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The Story
by Kamal Nasser
translation by Michael R. Burch

I will tell you a story ...
a story that lived in the dreams of my people,
a story that comes from the world of tents.
It is a story inspired by hunger and embellished by dark nights of terror.
It is the story of my country, a handful of refugees.
Every twenty of them have a pound of flour between them
and a few promises of relief ... gifts and parcels.
It is the story of the suffering ones
who stood waiting in line ten years,
in hunger,
in tears and agony,
in hardship and yearning.
It is a story of a people who were misled,
who were thrown into the mazes of the years.
And yet they stood defiant,
disrobed yet united
as they trudged from the light to their tents:
the revolution of return
into the world of darkness.

Kamal Nasser was a much-admired Palestinian poet and Palestinian Christian, who due to his renowned integrity was known as "The Conscience." He was a member of Jordan's parliament in 1956. He was murdered in 1973 by an Israeli death squad whose most notorious member was future Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak (born Ehud Brog) later ruled as Israel’s tenth Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001. His adopted Hebrew name Barak means "lightning." As a younger man, Brog/Barak was a member of a secret assassination unit that liquidated Palestinians in Lebanon and the occupied territories. In the 1973 covert mission Operation Spring of Youth in Beirut, which was part of the larger Operation Wrath of God, he disguised himself as a woman in order to assassinate Palestinians. The raid resulted in the deaths of two women, one of them an elderly Italian. Two Lebanese policemen were also killed, along with the poet Kamal Nasser.

Nasser was the PLO's most prominent Christian and he enjoyed "great appeal" in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq "both as a distinguished poet and likeable personality." He was the “conscience of the Palestinian revolution,” according to Nazih Abul-Nidal, who worked with him on the magazine Filastin al-Thawra. Nasser “had the most democratic outlook of all Palestinian leaders at the time,” he recalls. He respected opposing views, admired the commitment of young people, and was a major recruitment asset for the Palestinian revolution. “That is why he was put high on the hit-list.” The previous year, the Israelis had murdered another renowned Palestinian writer and activist in Beirut, Ghassan Kanafani, by *****-trapping his car. Nasser’s successor, Majed Abu Sharar, was also assassinated by Israelis, in Rome in 1981 while attending a conference in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Keywords/Tags: Kamal Nasser, Palestinian, Palestine, PLO, Conscience, Ramallah, Christian, religion, poet, Arab, Arabic, Arab Spring, betrayal, conflict, courage, devotion
Palestinians are starving
To death and wasting away
The pangs of hunger never cease
And every Palestinian fades to gray
Struggling to find the strength
In there own occupied country
Palestine Palestine my heart
Bleeds for you it's true
And I feel your
Horrible pain
A desperate cry for aid
But in the face of such adversity
Hope begins to slowly fade

Yet the will to survive persists
A glimmer of light in the darkness
Of the night starving Palestinians
Cling to life determined to leave
There mark.
Israeli army won't let the food into Gaza.
This is a war Crime
I've been in contact with the International Criminal Court.
 Dec 2024 Alvian Eleven
Louise
"I dream of the day I would see the flowers bloom in Palestine", says an ally.
"I dream of the day I would see the flowers again",
cries an old lady from Palestine
"I dream of the day I would see Palestine",
prays a refugee in a faraway country
"I dream of the day when I would not dream and pray that there would be another day for Palestine",
screams a little child in Palestine


And the sun is the witness
The sun knows it all,
it has watched, witnessed and waited...


I dream of the day I would see the flowers bloom in Palestine!
From the bullets bored through little children's ribs,
to the bloodied blouses hanging in the clothesline.

I dream of the day I would see flowers again!
From the people's laughters and childish ease,
to the tears and pain I can't even begin to imagine.

I dream of the day I would see Palestine!
From the river, in the desert, in the colorful markets,
to the sea, in the beach, taking our sweet sweet time.

I dream of the day when I would not dream and pray that there would be another day for Palestine!
Because there would only be days of freedom!
Only for the children, for Gaza, mothers, fathers, doctors, soldiers, every Palestinian!
Days that are theirs!
Days and endless days are all there is!
And it is all theirs!


