The New York Times on the Power of Stories

By Kacy Cheslek

Imagine you didn’t have a name and instead were referred to by a number. You were just one among many. How could you make a name for yourself? Palestinians have asked this question for a long time, and they’ve recently been finding some answers.

Farah Stockman explores this idea in her Nov. 12, 2023 New York Times piece titled “What Happens When Palestinians Tell Their Stories Directly to the World?” She follows the experiences of Ahmed Alnaouq, a Palestinian who encourages others to use the power of their stories. His project, We Are Not Numbers, trains writers in Gaza so they can make names for themselves.

Mr. Alnaouq describes how his people are being reduced to numbers. He tells of those who died in a bombing of his hometown. The total number of deaths was reported by his local news, but their names were not mentioned. When people are considered in this perspective, as numbers, it is more difficult to empathize with them. A number is not a person. A number is not relatable.

"We are not numbers." Near East News Agency, 19 Nov. 2015, https://nena-news.it/gaza-la-scrittura-come-testimonianza-we-are-not-numbers/.

Being stripped of our names and stories is to be stripped of our identities. As the Palestinians are finding, our voices provide a way to combat this. They enable us to assert our identities as valuable individuals. Through a principle called narrative empathy, others can empathize with us as people through hearing our stories. They see our humanity in our emotions and actions. They see people like themselves. Mr. Alnaouq has made a powerful discovery: our stories hold our names.

To read more on narrative empathy and the power of stories, view the following:

Using Islander Stories to Discuss Sea-Level Rise / May 25, 2023

Sharing the Stories of Victims of Persecution in China / March 30, 2022

Portraits of Citizens in Ukraine / March 23, 2022