Kailashana

Jul 23, 2009 ⭐ See this poem's read count — a supporter feature

who are they, these people?

Who Are They, These People?

You were our brothers and sisters
long before you
came as immigrants
from Europe,
broken and heartsick with the pain
of hatred and enslavement,
and yes,
you came home from America
from the ends of the earth,
you made a desert a Paradise

who are you now
who come to bulldoze our homes?
who build the walls of Jericho
once again,
who come like bombs in the night
white with phosphorous,
who plunder what remains
of land, of breath,
of dignity, of what can be named?

and who shall speak for us,
my brothers and sisters
the named and nameless
when the land is reclaimed
and the living are forgotten
and the dead roam the earth,
looking for one just man.

~Anna Ruiz

— Kailashana, Jul 23, 2009

Critiques

Kailashana

17 years ago

— In

--- In [email protected], don bryant wrote: > > July 17-19, 2009 *Wiping Arabic Names Off the Map * *Israeli Road Signs * By > JONATHAN COOK > Thousands of road signs are the latest front in Israel's battle to erase > Arab heritage from much of the Holy Land. > > Israel Katz, the transport minister, announced this week that signs on all > major roads in Israel, East Jerusalem and possibly parts of the West Bank > would be "standardised", converting English and Arabic place names into > straight transliterations of the Hebrew name. > > Currently, road signs include the place name as it is traditionally rendered > in all three languages. > > Under the new scheme, the Arab identity of important Palestinian communities > will be obscured: Jerusalem, or "al Quds" in Arabic, will be Hebraised to > "Yerushalayim"; Nazareth, or "al Nasra" in Arabic, the city of Jesus's > childhood, will become "Natzrat"; an d Jaffa, the port city after which > Palestine's oranges were named, will be "Yafo". > > Arab leaders are concerned that Mr Katz's plan offers a foretaste of the > demand by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, that the Palestinians > recognise Israel as a Jewish state. > > On Wednesday, Mohammed Sabih, a senior official at the Arab League, called > the initiative "racist and dangerous". > > "This decision comes in the framework of a series of steps in Israel aimed > at implementing the `Jewish State' slogan on the > ground." > > Palestinians in Israel and Jerusalem, meanwhile, have responded with alarm > to a policy they believe is designed to make them ever less visible. > > Ahmed Tibi, an Arab legislator in the Israeli parliament, said: "Minister > Katz is mistaken if he thinks that changing a few words can erase the > existence of the Arab people or their connection to Israel." > > The transport ministry has made little effort to conceal the political > motivation behind its policy of Hebraising road signs. > > In announcing the move on Monday, Mr Katz, a hawkish member of Likud, Mr > Netanyahu's right-wing party, said he objected to Palestinians using the > names of communities that existed before Israel's establishment in 1948. > > "I will not allow that on our signs," he said. "This government, and > certainly this minister, will not allow anyone to turn Jewish Jerusalem into > Palestinian al Quds." > > Other Israeli officials have played down the political significance of Mr > Katz's decision. A transport department spokesman, Yeshaayahu Ronen, said: > "The lack of uniform spelling on signs has been a problem for those speaking > foreign languages, citizens and tourists alike." > > "That's ridiculous," responded Tareq Shehadeh, head of the Nazareth Cultural > and Tourism Association. "Does the ministry really think it's helping > tourists by renaming Nazareth, one of the most famous places in the world, > `Natzrat', a Hebrew name only Israeli Jews recognise?" > > Meron Benvenisti, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, said Israel had begun > interfering with the Arabic on the signs for East Jerusalem as soon as it > occupied the city in 1967. It invented a new word, "Urshalim", that was > supposed to be the Arabic form of the Hebrew word for Jerusalem, > "Yerushalayim". > > "I was among those who intervened at the time to get the word `al Quds' > placed on signs, too, after `Urshalim' and separated by a hyphen. But over > the years `al Quds' was demoted to brackets and nowadays it's not included > on new signs at all." > > He said Mr Katz's scheme would push this process even further by requiring > not only the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew word for Jerusalem, but the > replication of the Hebrew spelling as well. "It's completely chauvinistic > and an insult," he said. > > Meir Margalit, a former Jerusalem councillor, said official policy was to > make the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem as invisible as possible, > including by ignoring their neighbourhoods on many signs. > > The transport ministry's plans for the West Bank are less clear. In his > announcement Mr Katz said Palestinian-controlled areas of the territory > would still be free to use proper Arabic place names. But he hinted that > signs in the 60 per cent of the West Bank under Israeli military rule would > be Hebraised, too. > > That could mean Palestinians driving across parts of the West Bank to the > Palestinian city of Nablus, for example, will have to look for the Hebrew > name "Shechem" spelt out in Arabic. > > Mr Benvenisti said that, after Israel's establishment in 1948, a naming > committee was given the task of erasing thousands of Arab place names, > including those of hills, valleys and springs, and cre ating Hebrew names. > The country's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, told the committee: > "We are obliged to remove the Arabic names for reasons of state." > > In addition, the Arabic names of more than 400 Palestinian villages > destroyed by Israel during and after the 1948 war were lost as Jew ish > communities took their place. > > Israel's surviving Palestinian minority, today one-fifth of the population, > have had to battle in the courts for the inclusion of Arabic on road signs, > despite Arabic being an official language. > > Many signs on national highways were provided only in Hebrew and English > until the courts in 1999 insisted Arabic be included. Three years later the > courts ruled that Arabic must also be included on signs in cities where a > significant number of Arabs live. > > However, as the political climate has shifted rightward in Israel, there has > been a backlash, including an unsuccessful bid by legislators to end > Arabic's status as an official language last year. > > Recently the Israeli media revealed that nationalist groups have been > spraying over Arabic names on road signs, especially in the Jerusalem area. > > Israel has also antagonised Palestinians in both Israel and the West Bank by > naming roads after right-wing figures. > > The main highway in the Jordan Valley, which runs through Palestinian > territory but is used by Israelis to drive between northern Israel and > Jerusalem, is named "Gandhi's Road" – not for the Indian spiritual leader > but after the nickname of an Israeli general, Rehavam Zeevi, who called for > the expulsion of Palestinians from Greater Israel. > > *Jonathan Cook* is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His > latest books are "Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the > Plan to Remake the Middle > East"(Pluto > Press) and "Disappearing > Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human > Despair" > (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net. > > A version of this article originally appeared in The National ( > www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi. > > > "You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand

