“If I Must Die” MEMO in Conversation with Yousef Aljamal

In this episode of A Conversation with MEMO, we speak with Yousef M Aljamal, editor of the book If I Must Die by the late Dr Refaat Alareer. The episode focuses on Refaat’s final poem, written shortly before he was assassinated by Israel, and how the book came together in the months after his death. Yousef talks about the personal and political meaning of the poem and why it has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance around the world.

We also discuss the challenges of editing the book while still grieving, and what it means to protect the voice of someone who can no longer speak for himself. Yousef shares memories of Refaat as a teacher, mentor and writer who believed in using literature to resist Israeli occupation and imagine a free Palestine. 

Bio: Yousef M. Aljamal

Yousef M. Aljamal is a Palestinian author, journalist and translator from Al-Nusierat refugee camp in Gaza. He holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and works as the Gaza Coordinator for the Palestine Activism Program at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He has written and translated extensively on Palestinian resistance and incarceration, including Prisoners’ Diaries: Palestinian Voices from the Israeli Gulag. He is the editor of If I Must Die, a posthumous collection of writings by Dr Refaat Alareer, and co-author of A Shared Struggle: Stories of Palestinian and Irish Hunger Strikers. Through his work, he amplifies Palestinian voices globally in support of justice and liberation.