I have been haunted by a specific passage for almost two months now, ever since I read it. It’s a paragraph from Refaat Alareer’s beautiful essay “Gaza Asks: When Shall This Pass?” published in Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire. Reflecting on a lifetime of advocacy and his mantra, “this too shall pass,” Alareer writes:
I know that many Palestinians ask if more can be done, if free people can do more to prevent Israel from continuing to commit horrifying crimes against us. Can popular resistance, or armed struggle, or BDS, or pro-Palestine groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, or Black Lives Matter activists or indigenous struggle activists, do more to exert pressure and prevent further Israeli aggressions, to bring those Israeli war criminals to justice and to end their impunity? When will this pass? When will it be enough? How many dead Palestinians are enough? How many massacres are enough? (emphasis mine)
His words run through my mind with every photo, every video, every fresh horror broadcast from thousands of miles away, paid for by my tax dollars, endorsed by my government. Civilians are murdered, hospitals are bombed, poets are imprisoned, journalists are killed. There is no food or water.
A week ago, Refaat Alareer was killed, along with his brother, sister, and four nieces, by an Israeli bomb.
My congresspeople tell me they still support the state of Israel. They send more money, more weapons. I wonder: When will this pass? How many massacres are enough?
I’ve hesitated to write much since October. My voice feels unimportant, any words I have woefully insufficient. I’ve chosen to repost what others say instead, using my time to read and share and watch. But with Alareer’s death, as I revisit his essay and poems, I’m reminded of the power of words. I’m reminded of the power of stories, the power of hope.
So here is a story: Refaat Alareer was born in Gaza. As a child, his mother told him stories while they waited out the bombs. He fell in love with words. He dedicated his life to this love, to sharing it with his children, students, and readers. He retold his mother’s stories to distract his children from the sounds of missiles. A poet, essayist, professor, and fierce advocate for Palestine, I felt like I knew him for a few moments while I read his words.
You only write poems if you believe there’s a future in which they can be read – this is a dangerous act of hope. There is a reason libraries and universities have been destroyed in Gaza. There is a reason Palestinian writers have been targeted.
In his essay, Alareer goes on to write:
When I was approached to write for this book, the promise was that it will affect change and that policies, especially in the United States, will be improved. But, honestly, will they? Does a single Palestinian life matter? Does it?
Reader, as you peruse these chapters, what can or will you do, knowing that what you do can save lives and can change the course of history? Reader, will you make this matter?
Gaza is not and should not be a priority only when Israel is shedding Palestinian blood en masse. Gaza, as the epitome of the Palestinian Nakba, is suffocating and being butchered right in front of our eyes and often live on TV or on social media.
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.
It shall pass. Refaat Alaeer, I wish you could have lived to see the day it does. I will never forget you, as long as I live.
I wish I could say the same for every single Palestinian killed, not just since this October, but since the first Nakba, since the days of British rule before then. Yet, even if I do not know their names, I mourn their loss. I refuse to be hardened to their deaths. Each and every one is a fresh pain. This is our duty as witnesses.
We will make this matter.
We are not powerless, and we cannot be hopeless. The Biden administration has noticed the shift in public opinion, and know that continuing to ignore calls for a ceasefire will eventually become untenable. We must maintain pressure. We will not give up.
We will make this matter.
For action items + more information:
“First steps to stand for Palestinian freedom” from Jewish Voices for Peace
A script for calling your representatives
A template for emailing your representatives and another option
A masterpost of actions and further reading from Mizna
Information on targeted boycotts from the BDS movement
A reading list from Haymarket Books, many of which are available for free as ebooks, including Light in Gaza, plus an additional free ebook in collaboration with Verso
Free ebooks from Verso Books, plus a reading list, recommended blog entries, and a podcast episode at the bottom of the page
A reading list of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction created for Read Palestine Week
Free weekly films from the Palestine Film Institute
Voices on Palestine, a collection of writing published by Guernica Magazine