poem
Israeli government ‘ordered assassination’ of Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer
Netanyahu cabinet approved murder of Palestinian poet who mocked discredited atrocity propaganda, says Tikkun Olam security site
The Netanyahu government officially approved the murder of Palestinian poet, academic and activist Refaat Alareer, according to a website known for its sources inside the Israeli security apparatus.
Tikkun Olam, a news site run by writer Richard Silverstein, whose title refers to a concept in Judaism of healing the world, has broken a string of firsts since its creation in 2003 – and it has this to say about the assassination of Prof Alareer, who had mocked Israel’s now thoroughly-discredited atrocity propaganda about the murder and dismemberment of babies during the 7 October Hamas kibbutz raid:
Israel ordered Refaat Alareer’s assassination after derided Israeli claim of babies burned in an oven as hoax. He was right, but died for it.
Refaat was a Palestinian poet and professor. It’s rare that countries assassinate poets. Not just murder them in wartime, but intentionally assassinate them…
But Refaat was an unusual combination of teacher and activist. He not only taught his students Palestinian poetry. He also taught them Hebrew poetry. For this, he was profiled in the New York Times: In Gaza, a Contentious Palestinian Professor Calmly Teaches Israeli Poetry. And the Times published an op-ed by him as well: My Child Asks, ‘Can Israel Destroy Our Building if the Power Is Out?’
Unlike Israel’s educational system, which promotes a triumphalist ideological indoctrination, Alareer’s teaching of Hebrew poetry analyzed and appreciated the beauty of the language, but critiqued that ideology underpinning it. This clearly unnerved the Times editors, presumably pressured by one of alphabet soup of pro-Israel media watchdog groups (CAMERA, MEMRI, Honest Reporting, etc), and published a “correction” to the profile.
He responded to them (unfortunately they did not offer a full quotation of what he wrote):
…He denied that there was a “substantial change” in his teaching and said that showing parallels between Palestinians and Jews was his “ultimate goal.” But he said that Israel used literature as “a tool of colonialism and oppression” and that this raised “legitimate questions” about Mr. Amichai’s poem.
Apparently, this sort of social-political-ideological analysis of literature, a method taught at almost all educational institutions, troubled these editors. Instead, their correction implied he was a propagandist, rather than an academic professor…
I broke the story here about Israel’s security cabinet issuing the Amalek Directive to assassinate six senior Hamas leaders and their families. It also similarly targeted specific journalists and their families. The IDF has murdered 80 journalists suggesting that it is deliberately targeting them for execution. This is a war crime.
An Israeli security source confirms my suspicion that the cabinet ordered Refaat’s execution, because his joke marked him as being a member of the tribe of Amalek. An eternal enemy of the Jewish people. He was no such thing of course.
He was a poet, a teacher who loved literature. He was also a champion of his people. He was an implacable enemy of injustice. For that he died. Along with him, Israel killed his brother, sister and their four children. It knew it would them along with the intended target. But killing entire families is now the Israeli modus operandi...
Refaat was displaced multiple times during this war and ended up at his sister’s home along with his parents, wife and children. A few days ago, Refaat moved with his wife and children to an UNRWA school in al-Tufah neighborhood in Gaza according to his family.
However, a close friend of Refaat’s told Euro-Med Monitor that he had received an anonymous phone call from someone who identified himself as an Israeli officer and threatened Refaat that they knew precisely the school where he was located and were about to get to his location with the advancement of Israeli ground troops.
While the credibility of the threat itself is unclear, it contributed to prompting Refaat to move back to his sister’s apartment, believing it was more concealed than an open and overcrowded school where it would have been difficult to hide.
For weeks since the start of this war, Refaat has been receiving numerous death threats and hateful messages from Israeli accounts on social media after prominent public figures [Bari Weiss, among others] singled him out for harassment and incitement.
In 2014, Israel bombed Refaat’s home in Shejaiya and killed over 30 of his and his wife’s families.
Read the full story, including details of how Refaat Alareer was stalked, threatened and ultimately murdered, and details of how Silverstein’s attempts to spread the news on social media were censored, here.
Many if not most of the Israeli victims of the Hamas raid are now known to have been killed by Israeli forces as part of the so-called ‘Hannibal doctrine’. Despite the abundance of evidence, the UK and other western media continue to ignore it.
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For Refaat Alareer
Listen to a reading by Caitlin Johnstone:
https://medium.com/media/2aa657a70f3f6e6366fdd7f0e931c017/href
They killed a poet in Gaza on Wednesday.
Well, as much as you can kill a poet, anyway.
Kill a poet and his poems fight on.
That poet is still throwing his marker at the bastards.
A poet may have hands like velveteen mittens,
but he can fight on even if he has no hands at all.
A poet may have a home made of zip-ties and tarps,
but he can fight on even if he sleeps on rubble.
A poet can fight on even if he’s got no legs.
A poet can fight on even if he’s got no arms.
A poet can fight on even if he’s got no teeth.
A poet can fight on even if he’s got no eyes.
A poet can fight on even if he’s got no hope.
A poet can fight on even if he’s got no life.
A poet can fight on even after he has drawn his last breath,
even after they’ve returned him to earth’s womb,
even after his possessions have been divided among his loved ones,
even after the flesh has gone from his bones,
even after there’s no memory of him besides the poems he left behind.
Poets can midwife a new world into being.
Poets can give people a vision to fight for.
Poets can change reality.
Poets are powerful.
That’s why people kill them.
I saw a video of two young boys strolling through Gaza
nursing some tea in a paper cup,
gossiping like the two old men
they might never get to be.
