FOR GAZA
The blue
light sparkles as the kettle comes to life driving out the sound of the horrific
images spewing forth from BBC World News.
"Gaza..." the news anchor reports, his coiffed hair and his voice rich and steady, unmoved by the carnage flashing on his screen.
Inside I’m screaming:
Sit down and shut up, seriously!
The real voices are coming out of Palestine, wake up. It’s flashing on our phones.
"Gaza..." the news anchor reports, his coiffed hair and his voice rich and steady, unmoved by the carnage flashing on his screen.
Inside I’m screaming:
Sit down and shut up, seriously!
The real voices are coming out of Palestine, wake up. It’s flashing on our phones.
Palestine is thousands of miles away from my life in Brunei, and words like "genocide",
and "massacre" is far removed from my busy life.
But I feel it deep within my soul where my moral core resides.
I tap-tap the teaspoon against the rim of the mug, the pinging signals to him that our morning coffee is ready. We are still in the honeymoon phase, he having recently arrived from Cape Town, and me on my best behaviour, more newlywed than menopausal mate, the melanin and hormonal supplements rendering me revived and rebooted.
Dayum, dry spells have a much more sinister meaning when you are over 50.
I know that look, saw it in his eyes as a young man in the 80’s at UCT in the thick of Anti-Apartheid campus protests.
And again, in London in 2003 as a young dad marching against the war in Iraq with our young son in his arms
His eyes always held defiance, resistance and hope.
That is still there, but because of unfolding events in Gaza this past year, it is beginning to be clouded by despair.
ETHNIC CLEANSING and GENOCIDE is broadcasted on the daily and the world keeps spinning. In fact, everything should come to a halt in the face of annihilation, starvation and destruction and the bombing of whole populations… no?
But it didn’t, and it doesn’t…
Funny how the counting commenced from October 7 as if the previous 75 years since the Nakba and Israels ongoing brutality is non-existent.
In reality it is 75 years + Day 402!
And still the ongoing debates, and discussions and inaction!
Where are the peacekeepers, where’s the constructive action to defend the Palestinians against the Israelis! Where’s the outrage from ALL world leaders?
We are still all out here pretending that something is being done whilst Palestine is being wiped out.
I’m tired of the yada yada yada.
Dumbfounded!
Devastated!
The glaring double standards are more and more obvious every day.
Dazed as day turns into night, night into day in an endless loop stuck in the carnage we are facing every day, and realizing that our institution and societies have failed us,
The counting continues: Day 403..404... 405...
Everyone is counting days.
40 000…100 000…dead…
Everyone is counting babies and bodies.
And still nothing!
No ceasefire or a cessation of the bombing and the violence. And it is beginning to feel as if the world has signed off on Israel’s plan of decimating Palestine, of ethnically cleansing Palestinians.
We can try to convince ourselves that it is not that, but deep down we know it is.
They will keep enough Palestinians around once they are ready to quit to make it palatable for the masses in denial. They will mow the lawn and corral the leftover Palestinians into internment camps, and it will be Gaza Redefined, and then move their settlers into North Gaza to start with, and for a while the remaining Palestinians will be broken in limbs and spirit, their betrayal by the international community a heavy burden. And then the money of conscience will come flooding in from guilty countries who failed their citizens and humanity so Gazans can rebuild, rising up from the rubble.
Rebuilding sounds impossible…There is no infrastructure left, no properly functioning hospitals, schools have been destroyed along with universities… Journalists and doctors and teachers and moms and dads are lost!
What agony!
What an affront!
Palestinians deserve our protection, our protest, our outrage, our action.
And Israel will celebrate because they have no conscience, and they feel no remorse. The colonizer never does, their privilege is cemented in their DNA.
Any group of people in society referring to themselves as The Chosen is beyond narcissistic.
And not too far in the future, they will once again come for the remaining Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; but also, for the lands they consider to be Greater Israel.
They will come for Al Quds and destroy our holy sites and mosques, and will we still be looking the other way?
And we will be held to account for having turned a blind eye to the destruction of our brothers and sisters.
Our ummah will be marked by this.
We have betrayed the message of our Beloved Prophet (SAW), having internalized the narratives of the powerful equating Islam with religious fundamentalism, terrorism and oppression, leaving us defensive about our religious practices, providing excuses and justifications to legitimize our beliefs to people who have decided that being Muslim means somehow that you are ignorant and blinded by faith.
