Palestine Eyewitness: Haikus for Palestine

I thought you might enjoy reading some Haikus (Japanese style poetry of 3 lines and 17 syllables) that one of my IWPS colleagues, Hannah, has written as part of her regular report to family, friends and other Palestinian Human Rights supporters in the USA.

The Haikus are just a snapshot of many of the things we experience here, both good and bad.

Hannah has provided some explanation for them in her introduction, but I will add a little additional explanation about one or two things.

For example, there are two Haikus listed under the title Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the Jewish festival of the Day of Atonement. It is the day is considered to be the holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish year, as it is the day of repentance and atonement when Jews repent for the sins of all Jews and try to atone for them .

Hannah and another team member, Kate, are both Jewish and this year for Yom Kippur they distributed/pasted-up a penitance prayer in two of the closeby illegal settlement (see http://www.womenspeacepalestine.org/)

It has been during Yom Kippur, that the Israeli govt and the IDF has launched their operation in Gaza calling it "Days of Penitance". As of today, over 60 people have been killed (one third of them under the age of 15 years) and 300 people wounded.

Hannah's Haikus reflect both the good, humourous, the bad and the ugly, including the brutality of the occupation but also the hope and the resiliance of the people of Palestine.

cheers, Kim

October 1, 2004

Dear friends,I can’t believe it’s October already, the month that I come back to the US. I’ve started to think about my presentation, so you’re welcome to start thinking about where and when you’d like me to present. :) I think I’ve been boring myself with articles, but from boredom springs creativity, right? So for this e-mail, I’ve composed 17 haikus (they’re 17 syllables each, so it seemed an apt number).

I’m afraid they’ll be quite incomprehensible to those of you who are not here with me, but hopefully you’ll understand and/or appreciate some of them. There are a few Arabic words in them. "Alhamdulilah" means "Praise God" and is said all the time here. "Nos nos" literally means "half half" but can be translated as "so-so."

On a more serious note, I’ve included at the end only a few of the names and ages of those killed in Gaza in the past 48 hours. I j!ust heard that Israeli security forces have dubbed the operation "Days of Penitence," as they supposedly try to force militants to repent. I find this gross misuse of the Jewish tradition absolutely disgusting.

Enjoy the haikus, and please don’t ignore the growing list of victims of this war and occupation.

Child in Jayys

She sings for us in English

"We Shall Overcome"

Demo in Budrus

All arrestees get released

Alhamdulilah

Does the donkey have

a name, I ask. "No," she says.

He: "His name is Bush."

Fatima comes in

Sheds her hijab and her coat

Sprawls out on our couch

Settler women

Called by soldiers at checkpoint

Come to harrass us

Bus stopped for hours

Why? I ask the soldier there

"Bureaucratia"

"Hamil." Lovely word.

Pregnant. Used both for women

And the olive trees

Zajid sweeps the floor

Three years old, he’s almost four

Hope in Palestine

Border policeman

"How my English?" he asks me.

"Nos nos," I respond.

Killing in Gaza

The army shoots randomly

Forty, forty-one…

On the birth of our friends’ twins:

W-ard’s two new siblings

Cousin Zajid wants to share

"No, they’re both for me."

Faisa brings home twins

Says to me about the girl

"Heba looks like you"

On Sounds:

Vehicle blares sound

In the village, jeep or truck?

Curfew or veggies?

Gunshots in Hares

A wedding or invasion?

Laughter. A relief.

On Yom Kippur:

Waiting for nightfall

Our landlord searches for stars

Asks, "Does the moon count?"

Houses demolished

Kate:"Did the soldiers repent

Before or after?"

Writing my haikus

Lesson in being concise

Palestine in brief

The following is a list of 18 people killed yesterday in Gaza. Overnight last night and throughout the day today, the toll has risen to 40-something dead and at least 130 wounded:

"The Ministry of health released the following list of residents killed in the military raid conducted on Thursday; the ministry said that the list is not final yet;

1.Tawfiq, Al-Sharafi, 24, Jabalia.

2.Saed Mohammad Abu Al-Eish, 14, Jabalia.

3.Mos'ab al-Barade'ey, 21, Jabalia.

4.Fathi Al-Sawaween, 23, Jabalia.

5.Khalil Abu Naji, 23, Jabalia.

6.Ahmad Madhi. 16 Jabalia.

7.Usama Al-Barsh, 21 Jabalia.

8.Abdul-Hai Al-Najjar, 21, Jabalia

9.Rafat Jadallah, 23, Jabalia.

10.Sofian Abu Al-Jedyan, 40, Jabalia.

11.Mohammad Al-Habal, 60, Beit Lahia.

12.Hamza Ahmad, 24, Jabalia.