{"id":80,"date":"2026-05-23T04:49:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=80"},"modified":"2026-05-23T04:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:49:29","slug":"if-i-must-die-a-poem-by-refaat-alareer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"“If I Must Die,” A Poem by Refaat Alareer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 20<\/span>,000<\/span> Palestinians have been slain in just over two months. One of them is writer and professor Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli military December 6<\/span>, along with his brother, his brother\u2019s son, his sister and her three\u00a0children.<\/p>\n

Read more I Went to Pedophile Island and All I Got Was This Lousy Shirt!<\/a><\/p>\n

Refaat shared countless narratives about the horrors of the Israeli occupation and system of apartheid, and he mentored so many Palestinian writers, including Yousef Aljamal, whose essay about Gaza appears in our forthcoming issue. Yousef describes his friend as \u200b\u201c<\/span>the giant of the Palestinian narrative coming out of\u00a0Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Dick Cheney Will Be Tortured in Hell<\/a><\/p>\n

Refaat\u2019s poem \u200b\u201c<\/span>If I\u00a0Must Die\u201d has been shared widely since he was killed. On social media, an impromptu effort translated it into dozens of languages: Spanish, Italian, Tamil, Urdu, Tagalog, Greek, Japanese, Yiddish and more. Here, we offer it in English and\u00a0Arabic.<\/p>\n

Read more Brad Lander on Mamdani\u2019s Win: \u201cIt\u2019s not only on Zohran. It\u2019s on all of us.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014Ari Bloomekatz<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>IF I\u00a0MUST DIE\u201d\u00a0<\/h3>\n

BY REFAAT\u00a0ALAREER<\/em><\/h3>\n

If I\u00a0must die,\u00a0<\/p>\n

you must\u00a0live\u00a0<\/p>\n

to tell my\u00a0story\u00a0<\/p>\n

to sell my\u00a0things\u00a0<\/p>\n

to buy a\u00a0piece of\u00a0cloth\u00a0<\/p>\n

and some\u00a0strings,\u00a0<\/p>\n

(make it white with a\u00a0long tail)\u00a0<\/p>\n

so that a\u00a0child, somewhere in\u00a0Gaza\u00a0<\/p>\n

while looking heaven in the\u00a0eye\u00a0<\/p>\n

awaiting his dad who left in a\u00a0blaze\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

and bid no one\u00a0farewell\u00a0<\/p>\n

not even to his\u00a0flesh\u00a0<\/p>\n

not even to\u00a0himself\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up\u00a0above\u00a0<\/p>\n

and thinks for a\u00a0moment an angel is\u00a0there\u00a0<\/p>\n

bringing back\u00a0love\u00a0<\/p>\n

If I\u00a0must die\u00a0<\/p>\n

let it bring\u00a0hope\u00a0<\/p>\n

let it be a\u00a0tale<\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0641\u0627\u0644 \u0628\u062f \u0623\u0646 \u062a\u0639\u064a\u0634\u00a0\u0623\u0646\u062a\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0631\u0641\u0639\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0639\u064a\u0631 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0625\u0630\u0627 \u0643\u0627\u0646 \u0644\u0627 \u0628\u062f \u0623\u0646\u00a0\u0623\u0645\u0648\u062a\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0641\u0627\u0644 \u0628\u062f \u0623\u0646 \u062a\u0639\u064a\u0634\u00a0\u0623\u0646\u062a\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0644\u062a\u0631\u0648\u064a \u062d\u0643\u0627\u064a\u062a\u064a <\/p>\n

\u0644\u062a\u0628\u064a\u0639 \u0623\u0634\u064a\u0627\u0626\u064a <\/p>\n

\u0648\u062a\u0634\u062a\u0631\u064a \u0642\u0637\u0639\u0629\u00a0\u0642\u0645\u0627\u0634\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0648\u062e\u064a\u0648\u0637\u0627<\/p>\n

(\u0641\u0644\u062a\u0643\u0646 \u0628\u064a\u0636\u0627\u0621 \u0648\u0628\u0630\u064a\u0644\u00a0\u0637\u0648\u064a\u0644)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0643\u064a \u064a\u0628\u0635\u0631 \u0637\u0641\u0644 \u0641\u064a \u0645\u0643\u0627\u0646 \u0645\u0627 \u0645\u0646\u00a0\u0651\u063a\u0651\u0632\u0629\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0648\u0647\u0648 \u064a\u062d \u0651\u0651\u062f\u0642 \u0641\u064a\u00a0\u0627\u0644\u0633\u0645\u0627\u0621\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0645\u0646\u062a\u0638\u0631\u064b\u0627\u064b \u0623\u0628\u0627\u0647 \u0627\u0644\u0630\u064a \u0631\u062d\u0644\u00a0\u0641\u062c\u0623\u0629\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u062f\u0648\u0646 \u0623\u0646 \u064a\u0648\u062f\u0639\u00a0\u0623\u062d\u062f\u064b\u0627\u064b\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0648\u0627\u0644 \u062d\u062a\u0649\u00a0\u0644\u062d\u0645\u0647\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0623\u0648 \u0630\u0627\u062a\u0647 <\/p>\n

\u064a\u0628\u0635\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0637\u0627\u0626\u0631\u0629\u00a0\u0627\u0644\u0648\u0631\u0642\u0651\u064a\u0629\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0637\u0627\u0626\u0631\u062a\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0631\u0642\u064a\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u064a \u0635\u0646\u0639\u064e\u062a\u0647\u0627\u00a0\u0623\u0646\u062a<\/p>\n

\u062a\u062d\u0651\u0644\u0642 \u0641\u064a\u00a0\u0627\u0644\u0623\u0639\u0627\u0644\u064a\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0648\u064a\u0638 \u0651\u0651\u0646 \u0644\u0644\u062d\u0638\u0629 \u0623\u0646 \u0647\u0646\u0627\u0643\u00a0\u0645\u0627\u0644\u0643\u064b\u0627\u064b\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u064a\u0639\u064a\u062f \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0628 <\/p>\n

\u0625\u0630\u0627 \u0643\u0627\u0646 \u0644\u0627 \u0628\u062f \u0623\u0646\u00a0\u0623\u0645\u0648\u062a\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0641\u0644\u064a\u0623 \u0650\u0650\u062a \u0645\u0648\u062a\u064a\u00a0\u0628\u0627\u0623\u0644\u0645\u0644\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u0641\u0644\u064a\u0635\u0628\u062d \u062d\u0643\u0627\u064a\u0629 <\/p>\n

\u062a\u0631\u062c\u0645\u0629 \u0633\u0646\u0627\u0646\u00a0\u0623\u0646\u0637\u0648\u0646\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translation by Sinan\u00a0Antoon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A poem written before the author’s death in an airstrike by the Israeli military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n"If I Must Die," A Poem by Refaat Alareer - Summit Relocation Timess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=80\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""If I Must Die," A Poem by Refaat Alareer - Summit Relocation Timess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A poem written before the author's death in an airstrike by the Israeli military.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/?p=80\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Summit Relocation Timess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T04:49:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/summitrelocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5ee109ec8d403c34c9f2009823efa1cf.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78261b7043eb436872da19e7c8eda597\"},\"headline\":\"“If I Must Die,” A Poem by Refaat Alareer\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T04:49:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80\"},\"wordCount\":306,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/5ee109ec8d403c34c9f2009823efa1cf.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Feature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/summitrelocationtimess.com\\\/?p=80\",\"name\":\"\\\"If I Must Die,\\\" A Poem by Refaat Alareer - 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