Scholar and policy analyst Jehad Abusalim remembers his friend Refaat Alareer, the acclaimed Palestinian academic and activist who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City earlier this week.
“Refaat Alareer was a towering figure in Palestinian society, especially in Gaza,” who used education and “language as a weapon against oppression,” says Abusalim, who speaks about the widespread destruction of schools and educators in Gaza by Israel’s renewed bombardment, siege and invasion. “The tragedy that has befallen the academic, scholarly and intellectual community in Gaza and in Palestine is unprecedented. Israel is destroying the foundations of society in the Gaza Strip.”
Heard the poem on the radio. The man understood the transformative power of grief.
Thanks for posting this it’s beautifully tragic both poem and irl
Honestly I cried when I heard. It encapsulates my own views on grief but is also prescient and speaks as a father would asking someone to comfort their son after they’re taken away. But his children will receive no comfort, they were killed as well. It is little solace that he was with his family at the end. It makes me angry beyond words so I will lean on this poem to communicate what I can’t. Which brings me back to this Refaat Alareer’s views on teaching and using English to liberate. I’m autistic, I struggle with language sometimes and it was strangely familiar to hear his view. I guess my own words to add would be (WIP):
Be open to grief. Be open to seeing others As they see themselves. Be open to seeing yourself In another person.
Invite in the sorrow of others. Know their burden Is much like your own. Know your needs Are shared by others.
Let yourself be changed.