Ravenshakti

17 years ago

Kailashana...this is for you...

Because it spoke to me... saying... send me to her... "Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn onto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld the ship coming with the mist. Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul. But he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him, and he thought in his heart: How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city. Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret? Too many fragments of the spirit have I scatterd in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache. It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands. Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst. Yet I cannot tarry longer. The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark. For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould. Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I? A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that give it wings. Alone must it seek the ether. And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun. Now when he reached the foot of the hill, he turned again towards the sea, and he saw his ship approaching the harbour, and upon her prow the mariners, the men of his own land. And his soul cried out to them, and he said: Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of the tides, How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening, which is my deeper dream. Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with sails full set awaits the wind. Only another breath will I breathe in this still air, only another loving look cast backward, Then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers. And you, vast sea, sleepless mother, Who alone are peace and freedom to the river and the stream, Only another winding will this stream make, only another murmur in this glade, And then shall I come to you, a boundless drop to a boundless ocean. And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fields and their vineyards and hastening towards the city gates. And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from the field to field telling one another of the coming of the ship. And he said to himself: Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering? And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn? And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress? Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them? And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups? Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me? A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence? If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unrembered seasons? If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein. Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern, And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also. These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret. And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were crying out to him as with one voice. And the elders of the city stood forth and said: Go not yet away from us. A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream. No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved. Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face. And the priests and the priestesses said unto him: Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you have spent in our midst become a memory. You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our faces. Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been veiled. Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you. And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. And others came also and entreated him. But he answered them not. He only bent his head; and those who stood near saw his tears falling upon his breast. And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before the temple. And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she was a seeress. And he looked upon her with exceeding tenderness, for it was she who had first sought and believed in him when he had been but a day in their city. And she hailed him, saying: Prophet of God, in quest for the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship. And now your ship has come, and you must needs go. Deep is your longing for the land of your memories and the dwelling place of your greater desires; and our love would not bind you nor our needs hold you. Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that you speak to us and give us of your truth. And we will give it unto our children, and they unto their children, and it shall not perish. In your aloneness you have watched with our days, and in your wakefulness you have listened to the weeping and the laughter of our sleep. Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has been shown you of that which is between birth and death. And he answered, People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving your souls? " - Gibran Khalil Gibran Kailashana... You Dance in my Heart! Raven

Kailashana

17 years ago

Dearest Raven.

