Palestinians are Poets:

Nothing can break the spirit of the Palestinian People. They lead with their hearts. Here is just some of their art.

Ghassan Kanafi was an acclaimed Palestinian journalist, novelist, short story writer, and revolutionary. He was assassinated in 1972 by agents of the Mossad.

Refaat Alarear 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.

Just five weeks prior to his killing, he shared his poem titled "If I must die", and pinned it to 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 their own translations of his prophetic poem in to their local languages.

Click here for a collection of some of these dozens of heartfelt translations in memory and honor of Refaat Alareer, @itranslate123, and in support of the the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

let it be a tale.

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 Alarear

All your armies
All your fighters
All your tanks
And all your soldiers
Against the boy
Holding a stone 
Standing there
All alone
In his eyes
I see the sun
I see the moon
And I wonder
I only wonder
Who is weak and
Who is strong
Who is right and 
Who is wrong 
And I wish
I only wish
That the truth 
Has a tongue! 
- Ghassan Kanafi

SOURCE: @shaunking 🙏 Please read this beautiful, painful, poignant caption from the dear brother @ahmedhijazee

⁣Here are his words:⁣

I encountered a little girl whose life had been forever altered by the unceasing bombardment in Gaza. Tragically, she had lost her entire family in these attacks. Now an orphan, she carries an air of innocence, seemingly unaware of the grim reality that had befallen her, yet she always seems to miss them.⁣

During our time together, as we played, she shared with me that my name, Ahmad, was the same as her brother’s, who is now martyred. It was a poignant moment, connecting us in an unexpected and deeply emotional way. Her story, a stark reminder of the innocent lives affected by the ravages of conflict, stayed with me long after⁣.

In addition to her loss, I noticed she had very little in terms of personal belongings – her clothes were scant and worn. Feeling a sense of responsibility, I accompanied her to a local store to buy new clothes. It was during this simple act of shopping that she expressed a wish for something quite ordinary yet profoundly symbolic – an umbrella to shield her from the rain.⁣

⁣This wasn’t our first encounter. I had met her previously while I was at Al-Shifa Hospital, before she was displaced to the south. Each meeting with her reveals more layers of her resilience and innocence amidst the chaos surrounding her life. Her desire for an umbrella, in the midst of all her loss, struck me as a poignant reminder of the enduring spirit of hope and the need for protection in the face of life’s storms.⁣

⁣Every moment spent with Aya Abed, only 5 years old, is a lesson in resilience and hope, a reminder of the countless innocent lives touched by the shadow of Genocide .

we have witnessed children burying chilldren

while you celebrate as a so-called democractic state

you hide behind the wall cowardly

dropping bombs on women and children and call it part of your faith

even your hostages came home safe

saying goodbye to people with real faith

The truth is that you fear them

not because their stones match your weapons

but because their determination behind every swing surpasses your entire political wing

they face death with a smile while you hide from it

It’s ironic, in your pursuit of occupying Gaza, Gaza’s border expanded far beyond your reach.

The whole world is Gaza now and therefore Gaza will never be more to you than the conquered beach.

SOURCE: Anwar Yassar

You built a wall, isolate them from society

And then you dehumanize them

so that you can indoctrinate your whole population with anxiety

you control their electricity and food supplies

strategically depriving them from basic human rights

force the birth of resistance,

so you can call someone the bad guy

even though hamas was chosen democractically

you even supported them politically

and now you condemn them categorically

Al -Qaeda, The Taliban, and even Saddam was the same strategy

Create a problem secretly, and blame someone else publicly

your tricks is getting old, and your patterns is getting exposed

and you’ve lost control

you have murdered thousands of innocents

and 2MM are displaced

and your place is to erase.

Even the men on board Titanic, displayed more dignity

by evacuating women and children respectfully

SOURCE: @khaledbeyoun

Wael Al-Dahdouh’s words 24 hours after his final son died: Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

“Hamza was my everything and not a piece of me, he was my breath and my soul. 

And it came after I lost my wife, my son Mahmoud,  Hisham, Adam, my relatives, my colleague Samer.

But of course this price and this pain will not stop us from continuing on the road.  Of course, this is a difficult matter and not easy.  But as we said, we will not hesitate even for a moment and we will not stop for a moment as long as we are alive and as long as we are able to perform this duty.“

HIND'S HALL

Song by Macklemore

Lyrics

Woo
Yeah

The people, they won't leave
What is threatenin' about divesting and wantin' peace?
The problem isn't the protests, it's what they're protesting
It goes against what our country is funding (hey)
Block the barricade until Palestine is free (hey)
Block the barricade until Palestine is free
When I was seven, I learned a lesson from Cube and Eazy-E
What was it again? Oh yeah, fuck the police (woo)

Actors in badges protecting property
And a system that was designed by white supremacy (brrt)
But the people are in the streets
You can pay off Meta, you can't pay off me

Politicians who serve by any means
AIPAC, CUFI, and all the companies
You see, we sell fear around the land of the free
But this generation here is about to cut the strings

You can ban TikTok, take us out the algorithm
But it's too late, we've seen the truth, we bear witness
Seen the rubble, the buildings, the mothers and the children
And all the men that you murdered, and then we see how you spin it
Who gets the right to defend and who gets the right of resistance
Has always been about dollars and the color of your pigment, but
White supremacy is finally on blast
Screamin' "Free Palestine" 'til they're home at last (woo)

We see the lies in 'em
Claimin' it's antisemitic to be anti-Zionist
I've seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there
And ridin' in solidarity and screamin' "Free Palestine" with them
Organizin', unlearnin' and finally cuttin' ties with a state that's gotta rely on an apartheid system
To uphold an occupyin' violent history been repeating for the last 75
The Nakba never ended, the colonizer lied (woo)

If students in tents posted on the lawn
Occupyin' the quad is really against the law
And a reason to call in the police and their squad
Where does genocide land in your definition, huh? (Hey; hey)
Destroyin' every college in Gaza and every mosque
Pushin' everyone into Rafah and droppin' bombs
The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all
And fuck no, I'm not votin' for you in the fall (woo)

Undecided
You can't twist the truth, the people out here united
Never be defeated when freedom's on the horizon
Yet the music industry's quiet, complicit in their platform of silence (hey, woo)

What happened to the artist? What d'you got to say?
If I was on a label, you could drop me today
I'd be fine with it 'cause the heart fed my page
I want a ceasefire, fuck a response from Drake (woo)
What you willin' to risk? What you willin' to give?
What if you were in Gaza? What if those were your kids?
If the West was pretendin' that you didn't exist
You'd want the world to stand up and the students finally did, let's get it (woo)

Brrt
Woo