Moved beyond words... A young Israeli/Jewish student approached me requesting to use words from a poem of mine, below, for a tattoo 'to honor Palestine.'
My poem in question was written years ago, but the young reader wrote: 'your Letter was speaking right out of my heart in the summer of 2014, that is why I for my part decided to choose your poem instead of Suheir Hammad or any one else... your poem was the best reflection of my thoughts and feelings in this horrible summer.'
As an Arab with a Palestinian grandmother, who was made to leave her home/land at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers, I found this note of solidarity from a stranger incredibly heartening. People can be so breathtakingly beautiful when they struggle to overcome anger, fear or hatred and instead choose to forgive, connect, and honor their higher allegiances... to Humanity!
What's more, this young lady's courage and compassion did not come without a price and were putting a serious strain on her family relations :/
Here's more from her remarkable correspondence:
'My whole family, now, I have a breaking with everyone of them, except my mother and grandparents of course. I have family in Israel too, they broke up with me a week ago. I didn't use hard words, I didn’t want to discuss Israel, cause I know, it’s wasted time. Their brain wash sits so deeply... My famliy are the people who understand me, who share the same kind of morals I have... but it breaks my heart... to watch my people ... people who were victims not long before ...doing the same things to another nation..
I don't have words to describe my despair, and this blindness... I am so full of hatred for Zionism... and my whole family, they are all Zionists... Therefore I understand your words absolutely, I for myself also lost hope in humanity... I think I need a few Jewish guys fighting for Palestine to build it up... I think there are not enough of them.
And to be honest, it’s a bit hard for me at the moment too, to separate between Jewish people and Israeli, between Israeli & Zionists, & between Jewish culture and the things happening today... I know I should separate it..but I am so disappointed and heartbroken seeing these things happening... Let us hope for a better future... When Palestine is like Palestine was before, when Arabs & Jews lived peacefully together !!! Thank you Yahia 😊"
Amen! You may call me a dreamer, but so long as there are people of conscience so deeply troubled by injustice and the status quo, there is hope. Below, is my poem:
Open Letter to Israel
He who fights monsters should see to it that, in the process, he does not become a monster. — Nietzsche
Tell me, what steel entered your heart,
what fear made you rabid,
what hate drove out pity?
How could you forget
that how we fight a battle
determines who we become,
when did you grow reckless
with the state of your soul?
We are responsible for our enemy,
compassion is to consider the role
that we play in their creation.
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
… If you poison us, do we not die?
and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
Strange, how one hate enables another;
how they are like unconscious allies,
darkly united in blocking out the Light.
Yes, we can lend ideas our breath, but ideals —
Peace, Justice, Freedom — require our entire lives
and, all who are tormented by such ideals
must learn to make an ally of humility.
Truth, and conscience, can be like large, bothersome flies
— brush them away and they return, buzzing louder
nearly 2,000 dead, in Gaza, 500 children
no, these are unbearable casualties to ignore
To speak nothing of the intangible casualties:
damage done to our collective psyche, trust, and sleep
no more nightmares, please, give us back our dreams
we can still begin, again, and must
wisdom is a return to innocence.
© Yahia Lababidi
(Images: Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, Basel Yazouri / ActiveStills
Christ of Galilee - Pixabay)
UPDATE: Just as I published this post, a dove landed on my windowsill... coincidence? And then, just like that, the elusive, auspicious creature took off. Here’s a picture: