SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS

Sixty-seven years of occupation and oppression  

Sixty-seven years of confiscation and colonization
Sixty-seven years of destabilization and devastation
Sixty-seven years of dehumanization and deprivation
Sixty-seven years of peace plans and pieces of lands
Sixty-seven years of road blocks and land locks
Sixty-seven years of un-stabilization and un-justification
Sixty-seven years of imprisonment and impoverishment

Sixty-seven years of terrorizing and traumatizing

Sixty-seven years of exiling and expunging

Sixty-seven years of erecting and eradicating

Sixty-seven years of antagonizing and annihilating

Sixty-seven years of segregation and separation  

 Sixty-seven years of UN resolutions and UN reports

Sixty-seven years of abandonment and abomination

Sixty-seven years of uprooting and uprising

Sixty-seven years of refugees and re-imprisonment

Sixty-seven years of prisoner exchanges and promises exasperated

Sixty-seven years of US backing and US double standards

Sixty-seven years of UN veto and UN violations

Sixty-seven years of diplomacy shuffling and diplomatic failures

Sixty-seven years of promised hopes and promises commandeered

Sixty-seven years of terrorizing assaults and tumultuous  assassinations

Sixty-seven years of  horrifying  remembrances and holocaustic reverberations  

Sixty-seven years of status quo appeasement and structured apartheid 

Jenin

(This poem was written in 2010.)

The reader may not want to read this poem

For the descriptions herein may make you cry

It may even move you away from your apathy

So if you are prepared to activate your soul, continue to read

But if you are going to read this poem and walk away

Walk away without any feeling--then stop, stop right here

Last night I received an email

Horrific pictures of an atrocity

Inflicted by a people, mighty as can be

Against a defenseless people, weak as can be seen

There is this one picture out of many that horrifies me

It is of a dismembered body part that is unrecognizable

Is it a leg or an arm?

Is it a part of a stomach, buttock and leg?

Is it parts of the legs and half a buttock?

You cannot really tell

The middle part of this body part is missing the skin

Internal organs or intestines or bones or all three are exposed

The color red is significantly present

The curvy maligned internal parts render the severity of the atrocity

What barrage of shells exploded upon this body?

Was it a guided missile?

Why would a missile hit this person?

What did he or she do to deserve this dismemberment?

Is it a part of a child?

A mother

A grandmother

A sister

On the other hand, is she a mother, grandmother, sister all in one?

Is it your brother?

Your father

Your grandfather

On the other hand, is he a father, grandfather, brother all in one?

Do you care? 

Look And Tell Me

 LOOK AND TELL ME

13 year old Palestinian girl, Waad Tamimi, confronts Israeli terrorist soldiers. 

Look at the determination in this young Palestinian girl's eyes,
Look at her clinched fist of rage,
Look at her posture...so brave,
Look at her fortitude, courage and strength,
Look at her grit, perseverance and bravery,
Look at the lack of fear that she exhibits,
Then tell me whether she can be your child,
Tell me if you are proud,
Tell me if within your comforts you realize,
Tell me if you realize the human element,
Tell me if you understand the occupation,
Tell me if you understand the dehumanization of a people,
Tell me if you know that Israeli soldiers are terrorists,
Then tell me if you are doing anything about what you know

(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)