We Are Not Numbers: Amplifying the Voices of Gaza's Youth

Join Harvard Book Store and Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund for a powerful evening of solidarity and storytelling as acclaimed authors and activists come together to lift up the voices of Gaza’s youth. Through readings from We Are Not Numbers: Voices of Gaza’s Youth, this event amplifies stories too often silenced—of resilience, love, loss, and the will to live amid genocide. This event will feature opening remarks from the co-editors of We Are Not Numbers, Pam Bailey and Ahmed Alanouq, and readings by Daniel José Older, Salma Shawa, Khury Petersen-Smith, Autumn Allen, and George Abraham. Following the readings, will be a discussion on censorship and repression of Palestinian voices lead by Hannah Moushabeck.
Proceeds of the book support We Are Not Numbers, a project providing mentorship and a global platform for young Gazan writers. Pam Bailey will sign books after the presentation.

RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a copy of We Are Not Numbers and pick it up at the event.

Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event.

A teenage girl stares at her roof, hoping it won’t collapse over her head. A young student searches the Internet for photos of libraries around the world, hoping he’ll be able to visit them one day. Another walks around the city, taking notes of all the buildings she dreams of repairing.
These are the stories of young people from Gaza, born under Israeli occupation and blockade. They are people who have endured unspeakable struggles and losses, who keep fighting to be recognized not as numbers, but as human beings with hopes, dreams, and lives worth living.
We Are Not Numbers was founded in 2014 to give voice to the youth of Gaza. In this collection—vital, urgent and full of heart, spanning over ten years to the present moment—we gain an unparalleled insight into the past, as well as the current and next generation of Palestinian leaders, artists, scientists and scholars and imagine where we might go from here.

“Essential . . . A project that insists on liberation.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates
“A rebellion against the singular story. An insightful, multifaceted glimpse into the besieged Gaza Strip, where millions of people continue to confront a genocide waged by an Israeli regime.” — Mohammed el-Kurd
“With lovingly crafted words and stories, the authors in We Are Not Numbers open portals in Israel’s apartheid wall, inviting readers into the impossible realities of life under siege in Gaza. The collective commitment to doing whatever it takes to produce this extraordinary symphony of testimony is evident on every page. This book is a jailbreak—and a miracle.” — Naomi Klein
“We Are Not Numbers is not just a book—it’s my life, their life, and our shared story. I know some of these brave writers; I’ve walked the same streets, felt the same fear, and shared the same dreams under Gaza’s skies. These pages carry the truth of our struggle and the beauty of our humanity. This is Gaza as it truly is, written by those who live it every day.” — Motaz Azaiza, award-winning Palestinian photojournalist
“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

Pam Bailey is a freelance journalist and social-justice activist. She lived and worked in the Gaza Strip immediately following the 2008/9 Israeli assault. Today, she is a communications consultant and writer/editor for nonprofits such as ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies. She has also founded More Than Our Crimes, a nonprofit initiative focused on assuring second chances for individuals convicted of violent crimes in the United States. She is based in Washington DC.

Ahmed Alnaouq grew up in Gaza where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from al-Azher University. Ahmed was the inspiration for, and original project manager of, We Are Not Numbers. He later won the UK’s prestigious Chevening scholarship and earned a master’s degree in international journalism from Leeds University. He also serves as advocacy and outreach officer for the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Ahmed’s writings have been published by the Gulf News, New Arab, and other websites. He is currently based in London.

Daniel José Older, a lead story architect for Star Wars: The High Republic, is the internationally best-selling author of many comics and twenty books, including the Young Adult series the Shadowshaper Cypher, which was named one of the best fantasy books of all time by TIME magazine and one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. He won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for numerous others. Find his books and online writing classes here: http://danieljoseolder.net/

Salma Shawa is a Palestinian content creator and publishing professional who is originally from Gaza. She uses her social media platforms to advocate and educate people about Palestine. You can find her online @salma.shawa_.

Khury Petersen-Smith is the Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow and the Co-Director of the New Internationalism Project at IPS. He researches U.S. empire, borders, and migration and strategizes with activists to work against the violence that the U.S. carries out and supports around the world. Khury focuses especially on U.S. militarism in the Middle East and in the Pacific, and movements that resist it. He graduated from the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Massachusetts, after completing a dissertation on U.S. military bases in the Pacific. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2023 Black Voices for Ceasefire statement, which was signed by over 6,000 Black activists, artists, and scholars.

Autumn Allen is an educator, an editor, an award-winning author, and a children’s literature specialist. Her debut young adult novel, All You Have To Do (Kokila/Penguin, 2023), was a People Magazine must-read for fall 2023, a Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of 2023, a Black Caucus of the ALA debut honor award winner, and is long listed for the Massachusetts Book Award. Her picture books, Step On Board: Sculpting a Memorial to Harriet Tubman, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and Answered Prayers, illustrated by Charly Palmer, are forthcoming from Knopf. Autumn is a senior editor at Barefoot Books and she teaches literature, writing and publishing to students of all ages. Autumn grew up in Boston and lives in Massachusetts with her family.

George Abraham (they/هو) is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, and performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the Editor-at-Large of Mizna, and co-editor of Heave Looks Like Us: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025) which was long-listed for the Palestine Book Award. They are a graduate of Northwestern’s Litowitz MFA+MA program, and teach at Amherst College as a Writer-in-Residence.

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author and book worker who was raised in a family of publishers and booksellers and learned the power of literature at a young age. Hannah has worked in publishing for over a decade at companies such as Chronicle Books, The Quarto Group, and Simon & Schuster. She now runs Interlink Publishing, the only Palestinian-owned publisher in the United States, alongside her family. Her debut picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (Chronicle Books) won The New England Book Award and The Arab American Book Award. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.

Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational organization working to inform elected officials and the public about the need for a more just and peaceful U.S. foreign policy. Learn more at masspeaceaction.org.

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