‘Succession’ Actor Brian Cox Reads Final Work Of Killed Palestinian Poet

Scottish actor Brian Cox took to social media to read a poem by Palestinian artist and university professor Refaat Alareer, killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.

The actor, who picked up a Golden Globe nomination Monday for his role as media mogul Logan Roy in the hit series Succession, read If I Must Die, a poem by Alareer, a Palestinian poet and teacher killed in Gaza on December 7th. The video was shared by the X account for the Palestinian Festival Of Literature.

The poem, written on November 1st, was Alareer’s last, a haunting prelude to his untimely death in the ongoing military campaign against Hamas by Israel in retaliation for the October 7th attack.

Alareer, a professor of English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza, taught the works of William Shakespeare. So, while its is poignant that his poem has been widely shared since his death, Alareer’s passions will resonate with Cox particularly, as a classically trained Shakespearean actor.

Over 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack that ignited the current phase of conflict. So far, around 18,200 Gazans have been killed in the subsequent Israeli campaign, according to news network Al Jazeera, with more than 50,000 others injured.

Cox was part of a collective of distinguished actors, authors and musicians who wrote an open letter early November imploring President Joe Biden and the United States Congress to advocate for an urgent de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, with the aim of preventing further loss of life.