we are not numbers

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

Raed Shakshak

    In a world full of noise, I sit quietly and let the clicks of my keyboard speak for me. My name is Raed. I graduated from university with a degree in English language and literature from Al-Azhar University in Gaza. Thanks to a semester as an exchange student at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (USA), I have developed a better understanding of our world. My current mission is to tell new, different stories from Gaza in my role as outreach coordinator for We Are Not Numbers. It's time I step up and be the voice of the voiceless ones, including myself. I started writing. I'll be the noise now. No one can stop me.

    my work

    My mother has suffered from chronic facial pain since 2007. An operation could allow her to 'live' again.
    In Gaza, anxiety and depression has many different forms and causes.
    COVID-19 isn’t new to Gaza. It is an occupier in the form of a virus
    If we're honest, most of us have contemplated suicide in Gaza.
    Everyone needs a "trademark." Mine is my hair.
    The fear is as real as the virus itself.
    The fear is as real as the virus itself.
    A thank you letter to a teacher who taught me life.
    Ramadan is so much more than fasting.
    Jehad believes it is possible to be a "renaissance man"--an engineer and a singer.