we are not numbers

emerging writers from Palestine tell their stories and advocate for their human rights

Sarah is my Los Angeles

An orchid in an outdoor garden.

My friendship with an American living near the U.S. wildfires propels my advocacy for humanism over vengeful thinking.

The martyr of the white flag

A man being kissed by his grown son at a wedding.

Ramzi Abu Sahloul, a devoted father and friend, was shot dead while walking in Gaza’s safe zone under the universal symbol of surrender.

Our makeshift classroom

Children in a makeshift classroom.

Teaching gave me purpose during war when I transformed a room in the house where I was displaced into a small school.

Reunited forever

An older woman with hijab and someone's arm around her shoulder.

The entire family of my Aunt Sanaa was killed, one after the other.

Family reunion

Ayoung man with trimmed beard looking forward.

Omar turned his head up to the sky / his heart aching / for his murdered brother’s family.

From lines to circles

A weeping woman.

We huddle, shivering, in a serpentine line / a thousand souls, each yearning for a loaf of bread.

The refugee’s dilemma

A model of the Dome of the Rock in a city square.

Palestinians in exile fear the loss of identity and a homeland, and they struggle to be seen and heard.