And this narrative has given permission for the persecutions of Muslims throughout the world.
And our ummah is split, defined by greed and opulence, oil flowing thicker than blood, reconciling with Israel, normalizing relations at the cost of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Sudan, in Iraq, India, in Kashmir… the list is endless.
And we hold then in our prayers, we fervently pray to God for them… for us... from the safety of our homes, grateful that we are not the ones being bombed, our limbs torn from our bodies, hands in prayer under tons of rubble.
And we arise from our prayer rugs, our guilt appeased for a while as we commit to sending prayers and $s.
But I feel it deep within my soul where my moral core resides.
I tap-tap the teaspoon against the rim of the mug, the pinging signals to him that our morning coffee is ready. We are still in the honeymoon phase, he having recently arrived from Cape Town, and me on my best behaviour, more newlywed than menopausal mate, the melanin and hormonal supplements rendering me revived and rebooted.
Dayum, dry spells have a much more sinister meaning when you are over 50.
I know that look, saw it in his eyes as a young man in the 80’s at UCT in the thick of Anti-Apartheid campus protests.
And again, in London in 2003 as a young dad marching against the war in Iraq with our young son in his arms
His eyes always held defiance, resistance and hope.
That is still there, but because of unfolding events in Gaza this past year, it is beginning to be clouded by despair.
ETHNIC CLEANSING and GENOCIDE is broadcasted on the daily and the world keeps spinning. In fact, everything should come to a halt in the face of annihilation, starvation and destruction and the bombing of whole populations… no?
But it didn’t, and it doesn’t…
Funny how the counting commenced from October 7 as if the previous 75 years since the Nakba and Israels ongoing brutality is non-existent.
In reality it is 75 years + Day 402!
And still the ongoing debates, and discussions and inaction!
Where are the peacekeepers, where’s the constructive action to defend the Palestinians against the Israelis! Where’s the outrage from ALL world leaders?
We are still all out here pretending that something is being done whilst Palestine is being wiped out.
I’m tired of the yada yada yada.
Dumbfounded!
Devastated!
The glaring double standards are more and more obvious every day.
Dazed as day turns into night, night into day in an endless loop stuck in the carnage we are facing every day, and realizing that our institution and societies have failed us,
The counting continues: Day 403..404... 405...
Everyone is counting days.
40 000…100 000…dead…
Everyone is counting babies and bodies.
And still nothing!
No ceasefire or a cessation of the bombing and the violence. And it is beginning to feel as if the world has signed off on Israel’s plan of decimating Palestine, of ethnically cleansing Palestinians.
We can try to convince ourselves that it is not that, but deep down we know it is.
They will keep enough Palestinians around once they are ready to quit to make it palatable for the masses in denial. They will mow the lawn and corral the leftover Palestinians into internment camps, and it will be Gaza Redefined, and then move their settlers into North Gaza to start with, and for a while the remaining Palestinians will be broken in limbs and spirit, their betrayal by the international community a heavy burden. And then the money of conscience will come flooding in from guilty countries who failed their citizens and humanity so Gazans can rebuild, rising up from the rubble.
Rebuilding sounds impossible…There is no infrastructure left, no properly functioning hospitals, schools have been destroyed along with universities… Journalists and doctors and teachers and moms and dads are lost!
What agony!
What an affront!
Palestinians deserve our protection, our protest, our outrage, our action.
And Israel will celebrate because they have no conscience, and they feel no remorse. The colonizer never does, their privilege is cemented in their DNA.
Any group of people in society referring to themselves as The Chosen is beyond narcissistic.
And not too far in the future, they will once again come for the remaining Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; but also, for the lands they consider to be Greater Israel.
They will come for Al Quds and destroy our holy sites and mosques, and will we still be looking the other way?
And we will be held to account for having turned a blind eye to the destruction of our brothers and sisters.
Our ummah will be marked by this.
We have betrayed the message of our Beloved Prophet (SAW), having internalized the narratives of the powerful equating Islam with religious fundamentalism, terrorism and oppression, leaving us defensive about our religious practices, providing excuses and justifications to legitimize our beliefs to people who have decided that being Muslim means somehow that you are ignorant and blinded by faith.
And this narrative has given permission for the persecutions of Muslims throughout the world.
