Poem by an 11th Grade Palestinian student
This simple but expressive poem is attempted on the lines of traditional Arabic poetry, i.e. where every line should rhyme (couplets).
What is amazing is not only the content and sentiment, but the ability to use good English and compress a great deal of ideas into this relatively short piece of verse.
The definition of occupation
Occupied, terrorized, genocide /
while the whole world is hypnotized,
Sixty years, incessant tears /
no day passes by without countless fears
For our lives, our wives, our children cry /
yet the world turns away, and our spirits die.
For my land, I do stand /
but I remain hopeless without a helping hand,
>>>>Oppression, suppression, depression /
of every aspect of my life, you've taken possession,
Our weapons are stones, to protect our homes /
but your bulldozers win and terror roams,
Yours are tanks, helicopters, and military jeeps /
to kill the young man, as his mother weeps,
You control our electricity, you control our seas /
you control our streets, and uproot our trees,
You close our schools, our children can't learn /
you deny the refugees their right to return,
Suffering orphans, under your persecution /
when they rise up, they face execution,
Families are separated, and farmers (merely) recall /
the land they lost by your Apartheid Wall,
Through your diplomacy and your foreign relations /
you attempt to justify and give credence to your occupation,
Palestine is my land, and I won't let you take it /
and while you put the world to sleep, I try to wake it.
Abdelnasser Rashid, April 15, 2006
PALESTINE
--
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
.
Freedom to me is
