Remembering Refaat Alareer: Poet, Historian, and Voice for Palestine
Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian poet and educator, used his writing to narrate the Palestinian experience and resist Israeli occupation. His posthumous collection, "If I Must Die," published a year after his death in an Israeli airstrike, includes essays, poems, and criticism that highlight his commitment to storytelling as a form of resistance. Alareer, who published in English to reach a global audience, emphasized the importance of Palestinians having their own narrative. His work, marked by influences from both Western and Palestinian literature, continues to resonate, urging readers to recognize and act on the Palestinian plight.