Refaat Alareer

Extended-protected article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Innisfree987 (talk | contribs) at 08:35, 9 December 2023 (→‎Personal life and death: wl). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Refaat Alareer
رفعت العرعير
Born(1979-09-23)23 September 1979
Shuja'iyya, Gaza City, Gaza strip
Died6 December 2023(2023-12-06) (aged 44)
Gaza Strip
Cause of deathIsraeli airstrike
OccupationProfessor
Known forActivism
Children6
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineEnglish Literature
InstitutionsIslamic University in Gaza
Notable worksGaza Writes Back (2014)
Gaza Unsilenced (2015)

Refaat Alareer (Arabic: رفعت العرعير; 23 September 1979 – 6 December 2023) was a Palestinian writer, poet, professor, and activist from the Gaza Strip. He taught literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza and cofounded the organization We Are Not Numbers, which matched experienced authors with young writers in Gaza.

Early life and education

Refaat Alareer was born in 1979 in Shuja'iyya in Gaza City.[1] Growing up in Gaza, he said, meant "every move I took and every decision I made were influenced (usually negatively) by the Israeli occupation."[1]

Alareer earned a BA in English in 2001 from the Islamic University of Gaza and an MA from University College of London in 2007.[1] He earned a Ph.D. in English Literature at the Universiti Putra Malaysia.[2]

Career

Alareer edited two volumes of Palestinian short stories, Gaza Unsilenced (2015) and Gaza Writes Back (2014). In an interview, Alareer stated, "Gaza Writes Back was an attempt to provide a testimony for future generations."[3] In 2007,[4] Alareer became a professor at Islamic University in Gaza, where he taught world literature and creative writing.[5][6] This included the work of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, which he called beautiful but dangerous.[6] He co-founded the organization We Are Not Numbers,[7] a mentorship program that matches writers in Gaza with authors abroad.[8]

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Alareer made media appearances on the BBC, Democracy Now!, and ABC News.[9][10][11] In the immediate aftermath of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, he described the attack as "legitimate and moral" and said it was "exactly like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising".[12] He also rejected the sexual violence allegations against Hamas after the October 7 attack as lies used to "justify the Gaza genocide."[13][14]

Personal life and death

If I must die

If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

Refaat Alareer[13][15]

Alareer and his wife had six children, including daughters, Amal (~8 years), and Linah (~10 years).[16] In the 2014 Gaza War Israel killed both his brother Hamada, and his wife Nusayba's grandfather, brother, sister and her sister's three children.[16] During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Alareer wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in which he recounted that he and his wife had lost more than 30 relatives.[16]

Refaat Alareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 7 December 2023. He was 44. His brother Salah with son Mohammed, and his sister Asmaa with three of her children (Alaa, Yahia, and Mohammed), were also among those killed in the same airstrike.[17][18][7]

Euro-Med Monitor released a statement saying that it appeared that Alareer was deliberately targeted, saying that the apartment Alareer was in with his family was "surgically bombed out of the entire building where it's located, according to corroborated eyewitness and family accounts. This came after weeks of death threats that Refaat received online and by phone from Israeli accounts."[17]

In his last interview before being killed, with the sound of Israeli bombs exploding in the background, Alareer said he felt helpless and that, while he had no weapons, he would defend himself if the IDF were to come to his house.[19][20]

Tributes

The founder of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Monitor), Ramy Abdu, stated Israeli soldiers "targeted, went after and killed the voice of Gaza, one of its best academics, a human, my dear and precious friend."[21]

Poet Mosab Abu Toha wrote "My heart is broken, my friend and colleague Refaat Alareer was killed with his family".[12]

Palestinian-American professor Sami Al-Arian noted "He was an amazing poet, an articulate voice for Gazans, and a true bridge to people outside Palestine. His loss will be missed by many inside Palestine and around the world".[19]

Works

Edited collections

  • 2014: Gaza Writes Back, ISBN 978-1-93598-2-357
    • translated in Italian: Gaza writes back. Racconti di giovani autori e autrici da Gaza, Palestina, ISBN 978-8-89410-6-909
  • 2015: Gaza Unsilenced, ISBN 978-1-93598-2-555

Essays

PhD thesis

References

  1. ^ a b c "Renaat Alareer: Living under Israeli occupation". ANF News. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Refaat Alareer". American Friends Service Committee. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  3. ^ "The Story Behind 'Gaza Writes Back'". Palestine Chronicle. 21 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Poet and scholar Refaat Alareer has been killed by an Israeli airstrike". Literary Hub. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Refaat Alareer". Palestine Book Awards. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b Kingsley, Patrick (16 November 2021). "In Gaza, a Contentious Palestinian Professor Calmly Teaches Israeli Poetry". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Sheehan, Dan (7 December 2023). "Poet and scholar Refaat Alareer has been killed by an Israeli airstrike". Literary Hub. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Palestinian Poet Refaat Alareer Killed In Gaza Strike". Barrons. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Refaat Alareer in Gaza: Israel's "Barbaric" Bombardment Is Part of Ethnic Cleansing Campaign". Democracy Now!. 10 October 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Refaat Alareer remarks on Gaza hospital blast". ABC News. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  11. ^ Greyman-Kennard, Danielle (8 October 2023). "Hamas terror against Israel like 'Warsaw Ghetto uprising', says BBC guest". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Refaat Alareer: Palestinians mourn writer killed in air strike". BBC. BBC News. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  13. ^ a b AFP (8 December 2023). "Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer killed in Gaza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  14. ^ Zaanoun, Adel. "Tributes Pour In For Controversial Palestinian Poet Killed In Gaza". Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  15. ^ Alareer, Refaat [@itranslate123] (1 November 2023). "If I must die, let it be a tale. #FreePalestine #Gaza" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ a b c Alareer, Refaat (13 May 2021). "My Child Asks, 'Can Israel Destroy Our Building if the Power Is Out?'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Israeli Strike on Refaat al-Areer Apparently Deliberate". Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Tributes pour in for Gaza's 'most prominent' academic, killed in Israeli attack". Al Jazeera. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  19. ^ a b Sofuoglu, Murat (8 December 2023). "Who is Refaat Alareer, Palestinian poet, writer and academic?". Who is Refaat Alareer, Palestinian poet, writer and academic?. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  20. ^ Desk, TN World (8 December 2023). "Who Was Dr. Refaat Alareer? Palestinian Poet and Scholar Killed by Israeli Airstrike". TimesNow. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  21. ^ Joseph Stepansky and Farah Najjar (7 December 2023). "Israel-Hamas war updates: Gaza faces heavy Israeli bombardment". Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Refaat_Alareer&oldid=1189040532"