we are not numbers

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

Weam Abu Daqqa

    Weam Abu Daqqa is studying English translation at Al-Azhar University. She loves her major; it’s been her dream to become a translator since she was in secondary school. Her goal is to someday establish her own office for translation.

    Besides her mother tongue, Arabic, she is also good at English and French. Languages are her passion, but she also likes to learn about different cultures around the world.

    Weam considers family as the most important thing in her life and her main source of support. Her father is her role model, because he is very experienced in dealing with people and problems and so can give good advice, and he is an ambitious person no matter the challenges.

    She writes a lot — specifically, short stories. She uses writing to pour out her feelings and to find peace. She also loves to read. Weam loves the writing of Ghassan Kanafani, because he is one of the best writers to represent the Palestinian experience, and a lot of people around the world know about the Palestinian cause through his works.

    “As a Palestinian, I have a difficult life because of the occupation,” she says. “Palestinians just want to live like other people in other countries: without conflicts, without hard circumstances, without fear, and without the hard feelings of losing their loved ones.”

    Current as of March 2024

    A young woman with sunglasses.

    my work

    Nadia, a pregnant mother of three, navigates her nightmarish days with extreme fatigue and no husband to help.
    Does the world understand that the children of Gaza are being robbed of childhood and killed by the thousands?
    In a second everything can change, and it did for my family when Israel bombed our neighborhood.