The Self Song of Palestine.

Umpteen assassinations.
Thousands homes demolished.
Ravenous land annexations.
Non-stop water exhausting, yet
so many wells obstructed.
Roaring tanks rolling.
Heavy guns firing.
Six settlement rings.
Many hundreds checkpoints blockings.

No free movement but restrictions.
People, desperate & impoverished.
Nothing passes in, but border impositions.
All life walks impeded.
At sea, gunships shelling.
Everywhere, bombs falling.
Unprecedented mass killings.
Alas humankind! poor little things!

Two trodden Doves, and,
An uprooted Olive tree.

Civilized Lament.

(an all-important note: before we get started…theses wills are not woven for any specificity in time, but rather for a time wherein "the idea" has been defeated in the isles of materialism & communism).

Intellectually befuddled onset:

The moon of those who departed bows like a bough in my mind…then, in the rush of noon, I find myself unable to control my memory, or even I can not remember anything which did not bear its own name at that moment. My imagination, memory & feelings, which supposedly are to be shared by everyone, are being swept through up to the time when my memory is exclusively for martyrs only. A thousand bird at the gate of my heart are standing in fight-like lines, articulating their readiness for the anthem of martyrs, and the maestro of martyrs is in the forefront leading the raging anthem.
Now I can acquaint you with them on my own will, but I cannot demarcate the details of myself, and all is bygone but the letters of their names…

He was my friend…
But disappeared in the hustle of martyrs, but still is two steps away from my heart and the body. He was the country, but now is a far way in the crowd, but…dwelled in the memory as part of eternity. He was like a string of smoke, melting in the crowd and walking backward away from the city, but the more he walked away; the closest he became.

He was my friend…
But vanished in the hustle of martyrs, and therefore became the entire country. He became the one in all men ever after. Oh, my comrade whose perfume in this womb is commingled, I miss YOU. You are as close as the carotid artery is to me, but I miss you since the birth of the new dawn. When there is drought, I'm no longer reluctant in parting the body and pursuing you.

He was my friend…
But he no longer is here, nor is he in his body, but still I can see him in the face of my city. In his departure, the murderous swarms were trembling. They realized the outrageousness of the crime they committed. The killers realized the sinful atrocity committed by one hellish, ignorant soldier in a body that knew nothing but revolution, and the rifle was so intimately infatuated with his shoulder as though it had been a branch to be hung upon. The idea found nothing except a dwelling in his eyes & heart. He was the sea…and everything else was mere froth…

The moment at which the body departed, killers realized that they committed unconsciously the ultimate crime which a rifle never achieved. By assassinating him, the thought that they would assassinate all country, but they promptly realized that the entire city would march in his wedding procession rising the flag and vowing vengeance. Even stones were yelling (oh! All names listed for systematized, disordered and broken assassination, you have the eternal finality, but for the coward is immortal mortality).

If anyone thought, for a split second, himself capable of assassinating the sea, he would be committing suicide by an absolute stupidity.

Pre-hustle talk:
He was telling us- just before going into the timeless journey of death in the haze of invisibility & martyrs' jostle- that revolution can never be compared but to an orange. The revolutionist's mission is to peel off this revolution, make it prepared to be the volcano which is like jasmine and then to strip off the revolution to be relished by everyone. Whoever attempts to make the orange as an ornament, he will be getting it off the right track and thus betrays its principles:

• Revolution was born to be living in the hearts of furious, change-desiring masses.
• For once, let people savor the sweetness of this orange! Let them breathe freedom!
• Make our air & orangish orange out of this revolution in the grayish space.

Martyrs' wills:

• It is impossible to resist occupation with a diseased mind power.
• Victory will never come only by the rifle, and we cannot live the philosophy of the revolution without rifle.
• Our life: is the stage in which we can prove our presence for the others and be martyrs.
• If some people say that revolution is unfavorable phenomenon in many communities, I say that this is untenable reason to be bogged into the morass of compromise & ideological turnabout. Instead, it should be an impetus for the revolution to be vindicated.
• When some "brothers" try to extenuate their fall in mud, this does not mean that we all have to fall or abdicate the revolution. But once principles are overlooked, the revolution is doomed.
• Affiliation must not be determined by any faction, but rather by what thought adopted by this faction. And even if your faction slants away from principles, this unshakable principles will bolster you to grab truth, away from utilitarianism. You should be principled, not factionalist.
• Don't be passengers in life, but you have to make out of your death the compass which will guide whoever lost track.
• Never will the Flag fall.
• Martyrs sacrifice their own lives to keep it high, so do not surrender at the pretext of their departure.
• Conscripted to being revolutionist means you have taken this responsibility, so you should first be conscious of the gravity of your responsibility, and then you should else know well that moralistic & intellectual commitment is the real criterion of your success.

Tell Me, WHY????

That night, I had a broken night's sleep. For the first time in my life, I felt so lonely and disoriented in this disconcerting world. I had this feeling of my life being adrift. Excruciatingly, I mulled over my status, as I am breathing out my last days in university. but with no or very little hope to get a job or get myself out of Gaza, (one might regard me as a downer, but in fact, this dim view is shared by the majority of people, here). The outlook for the future seems rather dreary, trouncing any smack of hope that could stealthily creep up on our distressed hearts.

I still vividly can recall that real nightmare of the twenty-one day war which devoured the last feeble hope we foolishly thought we could live on. It was twenty one days of absolute hell which left no stone unturned, yet the unheard-of, bloodcurdling bombing of civilians which was ostensibly in self-defense against the ferocious Gazans. Houses were reprehended by F-16 jets and the ones which remained intact were condemned by scores of disgruntled missiles. The irony seems to be beyond cognition-How the luckiest we were!! while the entire world was celebrating a brilliant display of colors, marking the happy new year with showy parades of fireworks which enshrouded the sky by its blinding light as if it were right after sun-up in the noontime. As it may seem to a fanciful alien from Mars, we enjoyed the same auspicious experience but with much more effervescent fervidness. The kindly Israeli angels resolved to lavish on us with brand new, hellish type of fireworks. Normally, we see the fireworks ascending to the sky, but in our case they gently descends from the sky, and I dare say we ain't seen nothing yet.

As life in Gaza worsens, everyday I wander off the streets looking into dead faces-- the faces that are very much less visited by smile. People fear for their future, oh ya, their promising future….what the heck I am talking about?? Have you ever heard of the one who is clutching at straws in hope for better change?? We are much alike, but still our case is in irremediable despair. It is fashioned as a raft of hope that might help keep us a float as we are desperately trying to negotiate the snags and whirlpools of life. They are indulging in the masked unemployment and barely surviving the suffocating siege-particularly after the recent aggression. In the aftermath of the war, which left massive destruction to our houses, we heard many pusillanimous Arab leaders calling for immediate reconstruction operations. If they had only
succeeded in, of course other than condemning, begging the international council to give birth to a resolution in order to stop the war, then they could have lift the siege, and therefore things would be let in. But at least they got something for being good boys, the generous Israel declared a daily three-hour fire cessation to allow "civilians" get basic necessities….but they rarely did, the Israeli snipers were diligently vigilant and many Palestinian ingrates were killed during the so-called momentary cease-fire. Finally, and after seeming eternity in hard labor, a unilateral cease-fire was declared by Israelis, but the issue of withdrawal "to be discussed later"………..

Everything in Gaza is blinking tears, even our children are bemoaning their childhood, which said Good-bye long time ago. They don't even have the lowest form of that of any normal child in the world.

The injustice of it is almost perfect; water is being rationed for the Palestinian child, while Jewish child splashes about in it.

After the war, most of children are still psychologically suffering. On hearing any airplane overhead, they become panic-stricken and involuntarily run in for cover. Even in pastime, I watch them playing, hey, guess what?? playing Arabs & Jews game with guns(a gun-like piece of wood) in their hands, and the winner is, for sure, us. Their behavior irrevocably mirrors their desire for freedom, for returning to their ancestral land. There is only one question for which I crave an answer before I get along with death: what wrong, or more specifically, what crime those children have committed? Tell me...

Gaza's Tragedy: Is the situation past Hope?

