Palestinian poet Dr. Refaat Alareer killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
Palestinian poet, writer, literature professor, and activist Dr. Refaat Alareer was killed in an Israeli airstrike, announced on Thursday evening.
“My heart is broken, my friend and colleague Refaat Alareer was killed with his family a few minutes ago,” wrote his friend, the Gazan poet, Mosab Abu Toha.
Breaking, my heart is broken, my friend & colleague Refaat AlAreer was killed with his family minutes ago.
— Mosab Abu Toha (@MosabAbuToha) December 7, 2023
Refaat is a university professor & writer & editor.
I don’t want to believe this. We both loved to pick strawberries together. I took this photo of him this summer. pic.twitter.com/8OoZ7lN0Lq
The Israeli airstrike also killed his brother, his sister, and four of her children. He is now survived by his wife, Nusayba, and their children.
Dr. Alareer was one of the leading contemporary authors in Gaza who settled on writing in English to tell stories of the besieged strip. He was one of the most prominent voices conveying details of the atrocities Israel is committing to global audiences.
He had been working as a professor of literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza since 2007.
His other contributions included co-editing Gaza Unsilenced (2015) and being editor of Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine (2014).
Dan Sheehan quotes in LitHub that in his contribution to the 2022 collection Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, titled “Gaza Asks: When Shall this Pass?”, Refaat writes:
“It shall pass, I keep hoping. It shall pass, I keep saying. Sometimes I mean it. Sometimes I don’t. And as Gaza keeps gasping for life, we struggle for it to pass, we have no choice but to fight back and to tell her stories. For Palestine.”
He was also one of the founders of We Are Not Numbers, a nonprofit organisation founded in Gaza following the 2014 Israeli attack and devoted himself to establishing “a new generation of Palestinian writers and thinkers who can bring together a profound change to the Palestinian cause.”
In November, Alareer published a poem on X entitled “If I must die” that was shared tens of thousands of times. It concludes with the words: “If I must die, let it bring hope, let it be a tale.”
If I must die, let it be a tale. #FreePalestine #Gaza pic.twitter.com/ODPx3TiH1a
— Refaat in Gaza 🇵🇸 (@itranslate123) November 1, 2023
Via his X (formerly Twitter) account, “Refaat in Gaza“, Dr. Alareer also openly condemned Israeli atrocities being committed in Gaza and was also vocal against the US who has been supporting Israel in its operations.
Refaat Alareer, Palestinian writer and reporter from Gaza, before he was killed along with his family: "If I get killed by Israeli bombs or my family is harmed, I blame Bari Weiss and her likes." pic.twitter.com/OZecUDz4y2
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) December 7, 2023
“My message to the free people of the world is to move, to pressure, to mobilize and take to the streets…People in Gaza want to be safe, we don’t want to be killed.”
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) December 7, 2023
Palestinian academic and activist Refaat Alareer spoke to Democracy Now in Oct. He was killed today by Israel. pic.twitter.com/PdspIK7Bkn
Remembering Refaat
The announcement of Dr. Refaat Alareer’s death evoked a cascade of sorrow and anguish across social media, shared by his friends, colleagues, former students, and followers:
I've just learned that Dr. Refaat Alareer, along with several family members, has been murdered in an Israeli airstrike.
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) December 7, 2023
I'm in tears and sick to my stomach as I write this.
I had the great honor to spend time with Refaat during my time in Gaza, including harvesting olives with… pic.twitter.com/UYV3ahkQXi
I can’t believe I’m writing this. I can’t believe I’m making this post.
— Zarefah Baroud (@ZarefahBaroud) December 8, 2023
Our beloved Dr. Refaat Alareer has been killed by an Israeli air strike.
Alhamdulillah that I had the blessing of meeting you and becoming your friend. pic.twitter.com/7HarKmipMQ
I've known Refaat Alareer (@itranslate123) since I was 17. He taught me my first English writing course. More than a teacher, he was a mentor, a friend, and he truly cared about his students beyond the classroom. His passion was the English language, but he didn't teach it as a… pic.twitter.com/bseUxnCBNo
— Jehad Abusalim جهاد أبو سليم (@JehadAbusalim) December 7, 2023
"Israel is going to kill us anyways. Israel wants us kneeling… So why not fight back and die in dignity?" 💔
— Fahad Desmukh (@desmukh) December 8, 2023
Dr Refaat Alareer, one of the most articulate voices from Gaza on social media, was murdered by Israel in an airstrike yesterday. This was him speaking on BBC on Oct 8👇 https://t.co/q7rrhKJAUf
Refaat Alareer was killed by @Israel today.
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) December 7, 2023
In his recent interview in October,
"There is no way out of Gaza. What should we do… drown? Commit mass suicide? Is this what Israel wants? And we're not going to do that.. I am an academic, Probably the toughest thing I have at… https://t.co/Ruoilvq3pF pic.twitter.com/Q1QytMiZYx
This was the last time Refaat Alareer joined us on the EI livestream, day 55, a week ago. pic.twitter.com/TCKxoAp1i2
— Electronic Intifada (@intifada) December 8, 2023