Bread + Puppet Press
If I Must Die
If I Must Die
On December 6th, 2023, Palestinian poet and beloved professor Refaat Alareer was murdered in a targeted Israeli airstrike in Gaza. In the months since then, his poem, If I must Die (2011), has been translated into dozens of languages and has been read by millions around the world. We join the countless people honoring Refaat by offering you our letterpress printing of his famous poem.
In a tribute to Refaat after his death, his student Shaimaa Ziara said, “today Refaat still rises up, through his legacy, his words, through his poems, his stories, and the minds that he has shaped… Refaat is like a wheat stalk: even when that wheat stalk is fallen to the ground, he is only falling to plant more seeds. We are those seeds, and we promise to stand tall and strong and to carry that legacy forward.”
We pair his poem with a masonite cut of a grain by Peter Schumann.
A portion of funds raised in the sale of this poster will go to Refaat’s widow and six children.
18” x 24”