We Are Not Numbers

byAhmed Alnaouq, Pam Bailey, Ahmed Alnaouq (Read by), Sarah Monaghan (Read by), George Kreitem (Read by)

The Voices of Gaza’s Youth

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'We Are Not Numbers is not just a book — it's my life, their life, and our shared story . . . This is Gaza as it truly is, written by those who live it every day' MOTAZ AZIZA

'Powerful, humane and heroic . . . the voices of Palestinians soar. This is the most important collection of writing published today. It’s a book the world must know' JENNI FAGAN


Following the 2014 Gaza War and decades of oppression and resistance, storytelling platform We Are Not Numbers (WANN) was founded to give a voice to the youth of Gaza. Since then, young Palestinians, mostly living in the besieged Gaza Strip, have used the platform to chronicle the human impact of occupation and blockade. In doing so, they have passionately fought to be recognised not as numbers but as human beings with lives, hopes, and dreams.

Ten years on, this collection brings together the most impactful essay contributions of the last decade from emerging Palestinian writers, offering a sobering, tender, inspiring, and humanising view of Palestine through the eyes of its next generation of leaders. In an epilogue covering the most recent war in Gaza, the collection's editors Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey reflect on the personal tragedies they have faced - including the deaths of 21 of Ahmed's family members in a single bomb blast - as well as those writers able to take WANN's work forward and those no longer alive to do so.

In a rallying cry to onlookers around the world, We Are Not Numbers offers unparalleled insight into the real lives of the people of Gaza and imagines where we might go from here.

Picking up this book may seem hard because of the subject matter; putting it down is even harder. The voices of Gaza’s young writers are so moving and varied and astonishing. You’ll carry We Are Not Numbers in your heart for a very long time

Kamila Shamsie

About Ahmed Alnaouq

Ahmed Alnaouq is a Palestinian journalist and human rights activist based in London. He is the co-founder and director of We Are Not Numbers and a journalist with Palestine Deep Dive. Ahmed holds a degree in English Literature from Al-Azhar university in Gaza, and an MA in International Journalism from Leeds University, where he was a Chevening Scholar.

Pam Bailey is a social-justice activist and journalist based in Washington DC. She lived and worked in the Gaza Strip following the 2008/9 Israeli assault, and co-founded We Are Not Numbers. Today, in addition to her ongoing dedication to the Palestinian cause, she dedicates herself to two nonprofits that advocate for people detained in American prisons -- including one she co-founded in 2020, called More Than Our Crimes.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781804956878
  • Length: 506 minutes
  • Price: £14.00
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