Lest we forget… there are real people in Gaza

JVL Introduction

The essay below is one of a number posted in this week’s mailing from “We Are Not Numbers” in Gaza.

WANN takes its cue from Arundhati Roy: “There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless.’ There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.”

It describes its project in this way:

When the world talks about Palestinians living under occupation and in refugee camps, it is usually in terms of politics and numbers — specifically, how many killed, injured, displaced, homeless, and/or dependent on aid.

“But numbers are impersonal and often numbing. What they don’t convey are the daily personal struggles and triumphs, the tears and the laughter, and the dreams and aspirations that are universally experienced but often not recognized for Palestinians, who instead have been dehumanized.

“That’s why established and aspiring wordsmiths from around the world have joined with young people from Palestine to create We Are Not Numbers. Through this platform, WANN shares with the world authentic and compelling stories from the next generation of Palestinian writers and leaders.”

A compilation of Voices of Gaza’s Youth was recently published by WANN/Hutchinson Heinemann, a literary imprint of Penguin Books UK.

RK

This article was originally published by We are not numbers on Tue 19 Aug 2025. Read the original here.