If I Must Die, Let It Bring Hope
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made,
flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.
Refaat Alareer
Refaat Alareer 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 co-founded the organization We Are Not Numbers, which matched experienced authors with young writers in Gaza, and promoted the power of storytelling as a means of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.
On 6 December 2023, Alareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, along with his brother, sister, and four of his nephews, during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Euro-Med Monitor released a statement saying that Alareer was apparently deliberately targeted, “surgically bombed out of the entire building”, and came after weeks of “death threats that Refaat received online and by phone from Israeli accounts.” On 26 April 2024, his eldest daughter and his newborn grandchild were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza City home.
This mural in Atlanta is based on Gianluca Constantini’s portrait of Refaait Alaeer, who wrote, “If I Must Die, Let It Bring Hope”.
“If I must die, let it bring hope. Let it be a tale.”
Refaat Alareer
I am truly excited about this mural that has been created in #Atlanta by the @refaatlibrary group, especially because it all started from my portrait of Refaat Alareer. Thank you to @fizapirani for involving me…
pic.twitter.com/4IARyanyOa
— Gianluca Costantini (@channeldraw) July 4, 2024
unflinching 