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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 recognised 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.

'This book is a jailbreak and a miracle' NAOMI KLEIN

'Essential . . . A project that insists on liberation' TA-NEHISI COATES

'You'll carry [it] in your heart for a long time' KAMILA SHAMSIE

'Wondrous, devastating and vibrant' BRYAN WASHINGTON

'Impossible to put down or forget' RIZ AHMED

'A vital book . . . a profoundly important literary event' CHINA MIEVILLE

'A brilliant collection of voices that lays bare the struggles and suffering of ordinary young Palestinians' MONICA ALI

'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

'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

© Ahmed Alnaouq and Pam Bailey 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025