Dr Refaat Alareer + Marziya Mohammedali
Marziya Mohammedali 2023
A white paper kite with the words 'If I must die/ let it bring hope/let it be a tale' - Dr Refaat Alareer lies against concrete steps.
This poem was pinned to Dr Refaat Alareer's X/Twitter account on the 1st November 2023.
The first image is of a kite with a Palestinian flag flying across a blue sky. The second image shows many many kites of various colours being flown in a blue sky by many people on a beach.
We have cross posted from his blog of 27/11/2011 In Gaza, My Gaza!
In About Me on his blog, he writes:
'We have come to realise that it is through words and writing that the Zionist movement managed to occupy Palestine well before the actual infiltration that ended in occupying the whole land of Palestine killing and displacing millions of Palestinian unarmed civilians. So, we decided to Write Back. We endeavour to use all efforts and pens and to gather all material there is that helps promote our cause to enlighten both ourselves and all the peoples of the world'. In Gaza, My Gaza!
Dr Refaat Alareer is a professor of world literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza, a writer, mentor, activist and poet, 'proffessor of a generation' says Mosan Abu Toha. He co-founded “We Are Not Numbers” a not-profit organisation launched in the aftermath of Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza. The organisation’s mission is to foster a new generation of Palestinian writers and thinkers.
He is a regular contributor to Electronic Intifada. Dr Alareer edited the anthology Gaza Writes Back: Short stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine in 2014, co-edited Gaza Unsilenced with Laila El Haddad in 2015 and contributed to the anthology Light in Gaza: Writing Born of Fire edited by Jehad Abusalim, 2022.
Dr Refaat Alareer called 'the Darwish of Gaza' by Mosab Abu Toha was murdered in a targetted Israeli bombing on Wednesday, December 6 along with his brother, sister and four of her children.
Marziya Mohammedali is a photographer, designer, artist, educator, and researcher. They document activism movements and work for social justice through a multidisciplinary creative practice. They are the Deputy Editor (and previously were Arts Editor/Creative Director) of Jalada Africa: A Pan-African Writers Collective, and have performed and exhibited their work internationally. They have also had extensive experience in the tertiary education sector, teaching undergraduate, postgraduate coursework and research students. They have also been involved in multiple projects to support research students and supervisors since 2010. They are currently undertaking a PhD focusing on identity, activism and photography, at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.
