# E09 - IF I MUST DIE (Refaat Alareer, read by Rafeef Ziadah)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/memory-for-denial-7121022/e09-if-i-must-die-refaat-alareer-read-by-rafeef-ziadah
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/memory-for-denial-7121022/e09-if-i-must-die-refaat-alareer-read-by-rafeef-ziadah.md
Podcast: [MEMORY FOR DENIAL](https://stenobird.com/podcast/memory-for-denial-7121022)
Published: 2025-01-17T16:29:55+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/e09-if-i-must-die-refaat-alareer-read-by-rafeef-ziadah--63728120
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/63728120/some_strings.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/memory-for-denial-7121022/episodes/e09-if-i-must-die-refaat-alareer-read-by-rafeef-ziadah
Duration seconds: 81

## Resource

Rafeef Ziadah recites the poem "If I Must Die" by Refaat Alareer who 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. This poem written to his daughter in 2011 was published five weeks before his murder. Collective project SOME STRINGS Filmmakers and artists from around the world have formed SOME STRINGS, an ensemble of unreleased filmic gestures that is rooted in Palestine, where poet and teacher Refaat Alareer was assassinated. In his poem, "If I Must Die", published five weeks before his murder, Refaat Alareer calls those who should live to create a kite - a long-standing object of resistance - with bits of string and Some Strings, just like each of his readers, receives it as a legacy. The kites here are a diversity of views that share a space against the silences, international indifference and continued approval of states, which are already fabricating memorial confusions about the greatest civilian massacre of the 21st century. The systematic extermination of the Palestinian people on Palestinian soil is taking place before our very eyes, and international diplomacy is failing to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal actions. https://some-strings.org/ فال بد أن تعيش أنت رفعت العرعير إذا كان لا بد أن أموت فال بد أن تعيش أنت لتروي حكايتي لتبيع أشيائي وتشتري قطعة قماش وخيوطا (فلتكن بيضاء وبذيل طويل) كي يبصر طفل في مكان ما من ّغّزة وهو يح ّّدق في السماء منتظرًاً أباه الذي رحل فجأة دون أن يودع أحدًاً وال حتى لحمه أو ذاته يبصر الطائرة الورقّية طائرتي الورقية التي صنعَتها أنت تحّلق في الأعالي ويظ ّّن للحظة أن هناك مالكًاً يعيد الحب إذا كان لا بد أن أموت فليأ ِِت موتي باألمل فليصبح حكاية

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## Transcript

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