If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose

This rich, elegiac compilation of work from the late Palestinian poet and professor, Refaat Alareer, brings together his marvelous poetry and deeply human writing about literature, teaching, politics, and family. “Offering a deeply personal window on Israeli violence in Gaza, this shouldn’t be missed.” —Publishers Weekly “Refaat left us, but his word must not.” —Mosab Abu Toha The renowned poet and literature professor Refaat Alareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City alongside his brother, sister, and nephews in December 2023. He was just forty-four years old, but had already established a worldwide reputation that was further enhanced when, in the wake of his death, the poem that gives this book its title became a global sensation. “If I Must Die” is included here, alongside Refaat’s other poetry. Refaat wrote extensively about a range of topics: teaching Shakespeare and the way Shylock could be appreciated by young Palestinian students; the horrors of living under repeated brutal assaults in Gaza, one of which, in 2014, killed another of his brothers; and the generosity of Palestinians to each other, fighting, in the face of it all, to be the one paying at the supermarket checkout. Such pieces, some never before published, have been curated here by one of Refaat’s closest friends and collaborators. This collection forms a fitting testament to a remarkable writer, educator, and activist, one whose voice will not be silenced by death but will continue to assert the power of learning and humanism in the face of barbarity. Refaat Alareer gained his PhD with a dissertation on the poetry of John Donne. He taught English Literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, now destroyed. He is the editor of two collections of writing by his students, Gaza Writes Back and Gaza Unsilenced (both published by Just World Books). His journalism featured in The New York Times, and he appeared on the BBC, ABC News, and Democracy Now. He was a volunteer at the Gaza Zoo. Contents Foreword Introduction A Modest Proposal (2010) Israel’s Power of the Camera: Gaza’s Power of Gaza (2010) Tragedy in One Sentence (2011) Gaza Mourns Vittorio Arrigoni (2011) If I Must Die, Let It Be a Tale (2011) I Was Mustafa Tamimi (2011) Mustafa’s Only Care (2011) On a Drop of Rain (2014) O, Earth (Land Day Poem) (2012) Narrating Palestine (2014) The Story of My Brother, Martyr Mohammed Alareer (2014) When Will Dad Come Back? (2015) Over the Wall (2012) Israel’s Killer Bureaucracy (2016) And We Live On . . . (2012) No Justice for Gaza Youth Killed in Viral Video (2016) When I Stoop (2012) Haunted by the Horrors of Cast Lead (2018) Mom (2012) “Every Palestinian Was a Target” (2018) O’Live Tree (2012) An Introduction to Poetry (2021) My Child Asks, “Can Israel Destroy Our Building If the Power Is Out?” (2021) I Am You (2012) Gaza Asks: When Shall This Pass? (2022) Freshly Baked Souls (2012) Without Consequences, Israel Will Continue to Murder Palestinians (2022) To Our Friend in Letters Dareen Tatour (2018) Raising Children Under Israel’s Bombs (2022) They Even Keep Our Corpses: Dying in Israeli Prisons (2023) Spyware Exposé Lets Israel Off the Hook (2023) 2023: A War Against Everything Al-Aqsa Flood, Day 3 (October 9) Al-Aqsa Flood, Day 7 (October 13) Death 247 in Gaza (October 14) In Gaza, We Have Grown Accustomed to War (October 19) Israel Bombed My Home Without Warning (October 22) The Five Stages of Coping with War in Gaza (October 23) Al-Aqsa Flood, Day 20 (October 26) What It’s Like When Israel Bombs Your Building (October 27) Israel’s Claims of “Terrorist Activity” In a Children’s Hospital Were Lies (November 19) Drenched (November 28) On the Resilience of the Palestinian Community (published December 11) I Teach English Poetry (published December 11) Permissions