DUBAI: Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer was killed a month ago by an Israeli strike at his sister’s home in the Gaza Strip.

Alareer, who was popular for his outspoken opinion of the Israeli occupation, wrote a poem in November titled ‘If I Must Die.’

After he was killed, his poem became viral on X, with many users translating the poem into different languages, to ensure his message is shared worldwide.

“if I must die”
Japanese translation of Refaat Alareer’s poem written in traditional Japanese calligraphy pic.twitter.com/pRoSFDSRaz

— Naoki Yamamoto (@NaokiQYamamoto) December 9, 2023

‘If I Must Die’ in Japanese gained over 2 million views on X and was shared by many Japanese pro-Palestinian voices.

Japanese professor Naoki Yamamoto translated the poem fully into Japanese and even posted it in traditional Japanese calligraphy.

If I must die, let it be a tale. #FreePalestine #Gaza pic.twitter.com/ODPx3TiH1a

— Refaat in Gaza 🇵🇸 (@itranslate123) November 1, 2023

Alareer, a professor of English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he taught Shakespeare among other subjects, was also one of the co-founders of the “We are not numbers” project, which pairs authors from Gaza with mentors abroad who help them write stories in English about their experiences.

The project edited the book “Gaza Writes Back,” chronicles of life in Gaza by young Palestinian authors, and published “Gaza Unsilenced.”