And the sun is the judge and the jury
The sun grants it,
the justice for every injury, freedom for every perjury...
Flowers would bloom again in Palestine,
the sun says and commands so.
Standing and looking up from underneath these Allah made magnificent trees while waiting for the next bus to come
with all of their complexities, dimensions, features
each branch artistically and uniquely designed
many almost hook like in shape
variations of pink colored carnation flowers hanging delicately from them in light, medium, and dark shades
with pin drop size black dot on each flower's stem                                                             ­                      
complemented by green and copper tone leaves
I see All Blue Skies and think they should see All Blue Skies, too

Looking up, I think it isn't fair that I see what I see
All Blue Skies and people of Palestine, people of Gaza don't see the same and don't have the same

Do they even have a moment of pause
a chance to look up at what's above  
an opportunity to marvel at something
to rest a bit

And if they have lived or survived to be able to look above their heads                                                        
isn­­­’t it often
that they see gray or black and not All Blue
Is it not rubble from deadly bombs that they see falling down on them
for many, many not to live life as they were meant to live it

Looking up at the All Blue Skies from underneath these marvelous trees
I shake my head right to left, left to right and with expressions on my face I wish I myself could see, think this isn’t fair

When we look up at the All Blue Skies above our heads and wonder why our blue skies don’t feel as blue
It’s because Palestine’s All Blue Skies aren’t there
It’s because people of Palestine and people of Gaza don’t have them that we don’t relate to them and their long standing, ongoing struggle
Because they don’t have what we have, we don’t see them as one of us
But like Nelson Mandela said, We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.

We have a lot of work to do
with us unified and with proper guidance by moral leadership
We have a lot to do
So that All Blue Skies are had by all and felt by all

We should all work in significant, high priority ways – be the Abds,
be the servants, be the slaves that Allah created us to be for Him
so that All Blue Skies for Palestine’s Human Lives are seen clearly, seen vividly, from everywhere on the globe
And afterwards, when we look up wherever we are at the All Blue Skies sitting above our heads,
we’ll feel not blue  

By: Najwa Kareem
*Originally published on hellopoetry.com on April 16, 2023. This poem was written on Al-Quds Day - the early morning of Friday, April 14, 2023 in honor of the Palestinians in Palestine and in Gaza and in memory of their near 75 year struggle against racism, oppression, brutality, imperialism, etc. because of Zionist Israel's illegal occupation and colonization of their land and their people.            
Free, Free, Free Palestine!!! Free, Free, Free Gaza!!! Free, Free, Free Masjid al-Asqa!!! All Blue Skies For Palestine's Human Lives!!! We must do what has long needed to be done for this to happen. As Musa said in one of his conscious rap songs, "I want freedom to become a reality."
Gaza, almighty Gaza
where are you
to the wind
have you returned

Gaza, almighty Gaza
Will you be our next bird
to fly us up again
or down to underneath the ground
where bodies lay flat

Gaza, almighty Gaza
where are the shades of the earth
with you
they sparkle
refusing to stop shining

Gaza, almighty Gaza
your limbs with bones like the worlds
our hands like yours, his, and hers
cockroaches aren't what we see
when we see plain, beautiful human anatomy

Gaza, almighty Gaza
thoughts of you
fill our hearts
with tears
and sweat

Gaza, almighty Gaza
we love you so
we lament
that you have helped us to see
what we couldn't see before

Gaza, almighty Gaza
keep everybody in the town and outside of it
knowing each other
walking together
working in unity
resisting as one

Gaza, almighty Gaza
run, run, run
faster and better than
your palm trees' leaves dancing to the sunlight's tease

Gaza, almighty Gaza
go knock on Baital Al Haram's door
to ask it to knock on your Al-Aqsa door
so its worshippers and occupants and the globe's will be set free

Gaza, almighty Gaza
we let you down
but now are we
on the right track
what did you say

Gaza, almighty Gaza
the guy, the security guard in Target
I think like you said
we need to strategize, be proactive
not just blacks coming together
or some from this group coming together
or some others here and there

Gaza, almighty Gaza
what did you say
the guy, the security guard in Target
everyone or many from all over the world
need to come together
and all of us work and strategize

Gaza, almighty Gaza
what did you say
Your words remind me of Mecca in what we know as Saudi Arabia
you know it, yeh, talks even about it in the news in the past few days
where people from all over the world congregate
for the pilgrimage
but its colonized

Gaza, almighty Gaza
what did you say
You sound like
the Quranic scholar, Imam Asi
he reminded us of what GOD'S last and final Prophet prioritized and did
Liberate Mecca
Mecca is the heart and the soul of the Muslims,
of the oppressed people of the world

Gaza, almighty Gaza
what did you say
do what the best human did for all humans
turn to Mecca
turn to Medina
turn towards The Kaaba
turn to Masjid Al-Nabawi

Gaza, almighty Gaza
what did you say
Liberate Mecca
from the confiscation of Bani Saud
from the corrupt power centers
internally and externally

Gaza, almighty Gaza
what did you say
Liberate Mecca
when we become the moving parts of Mecca
nation state barriers and boundaries
are going to go
colonialism, imperialism, fascism, racism
and their destruction and poison
will go
will harm us no more

Gaza, almighty Gaza
your horrific pains and startling cries
will lift us up again
and like a mountain's roar
we'll go wild
to end injustice and oppression
to manifest freedom and peace

