we are not numbers

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

Eman Alhaj Ali

    Eman Alhaj Ali holds a bachelor degree in English literature and translation from the Islamic University of Gaza. She received the third rank in Palestine and the second rank in Gaza in the Al-Enjaz (national high school test) in 2019.

    She is a Gazan-based journalist, writer, and translator from Al-Maghazi refugee camp, with her byline appearing in the New Arab, the Electronic Intifada, and Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, and other online publications.

    She is a voracious reader who adores reading books, especially those literary ones. She also writes short fiction, nonfiction narratives, and poems. “Writing is the act in which I share part of my soul with the world,” she says.

    The motto she lives by is: “Every great dream begins with a dreamer; you have the strength, the patience, the passion to reach for the stars to change the world, and having all of these together, undoubtedly, you will fulfill your dreams.”

    According to Eman, “Joining We Are Not Numbers is a golden opportunity in which I have been devoting myself to write humanitarian success stories. Writing is the best way to express my feelings without being interrupted, and I do believe in the power of words. Thus, if you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write!”

    Eman Alhaj Ali

    my work

    Ahmad’s journey has taken him away from dreams of becoming a doctor to the reality of selling desserts for survival.
    Women in Gaza are experiencing miscarriages, births without anesthesia, preterm deliveries, and neonatal deaths.
    We live a bitter existence, facing the specter of death daily, under the weight of an unjust oppressor.
    Another bomb explodes. Sharpnel flies. Another home collapses. Another martyr leaves without farewell.
    An Israeli bombardment thwarted our hopes for a larger family.
    This place, where a wall can burst in, a table fly and spin, glass shatter faster than a flinch?