This Club is, of course, non-political. It has, at times, welcomed Palestinian Strollers, as well as Israelis, with the same warm heart. Perhaps because of that, we are making an exception today, to lament the start of Year 2 of a war that does not end, continuing to spread death and disaster. Read the poem that follows, and the note at the end.
“If I Must Die” by Refaat Alareer (written originally in English)
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love.
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.
Palestinian writer and professor of world literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza Refaat Alareer (1979–2023) was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli military December 6, 2023 along with his brother, his brother’s son, his sister and her three children.
The Cyprus Strollers 