And our ummah is split, defined by greed and opulence, oil flowing thicker than blood, reconciling with Israel, normalizing relations at the cost of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Sudan, in Iraq, India, in Kashmir… the list is endless.
And we hold then in our prayers, we fervently pray to God for them… for us... from the safety of our homes, grateful that we are not the ones being bombed, our limbs torn from our bodies, hands in prayer under tons of rubble.
And we arise from our prayer rugs, our guilt appeased for a while as we commit to sending prayers and $s.
And in those moments as we are just going about our day, remember them for all that they long for, is what we have.
And when we are bent over the rubbish bin scraping plates clean, throwing our scrap food and leftovers into the trash, remember the little girls and boys, pots in hand, running for meals and aid, food a scarcity, starvation a reality.
Or think about the masses gathering in Gaza having to fight for flour, whilst aid is dropped from enemy skies as if the boundaries set in place by Israel on the ground cannot be breached.
It doesn’t make sense.
Do we know hunger and starvation?
Do we know what it is to live in a dystopian world?
Do we know what it must feel like to have the whole world abandon you whilst watching your end unfolding on small screens?
We must open our eyes and our dead hearts and witness their suffering and be spurred on to action.
Do not tell me we are One.
Go back to your excess, and your skyscrapers and your privilege and bow your heads at the altar of greed and hedonism.
You are in bed with the enemies of our people.
Shame on us.
And cosy up to America, ignoring the indecent amount of money and weapons they are sending to Israel to perpetrate the murders, and when the American representative to the UN raises his hand to veto yet another ceasefire bill, remind yourself that we have all bought into the ideas of commercialism and democracy, and that we are paying for it with our families, our religion, or peace, and ourselves.
Fi dunya wal akhirah.
And whilst Palestine is bleeding, remember that no one is safe when the most vulnerable stands alone against the monsters of this world.
Palestine is the frontline, and we are fighting for our souls and our salvation.
I look across the kitchen counter at him and I see the anger, the spark of resistance reignited, and hopelessness is gone.
The fighting spirit cannot be extinguished.
The call has been sounded, and it cannot be unheard.
We are moving forward, casting aside our comforts and conveniences for the sake of our brothers and sisters.
Do you hear their screams?
Listen closely, can you hear our call to action rising from the ashes?
Will you join the fight for our liberation?
Will you be a proponent of peace and equality?
Resistance is our Right!
Step forward and let’s make history together.
#freepalestine
And when we are bent over the rubbish bin scraping plates clean, throwing our scrap food and leftovers into the trash, remember the little girls and boys, pots in hand, running for meals and aid, food a scarcity, starvation a reality.
Or think about the masses gathering in Gaza having to fight for flour, whilst aid is dropped from enemy skies as if the boundaries set in place by Israel on the ground cannot be breached.
It doesn’t make sense.
Do we know hunger and starvation?
Do we know what it is to live in a dystopian world?
Do we know what it must feel like to have the whole world abandon you whilst watching your end unfolding on small screens?
We must open our eyes and our dead hearts and witness their suffering and be spurred on to action.
Do not tell me we are One.
Go back to your excess, and your skyscrapers and your privilege and bow your heads at the altar of greed and hedonism.
You are in bed with the enemies of our people.
Shame on us.
And cosy up to America, ignoring the indecent amount of money and weapons they are sending to Israel to perpetrate the murders, and when the American representative to the UN raises his hand to veto yet another ceasefire bill, remind yourself that we have all bought into the ideas of commercialism and democracy, and that we are paying for it with our families, our religion, or peace, and ourselves.
Fi dunya wal akhirah.
And whilst Palestine is bleeding, remember that no one is safe when the most vulnerable stands alone against the monsters of this world.
Palestine is the frontline, and we are fighting for our souls and our salvation.
I look across the kitchen counter at him and I see the anger, the spark of resistance reignited, and hopelessness is gone.
The fighting spirit cannot be extinguished.
The call has been sounded, and it cannot be unheard.
We are moving forward, casting aside our comforts and conveniences for the sake of our brothers and sisters.
Do you hear their screams?
Listen closely, can you hear our call to action rising from the ashes?
Will you join the fight for our liberation?
Will you be a proponent of peace and equality?
Resistance is our Right!
Step forward and let’s make history together.
#freepalestine
FREE PALESTINE
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