{"id":1254,"date":"2024-03-20T12:53:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T16:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aachips.co\/?p=1254"},"modified":"2024-03-20T12:53:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T16:53:47","slug":"refaat-alareer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aachips.co\/blog\/refaat-alareer\/","title":{"rendered":"If I must die – Refaat Alareer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Refaat Alareer was a Palestinian writer, poet, translator, university professor and activist from the occupied Gaza Strip. On December 6, 2023, he was murdered by an Israeli airstrike along with his brother, sister and their children in Israel’s ongoing genocidal siege of Gaza of 2023.<\/p>\n

Just five weeks prior to his killing, he shared his poem titled “If I must die”, and\u00a0pinned it<\/a>\u00a0to his Twitter profile. Amidst the outpouring of grief, as news of his death spread online, many people from around the world paid tribute to Refaat by offering\u00a0their own translations<\/a>\u00a0of his prophetic poem in to their local languages.<\/p>\n

This website is a collection of some of these dozens of heartfelt translations in memory and honor of Refaat Alareer,\u00a0@itranslate123<\/a>, and in support of the the Palestinian struggle for liberation.<\/p>\n

let it be a tale<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If I must die<\/h3>\n
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by\u00a0Refaat Alareer<\/a>\u00a0(1979 – 2023)<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

If I must die,<\/p>\n

you must live<\/p>\n

to tell my story<\/p>\n

to sell my things<\/p>\n

to buy a piece of cloth<\/p>\n

and some strings,<\/p>\n

(make it white with a long tail)<\/p>\n

so that a child, somewhere in Gaza<\/p>\n

while looking heaven in the eye<\/p>\n

awaiting his dad who left in a blaze\u2013<\/p>\n

and bid no one farewell<\/p>\n

not even to his flesh<\/p>\n

not even to himself\u2013<\/p>\n

sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above<\/p>\n

and thinks for a moment an angel is there<\/p>\n

bringing back love<\/p>\n

If I must die<\/p>\n

let it bring hope<\/p>\n

let it be a tale<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n