we are not numbers

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

Haya Ihab Sisalem

    Haya Ihab Sisalem is studying English and French literature at Al-Azhar University. She loves languages and can speak Arabic, English, and a little bit of French. Haya aspires to  become a published writer who through her words lets others see what is going on with the Palestinian people, especially children and women, because of the occupation. She also hopes to become a translator and to work for a French institute. She describes herself as “an ambitious person who wants to travel around the world to discover it.” She lives by Mahatma Gandhi’s words: “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

    Sitting woman.

    my work

    My friends and I had premonitions that something terrible would happen. Little did we know how genocidal it would be.
    In 2021, the war that interrupted my studies dragged on for 11 days and bore the weight of an entire year.