Dearest Raven. Dancing-in-my-heart, Thank you. I have given Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet* away as gifts... and have worn through several copies of my own. My mom always said you're never a prophet in your own country. Was she right? Yes and No. Love, Anna "You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand

nunnnone

17 years ago

these people?

Anna, this is a good poem, with a strong message. War is never a pretty thing, does not matter which side one is on--right or wrong. Both sides always get hurt, no real winners in the end............Take care, Danny Nunn

Tam the Chanter

17 years ago

who do they think they are

I wrote part of a poem some time ago during the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon "The F16 screams overhead - the children scream below" but I was really too angry to be rational about it and it was never finished. You have captured the outsider's thoughts beautifully, well written Kindest Regards Ian T

Lonnie

17 years ago

Love the poem, ambiguous about the subject matter!

This is a great Poem, Anna, But quite frankly, I could care less about anything concerning the Middle East! Arabs and Hebrews have been fighting since there were Arabs and Hebrews, and I don't forsee any change in the near future! If people paid more attention to the Bible, they would understand this and get on with their own miserable existance! But like a said, it's a great Poem!

Kailashana

17 years ago

You are wrong Lonnie…. Jew

You are wrong Lonnie.... Jew and Arab lived together quite peacefully until Palestine was usurped and divided into Israel. (I've listened to scholars on both sides in my MEPF. I was ignorant and believed the media hype at one time. Much like the Hutu and Tutsi lived together in peace until one tribe was made a favourite by European colonials. ~A "You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand

hugo la rosa

17 years ago

Wow!:

This poem really touched my heart. Thank you. Indeed you are a poet, and really a great one. This poem should be proof enough! Saludos. Hugo.

themoonman

17 years ago

Anna...

You take all the break you need, but rest assured my friend... you are a poet, with a heart from the ages of long ago... your poem should be read by all, along with Mr. Cook's article. thanks for sharing with us Anna. Richard

Kailashana

17 years ago

Thank you all. I want to

Thank you all. I want to share a poem that was an *answer*. From lisa... And a last thought.... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Date: Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 10:31 AM Subject: Re: [mepeaceforum] Re: Nazareth's new name is 'Natzrat' To: [email protected] Sumoud* They closed the road: we made a detour. They closed the border: we dug tunnels. They took our land: we moved elsewhere. They bombed our houses: we lived in tents. We couldn't sleep for the shelling; we sang and held hands. We couldn't buy food; we ate less. We said we could not survive another war. We buried our dead and planted more geraniums. * persistence Beautiful!!!! There are many *just* wo/men who speak in *poetic justice*, and *right action*. I am reminded of Tom Joab in The Grapes of Wrath.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath_(film) Tom Joad says: "I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too." As the family moves on again, they discuss the fear and difficulties they have had, but recognise that they have come out the other side. Ma Joad concludes the film, saying: "I ain't never gonna be scared no more. I was, though. For a while it looked as though we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared.... Rich fellas come up and they die, and their kids ain't no good and they die out, but we keep on coming. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out, they can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, cos we're the people." Peace and Light, Anna Ruiz "You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand

barbsdad2003

17 years ago

I understand ...

the questioning self. Awander in that desert for a time can allow for new insight. Luck on your journey. I don't doubt that you're indeed a poet. But I speak, I know, for myself. Not for you. With affection, Chuck

leoshelton

17 years ago

A poet indeed...

Break if you must, between words, stanzas, even next poems, but continue to write and create, and share...well done! Leo

Join Neopoet to leave a critique

Neopoet is a free community of poets who critique and support each other's writing.

Join free Log in