Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
“If I must die / let it bring hope / let it be a tale,” Refaat Alareer wrote in his 2011 poem If I Must Die. The work was sadly a prescient piece of writing. Alareer was killed in an Israeli air strike in December last year along with his sister, brother, and four of his nephews and nieces.
His poetry and prose, however, resonate with a sombre and rousing timbre. His words have proliferated across the internet as an anthemic expression of the harrowing experiences that Gazans have been facing for decades.
Alareer’s works have now been released in a collection titled If I Must Die, on the anniversary of his death. The book has already sold out on most websites, and is available on back-order. It is crowning Amazon’s list of Middle Eastern literature, and recently made the bestseller list on USA Today, ranking at number 20.
If I Must Die includes essays and poetry that go back to 2010, as well as writing that following Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023.
There are works of scathing satire that delineate the cruelty of the Israeli onslaught, taking cues from Jonathan Swift’s classic 18th century essay A Modest Proposal. Some pieces delve into tragic moments in Alareer’s life, such as the death of his brother, Mohammed, by an Israeli air strike. Others touch upon significant moments in Gazan history, such as the deaths of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni and Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian taxi driver.
Published by Or Books, If I Must Die was compiled and edited by Yousef Aljamal, a friend and former student of Alareer. “I got permission from Refaat’s family to collect his works,” says Aljamal, who is the Gaza coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee. “I am familiar with his writings and his poetry prose, and I suggested the text to Or Books.”
Most of the writings in the collection had been published in blogs and magazines, including Electronic Intifada and In These Times. However, there are also several new works, including writings from October 2023 onwards. “There were three articles Refaat wrote during the genocide,” Aljamal says. “They were supposed to be published by a magazine, but for political reasons, they decided not to publish them. I was able to include them in the book.”
The articles can be viewed as Alareer’s diaries during the war, and include The Five Stages of Coping with War in Gaza. “He wrote about what he saw in Gaza, and how he worries about his children, securing food and water for his family,” Aljamal says. “He documents an important part of the genocide.”
Compiling the works was emotionally taxing for Aljamal. “They brought back memories,” he says. “It was a very difficult and emotional experience to write about Refaat as someone who existed in the past because, for everyone who knew him, Refaat represented life and positive energy. Creativity. It’s difficult to talk about him in the past.”
However, Aljamal says Alareer has achieved the same sort of legend as Malcolm X and Edward Said. . That legacy, he adds, extends beyond his writing to include his contributions as a teacher.
“Refaat did not write much in his life,” Aljamal says. “He started writing more towards the end of his life. He was more focused on teaching other young people in Gaza, and pushing them to write. He taught English for about 22 years, and during this time, he met thousands of students from all over the Gaza Strip. Many of his students became university professors, writers, poets and journalists. I think once he said that he created this base, he started to write more.”
If I Must Die includes “the vast majority” of Alareer’s works, Aljamal says, and he never doubted that the book would become a bestseller. “I know this first hand from the reaction people had when Refaat was killed,” Aljamal says. “And I thought that people would react the same way when his book comes out, especially that many people were waiting for Refaat to write during the genocide.”
Colin Robinson, co-founder of Or Books, says the publishing house felt a “great sense of responsibility” towards If I Must Die. “We're honouring someone very important with this book,” he says. “I’m proud of what we’ve done with it. It's a beautiful selection. I think we designed it rather beautifully. It looks serious, but it’s inviting. That's part of our job as publishers. To take the material and to try to present it in a way that can find the widest possible audience.”
Robinson attributes the book’s popularity to Alareer’s spirit. “He has become a symbol of dignified resistance,” he says. “That's the main thing that is getting people to go out and buy the book.”
Olivia Heffernan, publicity director at Or Books, says there were plenty of signs prior the book’s release that it would become popular. However, a surprise campaign by the independent news platform Drop Site helped. “Ryan Grim from Drop Site news reached out to us and said ‘I want to make this book a bestseller’. He launched this campaign separate from us,” she says. The campaign aimed to get the book on the New York Times bestseller list.
“It spread like wildfire,” Heffernan says. “We usually got 10 likes on a regular post and then we were getting thousands. It showed how much people care about this and how much they want to be involved.”
Heffernan says initially Or Books didn't want to be directly involved with the campaign, due to the financial incentive. “But as people became more and more excited – and of course, the royalties of the book are going to Refaat’s family – we decided to become a little bit more involved in it,” she says.
More than 20,000 copies of If I Must Die were sold in the two weeks since its release on December 10. While the sales numbers do reflect Alareer’s legacy, the effect his works have on people were evident during the launch event of If I Must Die in New York on December 6. More than 200 people attended and thousands more tuned in on the Or Books YouTube page. Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, and US actress Debra Winger read Alareer’s poetry during the event.
“The event was in honour of Refaat and in celebration of this book,” Heffernan says. “It was to encourage people to know that his voice has not been silenced. This is part of his legacy and the larger legacy of Palestinians.”
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EPL's youngest
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Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
More on animal trafficking
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%20train%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20and%20synchronous%20electric%20motor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20power%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E800hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20torque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E950Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEight-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E25.7kWh%20lithium-ion%3Cbr%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%203.4sec%3Cbr%3E0-200km%2Fh%3A%2011.4sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E312km%2Fh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20electric-only%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2060km%20(claimed)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Q3%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1.2m%20(estimate)%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jawan
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Company%C2%A0profile
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
