One year ago today, Palestinian writer, poet, and educator Refaat Alareer was targeted and murdered by an Israeli airstrike. I wrote about him here. Today, I received a text message from Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill of independent Drop Site News regarding the posthumous publication of Refaat’s poetry and prose collection on December 10. Here is that message:
Today marks one year since Israel assassinated Palestinian Poet, Writer, and Educator Refaat Alareer in a targeted airstrike. On December 10th, Refaat’s book, “If I Must Die,” a collection of his poetry and prose compiled by his friend and former student, Yousef Ajamal, will be published by OR Books.
We’re asking all of our readers, if they can, to pre-order the book in an effort to drive it on to the best seller rankings. Not only is it a truly magnificent piece of writing, a book you’ll be glad to own and/or gift, seeing Refaat’s book at the top of the charts will be a small sign to Palestinians facing genocide that the world has not forgotten them – and it will send a message to his assassins that we haven’t forgotten them either. For our part, we will be buying 535 copies and hand-delivering them to each member of the House and Senate.
Pre-order Refaat’s book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/if-i-must-die-poetry-and-prose/21530923?ean=9781682196212
UPDATE 12.17.24: DO NOT order from Amazon as scammers took note of the situation and are selling non-authentic books. PLEASE order from bookshop.org at above link.
Tracy here again: I’m editing to add that you can also request your library system purchase the book. In my system, “Suggest a purchase” tab is located under SERVICES. In “additional information we might need,” you can include EAN/UPC 9781682196212 and “the book will be released on December 10, 2024.”
Edited to add: all proceeds will go to Refaat’s remaining family.
UPDATE: see my December 29 post for good news!!!
When I read that message, so many emotions came up. Grief over Refaat’s death, outrage that the genocide continues, and gratitude for this plan to show the besieged Palestinian people that we care. If you’re able, I hope you’ll consider helping this effort by pre-ordering the book. Just yesterday, I wrote about the orchestrated efforts to shut down pro-Palestinian speech and actions. Elevating “If I Must Die” to the bestseller list would be a huge middle finger to those desperately trying to normalize genocide, starvation, destruction, and land theft.
Drop Site also sent a lengthier, more detailed email about Refaat, the targeting of poets and intellectuals, and the ins and outs of the publishing industry’s bestseller “process.” The following is that email:
Today marks one year since Israel assassinated Palestinian writer, poet and educator Refaat Alareer with a targeted airstrike on the second floor apartment where he was taking refuge with extended family. The strike also killed his brother, his brother’s son, his sister and her three children.
Israel’s targeting of poets and intellectuals was not new, but his killing struck a chord around the world, as Refaat had committed his life to the study and practice of the English language, believing it to be a tool of liberation and empowerment. Through his work and his interviews, he gathered a global audience of admirers.
After he was killed, his poem “If I Must Die” became a worldwide viral sensation, a window into the soul of the man who’d been ripped from the world.
On December 10, Refaat will posthumously publish a book, “If I Must Die,” a collection of his poetry and prose, which also includes excerpts of important interviews he gave, compiled by his friend and student Yousef Aljamal.
As a small measure of justice, we want to turn Refaat’s book into what it desperately deserves to be: an international bestseller. We need your help and we have just five days to make it happen.
First, sign this pledge to buy the book this coming Tuesday. We’ll send you an email to remind you to do it that day. Enter your phone number if you want a text reminder too, but it’s not necessary. We won’t sell or share your contact info. The royalties from the book go to Refaat’s family. But more importantly, pre-order it now at bookshop.org or Amazon.
SIGN THE PLEDGE TODAY!
Here’s the background: The publishing industry cares most about the Amazon ranking and the New York Times best seller list. Depending on the day, a book can hit the top of the charts on Amazon with as few as 10,000 copies sold. But they cannot be bulk orders: Anything more than nine probably gets flagged as a bulk order. If you do want to make a bulk order, do it from an independent bookstore online, not from Amazon. (Amazon will certainly flag it as bulk.)
The NYT list is an opaque combination of in-person and online sales from Amazon, big retailers like Barnes and Noble, and indie stores.
Paid pre-orders count toward the rankings.
So here’s what to do: If you can only buy one book, pre-order it either from bookshop.org or Amazon, whichever is your preference. If you can buy three, buy one from each.
Initially, we had urged people to buy it on the date it comes out, and not pre-order, but so many people have pledged that OR Books, which is a small publisher, is now worried it will sell out on Tuesday. The way around that problem is to get your pre-order in now.
If you can throw a few hundred dollars at this effort, buy up to nine from each of those platforms and give them away. (That would cost you about $650.)
If you really want to do a bulk order of more than nine and maximize the chance it gets counted in the rankings, do it through an independent bookstore and not Amazon (which will flag it as a bulk order).
If you buy it from a bookstore in person on Tuesday, ask the manager if they report sales to the bestseller lists. Most stores do, but if they don’t report sales, then your purchase won’t get counted.
The poem “If I Must Die” is addressed to his daughter Shaymaa Refaat Alareer, and is a plea to her and all of us to keep hope for a better world alive. “If I must die/you must live/to tell my story/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.”
He then concludes:
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale
In April, Israel struck and killed Shaymaa, her husband, and their two-month-old son. It is up to us to let Refaat’s life be a tale. We at Drop Site have nothing to do with his book, which is published by OR Books, but we want to help make it a bestseller. It is, on the one hand, a true masterwork, and a rich and poignant read you will return to again and again.
Yet we want you to purchase it for another reason, too: To let it fly to the top of the rankings like a kite. Seeing Refaat’s book flying there will be a small sign to Palestinians facing genocide that the world has not forgotten them – and it will send a message to his assassins that we haven’t forgotten them either. Nothing can bring back Refaat or his family but this is one small dose of justice we can dole out.
At Drop Site, we’ll be buying 535 copies and distributing them to each member of Congress after they’re sworn-in in January.
If you live in the Washington, DC area and can help be part of the hand-out effort, please email contact@dropsitenews.com with the subject line “I will help hand out Refaat’s book.” (The publisher is giving us a bulk discount, and our readers were tremendously generous to us on Giving Tuesday, so thank you for helping make this happen.)
Collectively, we have the capacity to do this. Let it be a tale.
Sign the pledge! Let it be a tale.
If you’ve read this far, thank you thank you thank you. Free Palestine!
Tracy Abell 