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Image credit: Andreas H. Lunde

The tragedy of Gaza unfurls over weeks,
A reeking of havoc
Bringing the destruction of death,
Or life in any ordinary sense.

Jerusalem is far away from the noise,
People walk pavements mostly undisturbed,
They sit on sofas and witness in guilt
The screams, the intensity, the rubble, the silence.

The news plays out like a budget horror trailer,
Blood drips down screens before the scenes unfold,
The girl clutching her cat, house and family obliterated,
The dead baby in bandages, ‘The youngest member of Hamas.’

The failure of peace is prevalent in this inferno,
A new generation of revenge seekers coming

Abu Al Aish breaks down on his knees,
Celebrity in Israel, advocate of peace,
The girl tells me ‘Serves him right’
Never should have trusted or believed.

Young boy rejects lunch and pocket money,
It is for the hungry children in Gaza,
My cousin tells me we do bad things too,
The guilt at saying it is evident in her face

A man on the street says his son keeps crying,
‘Let me go to the hiker stop and kill a Jew’
He is six but he thinks they should feel it too,
He wants to know why the children are dying.

Cynical children, violent thoughts, knowledge beyond years,
Psychological harm is far reaching and hard to turn back from.

Does Barack mean this mantra of change?
Do the people in England care about the Palestinians?
Do I believe in a two state solution, the segregation of people?
Answers are stilted and qualified; maybe, yes, I don’t think so.

The body’s drop to the rhythm of the bombs,
A faceless enemy making the killing easy,
I ponder the meaning of terror,
And what it might mean in this land of grey matter.

Wall of Apartheid and security,
Rockets that menace and destroy,
Overwhelming support for the military,
The words Salaam and Shalom always on the tip of a tongue.

Unity and peace are a utopia of empty words,
Fear and distrust the worst weapons of destruction.