Since Israel inflicted its vicious siege upon the Gaza Strip, it has almost become wholly sealed off from the rest of the world. This has resulted in unthinkably terrible conditions and drastically affected all walks of life.

Most notably, the ongoing closure of borders has caused the medical system to collapse, leading to steep decline in medicines, medical equipment and food supplies, that, with every passing of a moment, jeopardizes the lives of hundreds of patients. Sequencing in a lack of job opportunities and the absence of permanent income, unemployment has aggravated the people's financial conditions, and therefore flung them into poverty strike.

A much frequently raised question is that will the international community, while observing this continuing massacre, move beyond words? It also questions the undignified stance of the Arab world on this issue!

Reports, being issued by many international human rights organizations, are countless. Everyday, too, we hear official statements of condemnation & criticism from all over the world. Also, calls for lifting the siege are being hollowly made. But all has been in vain-Where is the world's human conscience! This can by no means be rational; what a cop-out! Couldn't UN, EU, and America-the so-called womb of democracy-do anything but stand inactively at the sight!

In fact, the Israel-led siege (note I say "Israel-led" because the entire world seems to be an accomplice) is part of a most inclusive presentation of the repressive policy of the occupation being imposed on the Palestinians in all occupied territories-either in Jerusalem where schemes are currently being carried out in terms of demolishing houses, separating the Holy City from the rest of the occupied territories in an attempt to obliterate any Palestinian trace, and declaring it unreachable to most prayers in Ramadan-the Holy Month.

Any signs of hope that peace talks will evolve sound to be impassable amidst Israel's stiff rebuff of any possible approach to issues like permanent freezing of settlements expansion project, Jerusalem & the fundamental refugees' right of return. Any attempt at peace progress would seem futile because of Israel's high-flown conditions. Thus, there is obviously no manifestation that would indicate any deliberatively serious involvement of the international body to try enforcing its resolutions.

The question that should automatically be raised is this: is there still any chance for peace while Israel constantly menaces the existence of an entire people? The truth is that all nefarious crimes being committed by Jews serve only to dedicate more occupation.

Let's face up to the fact that Israel is committing a premeditated hideous war crimes and therefore must be prosecuted.

It high time for those leaders, of wakeful human conscience, to walk their talk, to try stop Palestine's tragedy which has been going on for more than six decades. It is time to dispatch the occupation and help establish the Palestinian state, because neither false intentions nor empty denouncement can ever make peace...

The World I Live In!

Unfortunately, man-made violence is today frequent and spread across the world. Instead of combating this culture of violence, it is being encouraged. There are not enough real efforts exerted to combat the violence being perpetrated in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan & the Sudan…etc. children are glued to computers screens and the internet, waging electronic war games and learning how easy killing can be. Perpetrated from the cockpit of an air-plane, killing is represented as little more than the pushing of a button.

In terms of making or promoting peace and justice, efforts are scarce. Those who can and are able to make peace are reluctant, as war industries are more profitable for the industrialized countries and dollar-petrol nations. The word "justice" has lost its real meaning as powerfulness and forcefulness are now the determinant of what justice means.

The world in which we are living is confused rather than confusing; nevertheless, it might be regarded as confusing. Due to the exclusively destructive effects of humankind upon earth, such as swift-waning natural resources, threatening global warming and land desertification; the world is confused. As I said, the word is less confusing than it is confused in itself, because one cannot differentiate easily between good and bad, between terrorism and self-defense and between occupation and liberation; or humans' capacity for atrocity has become unflinching. Here is why I assume that the world is the victim of man's abuse, because all factors akin to the not-achieved justice & harmony, no matter what the world is, are of man's direct intervention.

The Middle East is now at an advanced stage of gravity, it is one of the world's most serious problems and insistent effort is required to terminate the conflict. Taking Palestine as a major part of this conflict; the truth is that we Palestinians have been occupied for more than forty years. Israel has stolen our land, practiced ethnical cleansing against the Palestinians, built Jewish settlements as part of its self-imposition policy and stolen Palestine's resources. To date, Israel has never been reluctant in its policy. On the contrary, it continues proceeding further implementing the ingrate's no-land-owner policy. But what I need to assert here is that solving the Palestinian problem would pave the way for solving any other related problems like those of Iran's, Iraq and Afghanistan; and if no practical solution is found, the situation is more likely to exacerbate more and more.

The Palestinians can no longer sustain occupation and suppression; we need our freedom now. In the West Bank is the apartheid wall, which has dismantled it, where the Palestinians are being treated in the most degrading and dehumanizing way. Shifting the ground to Gaza, where the Palestinians—of course I am one—are crippled as a result of the siege, the worst part of the overall problem.

Some of the Israeli official panjandrums regard us as worthless. Away from hyperbole, this is the reality of the Palestinians being treated wantonly. For example, an Israeli soldier can do nothing easier than dehumanizing the Palestinians; perhaps he get a bang out of this act of dehumanization!!

"the highest result of education is tolerance", said by the author of "The World I Live In", Helen Keller; education aims at teaching people how to tolerate one another and preach reciprocal understanding among people. Yesterday I read a report, released by Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, highlighting Israel's policies on students leaving Gaza and evaluating students' request to travel abroad. However I am aware of this, the report was a hit to the back of my head. It made mentions of Israel's encroachment on students' right of free movement and that hundreds of students who have been accepted by different academic institutions around the world simply cannot leave to pursue their studies. In addition, Israel's stringent endeavor to bar any Palestinian from getting in or out. Thousands of Palestinians who worked or studied outside were denied their right to return home only because of the termination of limit permitted. The precariousness of the situation is further worsened by Israel's menace that Palestinians exceeding the period of time given to them will lose their ID's and no longer be allowed to return home again. And due to the difficult conditions resulting from the occupation, many Palestinians have been at the end of their ropes. In other words, they have no other alternative but to travel outside for study or work.

To end this all, a strenuous effort should be exerted to force Israel lift the siege, ease the situation and allow free movement. Peoples of the world, especially the people in the West, need to be galvanized and therefore do their best to help end this problem.

A Little Painful Perspective!

Since 2007, Israel has inflicted its brutal siege upon the heart-trodden one million and a half Palestinian in the Gaza Strip as part of its warfare policy. Since then, the situation has not changed at all, not even a crumb. In contrast, Israel relentlessly is further intensifying the blockade and preventing even the lowest form of life from reaching the besieged Gazans. A 22-day assault waged by Israeli murderous forces came on top of this siege, in which more than 1.500 civilians were killed.

On hearing about the plight of the Gaza Strip-especially if referred to the physical ambiance of the Strip as most true prison, one may take this as a dramatization of the situation or a magnification of a non-issue. Oh, alas, I wish it was true! But the fact, undoubtedly, is that the Palestinian in Gaza are moaning under the cruelty of the Israeli jailor.

On the one hand, I was once wandering onshore at night, deeply roaming in my thoughts and staring at the sadly moving waves of the sea. All was motionless except that in the distance, the waves were lapping against a few dimly lighted fishing boats scattered at the body of the sea. At first, I got awe-stricken by the sight of the sea being dressed in the nightgown, but then I probed the affectionate attitude of the sea towards those distressed boats. I could touch the grievance of the long mourning waves, as well as its sympathy for those blockaded boats—the boats which were cautiously loitering along the sea as if they were thoughtful of the limit line drawn by the Israeli naval forces.

As I was fishing myself out of my cares sea, suddenly a painful reality struck my mind. It was the fact that reminded me of the heartless siege; the boats had no courage to move further into the sea. The lights, in the distance, imparted an extra element to the appalling reality, and again—again I jolted as I was gazing in fear at the blobs lining horizontally all within my sight. The lights were unquestionably forced to demarcate the terminal area allowed by the jail keeper, and thus, the entire west side of Gaza is actually beset.

In actual fact, the situation is a concrete reality. Fishermen, who are tenaciously fighting to secure their subsistence, are continually exposed to the aggression and the infringement of Israeli naval forces. Israelis prohibit fishermen from fishing further in their own water; the distance has been reduced to the utmost of 3 miles.

On the other hand, about a couple of weeks ago, my friend, living on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, invited me to visit him. I happily accepted his invitation. After the night had fallen, I asked him to go out in the open air, and we actually did. There I had a flashback of lights, but I tried hard to neglect it. The view far in the distance would not abandon my mind. Once again, unfortunately, I had been reminded of the heartbreaking reality as I could sorrowfully observe the very long line of settlements' lights being guarded by Israeli military jeeps which were vigilantly moving along the border.

Equally, too, either the south or the east, the electrified barbed wire fences are cruelly extended alongside the borders. The Israeli seems to have got the talent for perfectly designing prisons! Perhaps the map got terrified when the Israelis had charted the Gaza prison!

One Good Reason.

Gaza would not need to drown in blood once again for its people to realize that they live under difficult conditions. Gaza would not need to drown in a bloodbath before it wakes up from its shock of the fight between brothers, who are fighting over limited, transient authority.

Had the elite been true to the people, things would have been different. Moreover, the writers, journalist and politicians would have done much more to handle things in a different way more felicitous for people living in the region.

We will not be fair to Gaza if we leave it…to the control of thugs, and those shouldering rifles to decide its future with a bundle of meaningless, yet deceitful slogans. We will not be fair to all Palestinians if we let part of our own land, which has been the first to witness the occupation reduced. However it has not been liberated in the full sense of the term, because Israel still maintains cruel stranglehold over all borders plunging Gaza's million and a half Palestinian in a prison-like matchbox.

Depression and hopelessness seem to be a characteristic features of the wiped out body of Gaza, where people have been forced to live under Israel-led siege which has almost obliterated all aspects of life. What kind of example has Gaza set after the reduction of the occupation five years ago or so? Instead of working to rebuild what Israel's occupying forces had destroyed after the recent assault, salving their wounds, treating psychological problems and unifying efforts to resist the occupation, the Palestinians in Gaza tend to violently debate or sometimes--within the same family- quarrel pettily over their political affiliation. What a disgraceful behavior! Hasn't the time come to get ourselves out of our slumbering torpor? They cannot blame their inability only upon the occupation, though it is the driving force behind it.

For ten years, the Palestinians in Gaza tried Fatah and experienced a mismanaged and disorderly Palestinian authority, and then they have come, for change, to experience Hamas, but it is too late. On one hand, Hamas has internationally found itself abhorred by the entire world, and unable to fix the situation. The bottom line, at least in my opinion, is that neither Fatah nor Hamas proved any prosperous stage in Gaza's history, but rather miserable flops and that the problem is not as easy as anyone could imagine. And for the upcoming few months as Hamas governance is about over, I-like so many Palestinians of course, fear that another bloody infighting will break out—God I hope not…

Undeniably, Gaza is like a big prison, but ignorance & will-o'-the-wisp have made the Gaza Strip inferno on earth for everyone. Now it is much more obvious that it is all a "struggle for power". Have we forgotten about our fundamental issues- like the refugees' right of return and the cause of Jerusalem, or the cupidity for office has turned our hearts stone-like to the extent of being blind to our people suffering? After what I have seen, it is no strange to me to learn that we no longer matter to our leaders

There are more than one thousand reasons that push people to leave Gaza. However there is a reason to be optimistic. This is our only homeland and this alone admonishes us to roll up our sleeves and start right away to rebuild what has been destroyed. We must bravely accept the challenge and start forging ahead on our avenue toward restoring our glory. We should have faith…believe in our potentials to continue fighting for our reason.

Gaza over the past four years.

Plain Words, but Painful Reality!

Many of the world's non-Arab countries—across Europe and the U.S., even Arabs, have associated the name "Gaza" with wars, weapons, explosions, blood, poverty, anarchy…and recently with the in-fighting and the trails of destruction wrought by Israel's recent assault.

Gaza is a small coastal enclave, approximately 26 miles long and 6 miles wide. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Under normal circumstances, Gaza used to stagger under the burden of supporting for its inhabitants. More than half of its population are refugees, forced out of the historical Palestine during the war in 1948 (al-Nakba).

Gaza is fragile to be on its own. Before the mid-June 2007 when Israel started closing borders, Gaza had mainly been depending on the Israeli economics. Three months later, the Israeli government declared the Gaza Strip as "hostile entity", and therefore decided to take more rigorous procedures that would very much tighten the siege. Since then, Gaza has indeed been severed from the outer world, and life has gradually been deteriorating until the very present moment…

Gaza's normal signs of life no longer exist….

over the past two years, people have been made to live under different kinds of suffering; they have been denied the right to free movement caused by the shutdown of borders. Either for urgent treatment, studying or trade, Israel wouldn't budge! Health system has been suffering from a sharp shortage of medications and medical equipment. Important types of medicines in stock are next to zero, and many of the life-giving medical devices broke down due to the repeated power failure and the intricacy of getting new units installed. Because of these critical medical conditions, the number of victims has been daily on the increase.

Similarly, Business and economic sections have been completely incapacitated, and therefore this has led to a dangerous stagnation in all dynamic components of life. As a result, the majority of the populace are now poverty-stricken since there is no sustainable source of livelihood.

Well worse is the crisis of electricity. We all probably remember the moment Gaza was clad in absolute darkness when Israeli airplanes had destroyed Gaza's only power plant in June 2006. Since the destruction, the Gaza Strip has been continually crumbling under the brunt of the electricity cut.

What made things much worse is the siege that followed. And now because of the siege, there is little limited amounts of fuel being allowed to operate Gaza's power plant, and most often people have to take turns. Most people have power cuts of at least 8 hours per day; some do not have electricity for long as 12 hours a day. And obviously this is not enough to maintain a respectable human life.

Crushed Hope:

This is no Hollywood—even the most laudable Hollywood filmmakers ever could not be able to put what is happening in Gaza into a movie. Seldom have a people experienced such an affliction! Gazans do not even have access to basic necessities of life. People seem to have forgotten the thought of any possible improvement as they have touched no auspicious signs of hope. As flagrantly violating all human rights, Israel continues to unjustly practice its offensive policy against the Palestinians.

This bleak prospect has been further swelled by Israel's latest ferocious assault on the Gaza Strip, which left nearly 1,500 dead and more than 5000 injured, mostly civilians, let alone the extensive destruction of Gaza infrastructure. Up to 2011 building were destroyed, houses, schools, public & private facilities and mosques included. Even the normal practices of life were targeted as some of the wedding halls were also completely destroyed.

Now it has been 8 months since the Israel's pogrom ended, and life has never been any worse as the blockade is being instantly intensified. The Gaza Strip has not yet had a chance to recover as the much-needed goods & items—especially building materials, are not allowed in by Israeli authorities. Without houses, people have had to live miserably in tents provided by UNRWA.

And this is 2009:

The succession of agony has not yet stopped, and sometimes I wonder if it would ever end! People still live in the prison of Gaza. Israel still adamantly closes the borders and controls the passing of everything… Nothing has been changed, actually…

Ramadan, the Holy Month, is perceived as a joyous religious occasion by the Arab world, but the case is different in the Gaza Strip. Muslim countries but Gaza are now illuminated by Ramadan's special imbuement. This year, Ramadan seasonal features exist no more; markets have run low on Ramadan goods and items, and people have no financial means to purchase Ramadan's basics. At sunset, for example, families sit happily around Ramadan feasts and enjoy Ramadan's sacred gathering. But in Gaza, people have lost the taste of Ramadan; they suffer daily from power cut as they gather for iftar (the fast-breaking meal). Gaza families are still reminiscent of the war; they have deep sorrow over the lost beloved ones. It is heart-breaking to see a grief-stricken family or a teary mother looking at the empty place where her son used to sit before the Israeli war machine murdered him.

Children are no less sad than adults, and living conditions haven't been any easy on them. Previously in Ramadan, markets used to be teeming with Ramadan toys—Ramadan fanous in particular(a small lantern, lit by a tiny light. Now they have been unable to get these toys because of the siege. However, they have managed to fashion handmade ones—it could be a can of cola with its bottom nail-pierced, lit by a small candle.

What a coincidence! This year's Ramadan has come simultaneously with the new school year. As you know, this is a yearly event which needs special preparations. As nothing could pass in such as stationery & school uniform, students have been forced to go to schools with their old belongings, fortunate enough if not lost during the war…