Gaza, almighty Gaza
we'll go wild
listening to our Highest Priority, GOD
listening to His Final Prophet and Messenger
listening to our world's people
and listening to you

By: Najwa Kareem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VSzfiRWWh4

1601 11-28-2023 Latest Developments In Palestine

"...I know that all of us, I hope is focused on what has happened in THE HOLY LAND. There's a genocide that has been unfolding, in progress the past several weeks now. And all of us have our own source of information, I'm sure. We've been watching or listening to those who are involved in all of this and as I've remarked before and I will repeat, the best source of information that anyone can have about what is developing in the world today is information that comes to us from ALLAH SUBHANNA HU WA TA 'ALA and we happen to be living in real time the meanings of the AYAT and I know I've visited these AYAT before but sometimes, they need more explanation and sometimes, some of you were not tuned in to these explanations so I will try as much as possible to expand the meanings of these AYAT and the beginning of SURAT BANI ISRAEL otherwise known as SURATUL ISRA, THE 17TH SURA OF THE QURAN. As a background...because these AYAT were not revealed in a vacuum; these AYAT were not meant to be theoretical, cold, conceptual, mental constructs. These AYAT were meant to be integrated into the movement, the activities, the action, and the decisions of men or societies, peoples, and populations...this is what is meant by the revelation of these AYAT. So let us try to revisit THE CONTEXT which is most important to understand how these AYAT are speaking to us about what is happening today. These AYATS begin by ALLAH SUBHANNA HU WA TA 'ALA saying..."

"...So, we should ask ourselves, if he knew that, then why did he not emphasize and prioritize those other powers beyond MECCA who were instigating against the PROPHET?

WHY DID HE KEEP HIS FOCUS ON MECCA?

Today's world, similar things are happening. There are other forces at work outside of our let's say Islamic countries that are supporting those who have power in our Islamic countries to try to finish us off rendering us the Muslims of the world without self-determination. They didn't want the Prophet to have an Islamic determination, and they don't want us to have an Islamic determination.

So, what do we do here? If the PROPHET (PBUH and those who were and are with him)...If he kept his efforts, concentrated on liberating Mecca, on dealing with the threat in Mecca, then if we say we are following the Prophet, why are we not doing the same thing? Today, the powers that be, they want to scatter our attention, and they want to divide our resolution, our willpower. These Ayats were revealed in that context, similar to today. So, the question is do we concentrate, and they were, look, let me be, let me break this down even more. There was a Yahudi power center in al-Medina. There was a Yahudi power center in Khyber. There was a Yahudi power center in Al-Quds, in The Holy Land, in the North. There was a Yahudi presence in Yemen. There was a Byzantine power center in the Levant. There was a Persian power center in what is called today the Persian Gulf area or Iraq. And all of these were not friendly to this Islamic divine spark of willpower in MECCA. ALL OF THEM WERE HOSTILE; ALL OF THEM. So, if that was the case and as we see today - You can correspond today with fourteen centuries ago...look at the powers around. So, the question is why have we departed from the methodology of the PROPHET, and we don't concentrate any longer on liberating MECCA? MECCA IS THE HEART AND THE SOUL OF THE MUSLIMS, OF THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD - ONCE WE DUST OFF ALL OF THE TRADITIONS AND ALL OF THE COBWEBS THAT HAVE BUILT UP THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES; ONCE WE'RE FINISH WITH THAT TASK, WE WILL DISCOVER MECCA TO BE OUR MOTIVATION. TO BE OUR REFERENCE. TO BE OUR CENTER. TO BE OUR DIRECTION. TO BE OUR STARTING POINT. TO BE OUR ENGINE. THAT'S WHAT MECCA, AL-KAABA, AND AL-BAIT AL-HARAM ARE ALL ABOUT. BUT NO, IN TODAY'S WORLD, THE CONCENTRATION IS ON, BY AND LARGE, LIBERATING PALESTINE. AND I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO MISUNDERSTAND ME HERE AND SAY THAT I'M TRYING TO DEESCALATE THE ATTENTION FROM LIBERATING PALESTINE. THAT WOULD BE LIKE SAYING THAT THE PROPHET (MAY ALLAH'S PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON HIM) WAS CONSIDERING THE POWER PRESENCE OF YAHUD IN MEDINA TO BE MARGINAL OR SHOULDN'T PAY ATTENTION TO THAT. HE KNEW FULL WELL AS WE SHOULD KNOW FULL WELL THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN CONTROL OF MECCA TODAY ARE SUPPORTED BY THE SUPER AND REGIONAL POWERS OF THAT AREA, THE SAME WAY THE SUPER AND REGIONAL POWERS 14 CENTURIES AGO WERE IN SUPPORT OF THE MUSHRIKS AT THAT TIME. IF THIS CANNOT COME CRYSTAL CLEAR IN OUR MIND, WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO MAKE MANY MISTAKES AND LEARN THROUGH TRAIL AND ERROR UNTIL WE REACH THIS CONCLUSION IN THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS AND IN THE RADIATION OF OUR THOUGHTS..."

