, sister, and four of his nephews. Four months later, on April 26, 2024, his eldest daughter and his newborn granddaughter were also killed using these ‘tools.’
Why should a war criminal get to tell his story to the most influential audience in the world, to thunderous applause no less, while Palestinians need to fight and literally die to share theirs? Why are so many so willing to believe a narrative of “a right to defend itself,” and “the only purely defensive military” and “acceptable casualties” but not the cries of mothers and fathers who have lost their children? Refaat once wrote:
“How many dead Palestinians are enough? As I write this I am exposed, naked and vulnerable. Reliving the horrors Israel brought on us is one thing, but disclosing your life and your most intimate moments of fear and terror, where you spill your heart out is another…the promise was that it will effect change and that policies, especially in the United States, will be improved. But, honestly, will they? Does a single Palestinian life matter? Does it?”
Stories must be in service of people, and we have been too complacent for too long with uncompassionate stories that hide the faces of our neighbours behind posturing and sales projections. We need to choose better stories, and we need to stop letting war criminals speak in congress.
If we believe a single Palestinian life does matter, it is our responsibility to act like it.
Prayer Requests:
With your heart: Pray for what few members of Refaat’s family survive, that they may be safe and see a ceasefire soon.
Pray for all those in Gaza with a story to tell, that they may have the safety to share them and that we may have ears to listen and hands to act.
Pray for members of the US Congress, and leaders around the world, that they may choose to listen to more compassionate stories and be moved to justice
With your voice: Choose a story or poem from We Are Not Numbers that speaks to you and talk about it with a friend
With your hands: Donate to one of many We Are Not Numbers participants’ fundraisers (link in bio)
“In The Face of Lifelong Terror, Gaza Speaks Truth To Power” essay by Dr. Refaat Alareer (where the quote in the third last paragraph came from)
“If I Must Die” poem by Dr. Refaat Alareer (read this to see why I chose the symbol of a kite for his portrait)
“My Child Asks, ‘Can Israel Destroy Our Building if the Power Is Out?’” essay by Dr. Refaat Alareer
Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine, Edited by Refaat Alareer
Linked in text: