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Peace Fought, Peace Lost

I met a man who came from away
With no friends, no money, no English
Everything against him

But he was proud
He had two hands, he wanted to work
Not accept help

This man went to Toronto and almost starved
Before he found somewhere to eat and sleep

This man has two degrees, he’s a priest, he risked his life defending human rights
He can’t go to law school because his war-torn country can’t send his degrees
How ludicrous
He could teach the truth that children should not be used as soldiers
That people who defend children should not get shot

What would I give up?

What would I give up so the world didn’t cry?

All mistakes to prevent regret?

Then we’d have to always know the right choice.

Would I sacrifice curiousity for omniscience,

The fun of learning for all wisdom?

The chance of rejection for guaranteed love?

Would an effortless love be worth anything?

Freedom and individuality for automatons who can’t do evil?

The need for heroes, by preventing all suffering?

Love, so there would be no loss?

The ability to choose not to love?

The ability to choose?

I Want (I Don't Want)

I don’t want our kids to meet at encounter groups, to learn to empathise with the “other”

I don’t want them to hear of the Holocaust, to learn how our homelands became our graves

I don’t want them to talk about the Nakba, the right of return, and how long it takes

I don’t want to fear that in my nascent country, we risk annihilation again

I don’t want to fear that in my exile, we risk losing the chance for a homeland

 

Throw love, not stones

Should I throw love over the wall instead of stones?

Chocolate kisses

Valentine hearts

Gifts on the strings of balloons?

 

Will you take the chocolates for stones

Respond with tear gas

Burn my eyes and nose?

 

I want to tear down this wall

Look into your eyes

And know you as friend, not enemy

May I have this dance?

I want to dance at the wall in beautiful protest
Cast a vision of the future in its shadow today

We could hear the same music, dance to the same beat
But I couldn’t see you, our hands couldn’t meet

We could set up a webcam, make a window in the wall
I’d rather you open it, I want to walk tall
through the gate that encloses me now like a prison
Let this vision of the future shine bright as through a prism

The Cage

I live in a cage with very prevalent walls
that block me in and hide the sun

I rail at them, throw rocks and stones
Must you respond with bombs? 

You hold the power of whether I can wash, or work
Whether I can skype with my aunt, or visit the day of her birth

You say yes to my brother, and no to me
Must you put my parents in such misery?

I rail at the wall with rocks and stones
You hold the power to tear it down

Will you?

On Yom HaShoah, Pray for Peace

Today is Yom HaShoah, the annual day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust. This morning in Israel, two minutes of silence were observed throughout the country. Via video, I saw the streets and boardwalks that I traversed four months ago become strangely still. Listening to the sound of the siren, I imagined its wail, and our prayers, rising like the souls of the six million victims to heaven. Please take a moment to remember them with me now.

Let’s be soldiers in the army of love

My grandfather’s village is just down the road
It’s blessed with the richest of olive groves
On Fridays when grandfather takes me on his knee
I feel the shade of a tree that I’ve never seen
 
I’m fighting for freedom, peace and security
I’ll never forget what they’ve stolen from me
Wrongs like these must be avenged  
I will not rest until they taste just revenge
 
We’re fighting for freedom in a just war

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