Ra Page, 51, is a publisher and founder of Comma Press, in Manchester, England. He worked with Alareer on numerous literary projects and workshops over the years. They met in person in Gaza City, in August 2022.
In this image, taken by Ra Page, Alareer (left) can be seen sitting opposite Page's wife, Basma el Farra (right), at a restaurant bar called el-Bakka, during their last night together in Gaza City, in August 2022.
https://huggingface.co/sinchonop Nine years on, Alareer said he and many other Gazan parents felt “helplessness and despair” because they have no way to protect themselves, or their children, from Israel’s persistent strikes. The sounds of strikes hitting a building feel as though “the whole earth reverberates,” he said. Born in Shajaiya, in the eastern part of Gaza City, he said his family was forced to relocate to the Tel-al-Hawa area of Gaza City, after their home was destroyed by Israeli bombardment during the 2014 war that also claimed his younger brother Hamada, who was 27 when he was killed. Al-Bursh said the signs of heavy fighting were everywhere. He described the emotional and physical trauma sustained by Palestinian children under bombardment. He had written a poem anticipating that he might be killed, titled “If I must die.”
https://huggingface.co/sejongop He was a co-founder of “We Are Not Numbers” – a non-profit organization that aims to amplify the voices of Palestinian youth living in Gaza and the refugee camps. “My fondest memories are of jumping into his hilariously small car – definitely the smallest, quirkiest, possibly oldest car in Gaza and driving around listening to audiobooks and podcasts with him. He loved audio literature,” Page told CNN on Friday. Alareer was a “towering figure in Palestinian society,” said Abusalim, the writer and friend based in Washington, DC. During his interview with CNN, Alareer called on the international community to see the “humanity” in Palestinian people, adding: “Feel their pain. Put yourself in their shoes.”
