Refaat Alareer was the coeditor of Gaza Unsilenced, editor of Gaza Writes Back, and author of If I Must Die. A native of Gaza City, he received his M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University College of London (UK) and his Ph.D. in English Literature at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. He taught world literature, comparative literature, and creative writing (fiction and non-fiction) at the Islamic University of Gaza and cofounded the organization We Are Not Numbers. He was killed on December 6, 2023, by an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza.