Camp David Sentiments

(This poem was written on December 4, 2011)

The scene was set in the summer of 1978

President Carter invited Middle East rivals

To Camp David for more than a debate

But Egypt and Israel were the only arrivals

I felt then as I do now

That the PLO missed an opportunity

I could not understand how

How Palestinians could than avoid scrutiny

To dramatize our plight and gain international recognition

PLO member organizations did acts

Like the Munich Olympics’ devastation

I call it as it is, these are the facts

Attending the summit I stated

Would legitimize our struggle

For this I was actually hated

I was in a political toggle

Yasir Arafat had no agenda to hatch

As Israel refused to participate with a PLO delegation

Israel will only accept PLO members if they were to attach

To attach to a Jordanian configuration

There was a call to accept UN Resolution 242

And to amend the PLO charter

In exchange for US recognition and credibility too

But Arafat’s reluctance took us backwards and farther

The outcome of Camp David was a tragedy

Begin offered autonomy after 5 years

Isolated Egypt as if it were a commodity

And thereby dividing Arab unity with shears

In 1980 I advocated for Israeli recognition

When I visited the University of Illinois campus

I was confronted with dejection

Called a traitor, ruffled and put in a fuss

Camp David was not ideal I must admit

But Palestinians did not participate

Its fate could have been refit

I wonder, as I sit here and meditate

Fadi Zanayed

December 4, 2011

8:04 am

Pre-Camp David Sentiment

(This poem was written on December 4, 2011)

As a youngster in the 1970s I wanted to know

So I listened to the news at every avenue

Sat and engrossed myself about our foe

No end was the limit of my mind’s view

I read articles about Palestine

In magazines, newspapers and books

Listened as elders would discuss after we did dine

A discussion on Palestine was bait on hooks

Elders cheered as hijackings took place

But I knew that it was wrong

Frustration was painted on their face

As their chins dropped making it long

As I reflect about my father and his generation

They lost Palestine, not one fought in the 1948 war

Not one of them reminisced about an inspiration

Not one story about a military story or something more

Recently I learned of an Iraqi Colonel’s 1948 story

His command was attacking and gaining strength

Without cause his orders came from a phony

A King ordered him to cut the rope’s length

Black gold was pouring out of the Gulf’s well

Using it to our advantage should have been a plan

The Arab Oil Embargo of 1974 they tried to sell

Long gas lines exasperated the American

During the Yon kipper War, OPEC wanted to drive a wedge

Between America and Israel

But it really did strengthen Israel’s edge

Their powerful lobby was and still is for real

So in 1978 this was the scene before Camp David

As Sadat, Carter and Begin met

Tensions were very vivid

And my hopes were set

Fadi Zanayed

December 4, 2011

5:19 am