Tahoora Hashmi

“The refugee card was and continues to be an insult to remind us of the little that refugees get in comparison with what they have really lost. Would a bag of flour compensate for the farmland they once had? Would a bag of sugar make up for the bitter misery those people have always felt after losing their sweet homes to dwell in refugee camps? Would the two bottles of oil make them forget their olive trees, which had been mercilessly uprooted as they themselves were? Or maybe it is simply a declaration that they are temporary refugees who once had the land which, as long as this card is still in their hands, would still be waiting for them to return. Only a shot of sharp pain brought me back to the present.”
― Refaat Alareer, Gaza Writes Back

“If a Palestinian bulldozer were ever invented (Haha, I know!) and I were given the chance to be in an orchard, in Haifa for instance,I would never uproot a tree an Israeli planted. No Palestinian would. To Palestinians, the tree is sacred, and so is the Land bearing it”
― Refaat Alareer, Gaza Writes Back

“Gaza Writes Back' provides conclusive evidence that telling stories is an act of life, that telling stories is resistance, and that telling stories shapes our memories.”
― Refaat Alareer, Gaza Writes Back

“All that I can tell you is that nothing can justify it, not even the most sacred ends in the world, not even peace itself, understand me?'

'Yes, Mom. Nothing can justify our scars.”
― Refaat Alareer, Gaza Writes Back