The renowned poet and literature professor RefaatAlareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City alongside his brother, sister, and nephews in December 2023. He was just forty-four years old, but had already established a worldwide reputation that was further enhanced when, in the wake of his death, the poem that gives this book its title became a global sensation. If I Must Die is included here, alongside Refaats other poetry.Refaat wrote extensively about a range of topics: teaching Shakespeare and the way Shylock could be appreciated by young Palestinian students; the horrors of living under repeated brutal assaults in Gaza, one of which, in 2014, killed another of his brothers; and the generosity of Palestinians to each other, fighting, in the face of it all, to be the one paying at the supermarket checkout.Such pieces, some never before published, have been curated here by one of Refaats closest friends and collaborators. This collection forms a fitting testament to a remarkable writer, educator, and activist, one whose voice will not be silenced by death but will continue to assert the power of learning and humanism in the face of barbarity.#1 onCounterPunchs Top 15 Books of 2024 Listed Among the Top 10 Books of 2024 byThe New ArabListed in USA TodayBestseller ListAlareers personality and character, his erudition, humor and compassion . . . flood this book.Jenny Lewis, Oxford UniversityThe poems and pieces in this book are present, profound, and ultimately, for the reader, catalysing. They stand witness to a human who was full of insight, intelligence, and empathy, with a heart that, in these pieces, has the power to transcend all borders. Utterly inspiring.Buzz Mag Refaat Alareer gained his PhD with a dissertation on the poetry of John Donne. He taught English Literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, now destroyed. He is the editor of two collections of writing by his students, Gaza Writes Back and Gaza Unsilenced (both published by Just World Books). His journalism featured in The New York Times, and he appeared on the BBC, ABC News, and Democracy Now. He was a volunteer at the Gaza Zoo. If I Must Die, Let It Be a TaleIf I must die,you must liveto tell my storyto sell my thingsto buy a piece of clothand some strings,(make it white with a long tail)so that a child, somewhere in Gazawhile looking heaven in the eyeawaiting his dad who left in a blazeand bid no one farewellnot even to his fleshnot even to himselfsees the kite, my kite you made, flying up aboveand thinks for a moment an angel is therebringing back loveIf I must dielet it bring hopelet it be a tale*My grandmother would tell me to put on a heavy sweater because it would rain. And it would rain! She, like all Palestinian elderly, had a unique sense, an understanding of the earth, wind, trees, and rain. The elderly knew when to pick olives for pickling or for oil. I was always envious of that.Sorry, Grandma. We have instead become attuned to the vagaries of war. This heavy guest visits us uninvited, unwelcomed, and undesired, perches on our chests and breaths, and then claims the lives of many, in the hundreds and thousandsDeath and war. War and Death. These two are persona non grata, yet we cant force them to leave. To let us be.*Over the WallThere, points Grandma.She had a tent that was a home.She had a goat and a camel.She had a rake and a fork and a trowel.She had a machete and a watering can.She had a grove and two hundred plants.She had a child and another one and another one.***There, she insists.I could not seeBecause of the wall.I could not hearBecause of the noise.I could not smellBecause of the powder.***But I can always tell,I am sure of GrandmaWho always wasAnd is stillAnd will always be.She smells like soil.And smiles like soil.And blinks like soilWhen touched by rain.***She has a house that is a tentShe has a keyAnd a memory.She has a hopeAnd two hundred offspring.***Grandma is hereBut lives there.Over there!*Im an academic. Probably the toughest thing I have at home is an Expo marker. But if the Israelis invade, if the paratroopers charge at us, going from door to door, to massacre us, I am going to use that marker to throw it at the Israeli soldiers, even if that is the last thing that I do.Take a look inside