The law asks what happened
Conscience asks why
This is an attempt to understand both
Before you read about the law, read the poem.
Before you read about the factory, look at the people of Gaza.
Before you read about the defendants, remember the four people whose photographs they carried onto the roof that morning.
Some stories are about guilt or innocence.
Others ask more difficult questions: what responsibilities do individuals owe to strangers, what responsibilities do companies bear for the uses of their products, and what should we do when law and conscience appear to diverge?
The Moog 4 case lies at that intersection. It is a story of engineers and poets, surgeons and journalists, factories and fighter aircraft, courts and conscience.
This website does not ask you to agree with or condemn the defendants. It asks only that you understand the evidence before deciding what their actions - and perhaps our own responsibilities - might mean.
If I must die
Refaat Alareer (1979-2023)
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze -
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself -
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale