In the post Palestine march rally in Hyde Park this afternoon Juliet Stevenson, the actor, paid tribute to Refaat Alareer, the Palestinain poet and academic (the Voice of Gaza) killed with members of his family in an Israeli airstike on Gaza City in December.
She read his most famous poem, addressed to his daughter, just before he was murdered by the IDF:
“IF I MUST DIE” - REFAAT ALAREER
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
Yesterday his daughter, her husband, and their new born baby were killed in an Israeli airstrike!
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20...trike-in-gaza/