And there’s a bee burrowing a hole in my door
and a siren going off in my head,
because the drones never stop in Gaza,
and because there are bodies popped open by girders,
buried under ruins rained down on by hellfire,
near where mothers lie awake weighing
whether it would be better to live without her children
or for her kids to live without her,
and we know this alarm won’t stop
until the explosions stop,
until the screams stop,
until the bleeding stops,
until healing begins,
until justice is served,
until the bastards are beaten,
until a healthy world has been born.
Refaat, until there is justice,
I will throw my marker at them too.
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A few tickets available for this week …
Thanks very much to everyone who braved the elements to come and see me in Banbury, Stamford, Pocklington, Liverpool and Otley last week. Your dedication is to be much admired.
This week I’m mainly in Wales – in Caerphilly on Thursday and Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons on Friday. There are a few tickets left for both shows. If you fancy coming along, then ticket info can be found through this link: https://brianbilston.com/upcoming-events-and-shows/
I’m then heading to Clevedon on Saturday before popping home to do my laundry.
Also, apart from one more return trip to Liverpool next month, that’s the end of my shows in the north of England this year. If you didn’t get a chance to get a ticket – or fancy coming along to a brand new show next year, then I’ll be heading to Leeds, Salford, Sunderland, Ilkley, Leek and Nottingham with Henry Normal – and doing a few solo shows in Scarborough, Chester and Lincoln*.
*Please note, other shows are available.
Autumn and Spring shows
Thanks to everyone who has come along to my shows so far this Autumn. Most of you have even come back after the interval, which is very kind and forgiving of you.
Next week I’m in Banbury, Stamford, Pocklington, Liverpool and Otley. They’re all sold out, I’m afraid, but there are a few tickets left for the following week – in Caerphilly and Crickhowell. After that, the only other shows with tickets available this year are Frome and Bridport.
And just to say that some of my 2024 shows with Henry Normal are selling very quickly – particularly Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Nottingham, Oxford, Salford and Bury St Edmunds – so if you’re thinking of coming along to any of those, you may need to get your tickets soon.
A full list of shows – and links to tickets can be found here: https://brianbilston.com/upcoming-events-and-shows/
Warning: this post contains the C word
Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas?
Almost certainly, yes.
Is this year going to be THE year in which you get all your shopping sorted way ahead of time?
Probably not, no.
Is there a book publishing today which could solve many of your Christmas shopping headaches?
No idea, tbh.
Regardless, I thought I should probably let you know that I have a new book coming out today. It’s a collection of Christmas poems called And So This is Christmas.
Poems cover most of the festive basics, such as: the likelihood of snow; secret Santa shopping; family tensions; the voting habits of turkeys; the difficulty of getting hold of some myrrh; disruptions to the regular bin schedule; bloody robins.
Oh, and the commercialization of Christmas, of course.
If it wasn’t too early to be thinking about Christmas, I would tell you that the book is available through all bookshops – online stores and proper ones. I’d probably also share this link, which provides links to some of the bookshops through which you can order it online:
https://linktr.ee/brianbilston
I might also mention that the paperback of Days Like These will be publishing in just under a month and that also might serve as a Christmas gift for someone for whom you don’t want to go to much effort.
But given it’s only 12th October, I probably shouldn’t. In fact, best just to disregard all of the above; I wish I hadn’t mentioned it now.
UPDATE ON TICKETS – INCLUDING NEW SHOWS
Here’s one of those mildly boring updates about when and where I’ll be reading poems over the coming months.
First, a couple of new shows to announce for March 2024. Tickets have just gone on sale for CHESTER (Storyhouse) and LINCOLN (Theatre Royal). Earlier this week, tickets also went on sale for a couple of events next May in Cornwall (FALMOUTH and LAUNCESTON). I hope to announce some new shows for next year in Scotland soon.
For this year, most shows have now sold out. But there are a few tickets left for Lytham St Anne’s, Stamford, Caerphilly, Crickhowell, Frome and Bridport.
I’ll also be at the Morecambe Poetry Festival next month with the brilliant Henry Normal. Tickets are selling fast for that. There’s a stellar line-up of poets all week.
And on the subject of Henry, the two of us are on tour together next year when we’ll be coming to: Bexhill-on-Sea, Salford, Sunderland, Leeds, Bury St Edmonds, Stroud and Bath (in February); Monmouth, Exeter, Oxford, Coventry, Wolverhampton, London (in March); Ilkley and Nottingham (in April).
After all that, I’ll be going easy on events for a while, catching up on laundry etc, maybe even writing some poems.
Details of all these events can be found here: https://brianbilston.com/upcoming-events-and-shows/
Hope to get to see you at one of these soon.
WARNING: Blog Post May Contain Traces of Christmas
I’m delighted to share with you some exciting – if somewhat unseasonal – news …
I have a new poetry collection coming out in October, perfectly timed for Christmas: which is a good job really because it’s a book of Christmas poems. It’s called ‘And So This is Christmas’ and is now available to preorder.
The book will be available through your local bookshop, or online. If ordered online through the link below, you can also support an independent bookshop of your choosing: Preorder here
A very Merry July and a Happy New August to you all.
The Meaning of Carpe Diem
How "seize the day" does not get CLOSE to capturing the power of the poet Horace's words Ashmolean After Hours: Carpe Diem!
Mount Vesuvius is thought to have begun erupting on 24 October AD 79. Almost two thousand years later, TORCH collaborated with the Ashmolean Museum for a special edition of After Hours to 'seize the day' and celebrate all things Pompeii and ancient Rome, with bite-sized talks from students and researchers, and activities for all to enjoy.
This event was part of the Humanities Cultural Programme.