Refaat Alareer | |
|---|---|
رفعت العرعير | |
 | |
| Born | 23 September 1979 Shuja'iyya, Gaza City, Gaza Strip |
| Died | 6 December 2023 (aged 44) Shuja'iyya, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestinian territories |
| Cause of death | Israeli airstrike |
| Nationality | Palestinian |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Known for | Activism |
| Spouse | Nusayba[1] |
| Children | 6 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | English literature |
| Institutions | Islamic University in Gaza |
| Notable works |
|
Refaat Alareer (Arabic: رفعت العرعير, romanized: Rifaʿat al-ʿAriʿīr; 23 September 1979 – 6 December 2023) was a Palestinian writer, poet, professor, and activist from the Gaza Strip.[2]
Alareer was born in Gaza City in 1979 during the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, which he said had negatively influenced every move and decision he made.[3] Alareer earned a BA in English in 2001 from the Islamic University of Gaza and an MA from University College London in 2007. He earned a PhD in English Literature at the Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2017 with a dissertation on John Donne.
He taught literature and creative writing at the Islamic University of Gaza and co-founded the organization We Are Not Numbers, which matched experienced authors with young writers in Gaza, and promoted the power of storytelling as a means of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation.[4]
On 6 December 2023, Alareer was killed by an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, along with his brother, sister, and four of his nephews, during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Euro-Med Monitor released a statement saying that Alareer was apparently deliberately targeted, "surgically bombed out of the entire building", and came after weeks of "death threats that Refaat received online and by phone from Israeli accounts."[5] On 26 April 2024, his eldest daughter and his newborn grandchild were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza City home.[6]
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Euro-Medwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "شيماء رفعت العرعير تلتحق بوالدها شهيدة بغارة صهيونية". The Palestinian Information Center. 26 April 2024. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024.