4 February 2025
Refaat Alareer: A Voice That Could Not Be Silenced
Fourteen months ago, the renowned Palestinian poet, writer, and academic, Dr. Refaat Alareer, was tragically killed in an Israeli airstrike on December 6, 2023, in northern Gaza, alongside his brother Salah, sister Asma, and four other relatives.
“If I must die, let it bring hope.” These words, written by Dr Refaat Alareer, encapsulated the essence of his defiance, his belief in resistance, and his unwavering commitment to Palestinian liberation. A poet, professor, and one of the most powerful voices of Palestinian resistance, he was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 6 December 2023.
Months later, after a long and agonising search, his body was found in a makeshift grave, alongside his family members who were also killed in the attack. He has now been reinterred at the Ibn Marwan Cemetery near Al-Shujaiya—the neighbourhood where he was born, lived, and now rests.
Alareer was more than a writer. He was an educator who dedicated his life to amplifying Palestinian narratives, challenging the erasure of his people, and exposing the brutal reality of Israel’s occupation. He taught English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza and co-founded We Are Not Numbers, a programme that mentored young Palestinian writers and connected them with international authors. He edited Gaza Writes Back (2014), co-edited Gaza Unsilenced (2015), and left behind a posthumously published collection, If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose (2024), which became a bestseller. His words, both in poetry and prose, documented the suffering, resilience, and resistance of Palestinians under siege.
On 8 October 2023, during a BBC interview, Alareer’s clarity in articulating the Palestinian struggle was on full display. The interview began with Naftali Bennett, former Israeli Prime Minister, who declared, “A home, a school, a hospital that hosts terrorists is not a home, it’s not a school or a hospital, it’s a terror base.” His statement dehumanised Palestinian civilian spaces, justifying their destruction. The interviewer did not challenge this assertion. Instead, they turned to Alareer with a cold, disinterested tone: “Now to Refaat Alareer, who is a Palestinian writer and educator, and a resident of Gaza City, welcome to you. Tell us what is happening where you are?”
Alareer was a man under bombardment, sheltering with his family as Israel pounded Gaza. Yet the interviewer’s detachment made it seem as though they were asking for a weather report.
His response was cutting:
“What is happening is that an Israeli official is inciting genocide against Palestinian natives in the Gaza Strip, and the BBC is feeding him thoughts, perhaps suggesting taking control of the Gaza Strip. This is what is going on. The Western mainstream media is complicit, whitewashing Israeli crimes … The war criminal before me was suggesting bombing schools, homes, and hospitals, and you said not a word to push back against that.”
His words stripped away the veneer of neutrality that Western media often claim. He laid bare the reality: Palestinians had been under occupation for over 75 years, forced to pay the price for European racism, antisemitism, and the historical crimes of colonial powers.
“We know Israel is going to kill us anyway. We are starving, we are besieged, we are being dispossessed, we are being displaced. Israel wants us kneeling. And Israel chooses to kill us when it wants to kill us. So why not fight back and die in dignity? You can’t oppress occupied people for about 100 years and not expect people to react to defend their very existence.”
Alareer did not just speak for himself; he spoke for all Palestinians who had been forced to endure generations of violence, exile, and death. He called out the hypocrisy of the West, which arms and funds Israel while condemning Palestinian resistance. He spoke of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners, the stolen land, the colonial legacy of the Balfour Declaration.
Two months later, Israel assassinated him. On 6 December 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed Alareer, along with his brother Salah, Salah’s son Mohammed, his sister Asmaa, and her three children: Alaa, Yahia, and Mohammed. Then, on 26 April 2024, another Israeli bombing took the life of his eldest daughter, Shaimaa, her husband Mohammed Siyam, and their newborn baby.
Alareer knew the risks of speaking out. He knew the price of resisting occupation. And yet, he refused to be silent. Even in death, his words remain.
His legacy is not just in the books he published, the students he mentored, or the interviews he gave. His legacy lives on in the unwavering spirit of Palestinians who continue to fight for freedom.
“If I must die, let it bring hope.”
Refaat Alareer did not just bring hope—he ensured that his people’s voices would never be silenced.
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