It’s a new year: a new spirit to spread our wings and give more for our cause and our people.

At the beginning of this year, We Are Not Numbers interviewed many candidates for two positions: social media coordinator and community & outreach coordinator. The candidates underwent two rounds of interviews, first in person with the local staff and then by Zoom with the management committee and members of the editorial team, some of whom live overseas. In mid-January, Somaia Abunada was selected as the new social media coordinator and Walaa Sabah as the new community & outreach coordinator.

Let me introduce myself! I’m Somaia Abunada, the social media coordinator. You will not see a lot of photos of me because I  work  behind the screen to take photos, create visual material, and write social media content.

We Are Not Numbers’ staff met the WANNers on Jan. 13 to prepare for an international forum. At the meeting, roles were assigned.  Some WANNERS joined the reception committee, others the social media team, and the rest volunteered to serve as spokespeople and translators. It was an amazing day here when the new staff met the WANNers! Everyone also met Luna, a WANNer’s cat, and we had fun chasing her. Then we decided to announce her as WANN’s favorite pet.

We were honored to participate in an international forum, Gaza Siege: An Ongoing Crime, held Jan. 19, 2022. Almost 200 people attended the event, including journalists, university academics, university students, and representatives from media agencies. The event took a place in Al-Komedor Hotel. It was a great opportunity for WANN, and enabled our organization to strength ties with local news organizations. The day-long event was divided into three sessions:

• the role of the international community in ending the siege (moderated by Days of Palestine)
• legal and humanitarian views of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip (moderated by 16th October)
• the effects of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip (moderated by We Are Not Numbers)

The WANN panel, which addressed the economic, health, and environmental effects of the siege was facilitated by Enas Ghannam.

Al-Mamlaka TV came by on Jan. 23 to make a report on the objectives and activities of We Are Not Numbers. The interview is available on Facebook.

During the month of January, We Are Not Numbers published several masterpieces by our talented writers:

I walk through the dream, a poem by Fedaa Alsoufi
A bullet may land in your land turning your dreams into ash.

Trauma-free Gaza, an article by Hind Wihaidi
I hope to help my fellow Palestinians restore their mental health.

I miss my father, I miss my friends, a story by Abdallah Ayamn
Saying goodbye is extra hard in Gaza.

Not the first to be targeted and not the last, an article by Shahd Safi
The Israeli lobby seeks to silence Palestinian activist Shahd Abu Salama.