We Are Not Numbers (WANN) has adopted a new logo that embodies the aspirations, dreams, and determination of its writers.

The kite image was inspired by the poem “If I must die,” by Dr. Refaat Alareer, below and also on a dedicated page at this website. The scholar and poet was a key source of inspiration and guidance to We Are Not Numbers from its inception in 2014; many WANN writers attended his classes at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught comparative literature and creative writing. Dr. Refaat provided training sessions to several cohorts of WANN writers before he was killed by an Israeli airstrike on December 9, 2023.

WANN’s logo depicts a kite in the Palestinian flag colors that reaches great heights despite being constantly buffeted by the wind. It is a reminder of Palestinian writers like Dr. Refaat, who have been lost, and an embodiment of new generations of Palestinian writers who press on.

The logo design flexibly allows for its use as a white kite (as suggested in the poem) and in the Palestinian colors, and with or without the tail.

In conjunction with the launch of its new logo, WANN has redesigned its website.

WANN’s new logo is by Antidote. The website redesign is by Plethora Design.

If I must die

Refaat Alareer

If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze–
and bid no one farewell

not even to his flesh
not even to himself–
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale