We Are Not Numbers: An essential read capturing an unparalleled insight into life in Gaza by a generation that Israel seeks to destroy

"Writing down your story can be therapeutic. I was 19 when I wrote my first story," Ahmed Alnaouq, the co-editor of We Are Not Numbers: The Voice of Gaza’s Youth, tells The New Arab.

"I was depressed, it was after the 2014 war, and I lost my brother. I was asked to write about him, and I saw writing as a way to pin down all my emotions. I also wanted to challenge the way the Western media writes about us."

Set up in 2015, We Are Not Numbers started as an online platform to enable everyday Gazans to tell their stories, speak of their dreams, frustrations, interests and feelings.

Over a decade of these memories has now culminated into a unique anthology, We Are Not Numbers: The Voice of Gaza’s Youth, cataloguing people’s loves, hopes, fears and traumas; with stories, poems and essays from 59 young Palestinians in Gaza.

Edited by Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey, the European edition was published by Hutchinson Heinemann in April.

Already an instant bestseller in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the success of We Are Not Numbers highlights the hunger for not only Gazans to tell their stories, but for the wider community in the West to be able to read these stories first hand — especially in a climate where mainstream media has been bias in reporting Israel's genocide in Gaza. 

"This project became more important to me since the start of this genocide," Ahmed continues.

"I believe it has become more significant because if you watch the Western media, all we read about is 50,000 Palestinians dead. I hate that. We are more than just a number — we are humans, we have talents, we have dreams, we have stories we need to tell the world, and if you tell a story from your heart, I am sure it will reach the hearts of other people."

We Are Not Numbers has no intentional theme as the series is made up of different people, writing at different times about different things, but throughout the different stories, certain threads and tensions appear.

For me, what stood out was this intense love for Gaza and the hatred for life under Israeli siege.

Gaza is both home and a prison; it’s a place full of love and memories of trauma, it’s a place where nothing works and yet somehow still moves, it’s a place people can’t wait to get out of and yet fear exile from. It’s the place you never want to be and also the only place you ever want to be in.

This duality animates many of the youth's stories, challenging both the simplistic demonisation of Gaza as well as the romanticisation of the besieged enclave.

"The Palestinians have a love-hate relationship with Gaza," Ahmed explains.

"We love Gaza; I love Gaza, I adore the sunsets, I adore the places, but at the same time I hate the circumstances; I hate the conditions that are imposed on Gaza. Many of us hate the reality in Gaza, we hate that we are seen as human animals and for the occupier, the only solution is for us to die," he adds. 

"But we love the place, and this is what we try to say in the project. Don’t romanticise us, don’t see us as human animals, see us as human beings."

Daily life and trying to do normal things in Gaza, particularly before the genocide, is a key aspect of the stories in the anthology.

Through the collection of stories, we meet the bibliophile who has to rely on PDF books but longs for the feel of a real book. We meet the cinema-lover who is excited about the adaptation of the Wonder Woman film, only to feel betrayed by the casting of Israeli actress and former IDF soldier Gal Gadot as the protagonist. And we meet the artist who is part of a project seeking to inject new colours onto the Gaza Strip’s walls.

"Whenever I read the stories in the book, I always think of the future — in 100 or 200 years, people will study our stories and will really understand what life in Gaza was like," Ahmed says.

"We Are Not Numbers is not a history book, and at the same time, it is a history book."

For Ahmed Alnaouq, the volume is also an act of civil resistance against erasure, colonisation and genocide, with storytelling at the heart of that resistance.

"Refaat Alareer told a powerful story at the launch of We Are Not Numbers many years ago that I will never forget," Ahmed shares.

"He said two white people living in Canada were having a dispute over a piece of land. Then someone who originated from that land intervened in the dispute. He told both men, 'If you are the true owner of the land, tell me your stories.' None of them could come up with a story, and the man said that neither was the true owner of the land. I see this in our project, too."

We Are Not Numbers is an important read that provides an unparalleled insight into life in Gaza by a generation that Israel seeks to destroy.

While world leaders continue to waste precious time mulling over who is to blame, rather than taking action to stop Israel's killing machine, we must remember that beyond all this are the lives of ordinary people who want and demand to be heard.

Their stories are in defiance of the forced erasure upon them, and will not only be a testament to the lives lived, but also the many lives to come.

Gazans have many more stories still to tell, and projects like We Are Not Numbers are one of the springboards that enable them to tell them.  

Usman Butt is a multimedia television researcher, filmmaker and writer based in London who read International Relations and Arabic Language at the University of Westminster and completed a Master of Arts in Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter