We Are Not Numbers

A young 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. 

The ‘We Are Not Numbers’ project was founded in 2014 to give voice to the youth of Gaza. Published earlier this year and spanning a period of more than ten years, a book of the same name collects the stories of 50 young people from Gaza. Urgent and full of heart, it portrays their struggles, fears, and often terrible losses as they fight to be recognised not as numbers, but as human beings with hopes, dreams and lives worth living. 

We are honoured to welcome Ahmed Alnaouq, the book’s co-editor, to discuss this powerful project. Ahmed himself grew up in Gaza and was the inspiration for and the original project manager of We Are Not Numbers.