we are not numbers

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

Asmaa Rafiq Kuheil

    Asmaa Rafiq Kuheil is a Palestinian woman, a loved daughter, an expectant mother, a sharing wife, a passionate teacher, and a modest writer who seeks to be a torchbearer for lightening the lives of others as best she can.

    “I need to write,” Asmaa says. “I need to tell the world my story, to be a human being who has a voice. My laptop is broken; there is no reliable internet connection to contact with those I care about, and my mobile is in ruins too.”

    Current as of July 2024

    A young woman smiling.

    my work

    The lived experience of moving from part of Gaza to another is heavy with fear, longing, loss, and horror.
    Despite the bombs raining down on our heads, leaving the lives we knew buried deep in rubble, we chose to be married.
    Who are the strangers holding me? This is not my mother's smell, nor my father's.
    A low mark stunned me. But it also spurred me to work harder.
    A boy with chaotic energy is beloved by his family.
    Oh, to be a bird and fly above the creeping march of viruses!
    Gaza is life and death, hope and despair all in one.
    One woman has become the focus of all of Gazans' fears.