"Yes, that's an important question and to answer it in a few minutes, the Islamic movements in the world theoretically have their vision focused in the right direction, generally speaking, and the Islamic self-determination that has been in progress, the Islamic country of Iran for the past 40 plus years, these are the places that have more or less, I mean these are not, you know, angels, we are all human beings, and there are slips here and there but more or less, they have a sense of what has to be done. From my humble, as I have explained in the past hour, my humble opinion is...whether it concerns the Islamic movements in the world or The Islamic State in Iran, my humble opinion is they have not concentrated their efforts on the issue of MECCA. Of course, all of us agree, the AYAT in THE QURAN (there are other AYAT in THE QURAN) that speak about the DIVINE RIGHT of any of those who are being oppressed anywhere in the world to fight back that oppression, and injustice, and tyranny. (QURAN read). The Palestinians have a right to fight back and to defeat those type of enemies that they are dealing with. Those who are in Kashmir have the right to fight back and deal with the type of enemies that they have. Such is the case with other Muslims all around the world. No one has any right or any say when it comes to their legitimate action against their basically genocidal enemies, but we don't want this type of immediate, emotional entanglement to refocus our attention away from MECCA. What is happening in Gaza and has been happening for the past almost month and ½...what's been happening there, coming on 2 months...WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING THERE SHOULD HAVE CONCENTRATED THE MINDS AND THE ATTENTION OF THE MUSLIMS ON MECCA. What are these? Not one of these rulers when they have all of this petroleum...Imagine if they just come to say, Look, if there's 100 more deaths in Gaza (this should have been said the first week) before now 15 to 16,000 who have died in this bombardment. In the first week, after the first 100 deaths in Gaza, they should have said, After every 100 deaths, there's going to be 1 million barrels of oil cut off. And you would have seen the response. BUT THEY CAN'T SAY THAT...THE ROYALS IN ARABIA, ALL OF THEM, AND THE RULERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES THAT HAVE THESE NATURAL RESOURCES, THEY CAN'T SAY THAT BECAUSE THEY DON'T BELONG TO THEIR OWN PEOPLE. THEY BELONG TO THEIR SPONSORS, AND THEY BELONG TO THEIR MANAGERS IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, TO THE ZIONISTS AND IMPERIALISTS. THAT'S WHO THEY BELONG TO. THAT'S WHY THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. IF THEY WERE INDEPENDENT...IF THEY WERE TO SAY...DID THE PROPHET (MAY ALLAH'S PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON HIM) SAY, WAIT A MINUTE, THERE'S TWO SUPERPOWERS IN THE WORLD - TO DEAL WITH ONE SUPERPOWER, WE HAVE TO ALIGN OURSELVES WITH ANOTHER SUPERPOWER. IS THAT WHAT HE DID? CAN WE JUST MANAGE TO BUILD ENOUGH CONFIDENCE IN OURSELVES? ARE WE DUMMIES? ARE WE HALF-HUMANS? ARE WE INCAPABLE? ARE WE HANDICAPPED? ARE WE LESS THAN WHAT ALLAH SUBHANNA WA TA 'ALA EXPECTS US TO BE? I SEE ALL OF THIS UNFOLDING, HAPPENING IN FRONT OF US AND NO ONE'S FOCUSING ON THEIR ATTENTION ON GETTING RID OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE CONFISCATED MECCA AND AL-MADINAH. WE'RE NOT DOING THIS BECAUSE WE HAVE A GRUDGE. I DON'T KNOW ANY OF THOSE PEOPLE PERSONALLY WHO ARE IN CONTROL OF THE AL-HARAMAIN ASHARIFAIN. I DON'T KNOW ANY OF THEM. BUT WE'RE LOOKING AT WHAT THE PROPHET DID AND THAT'S WHAT HE DID. LET'S NOT BE BLINDSIDED BY THEM WEARING ROBES...BY THE WAY THEY WEAR ROBES FOR CAMERAS WHEN THEY'RE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES AND THEN WHEN THEY GO TO EUROPE AND OTHER PLACES, THEY HAVE 3 PIECE SUIT AND THE NECK TIES AND ALL OF THIS STUFF. ARE WE DECEIVED BY THIS? I MEAN, YOU KNOW, JUST AAH, SURFACE DEEP...WE CAN ONLY SEE PEOPLE BY THEIR APPEARANCES? WE CAN'T PENETRATE AND JUDGE THEM BY THEIR DECISIONS AND BY THEIR POLICIES?..."

"Yes, social media, Al hamdulilah, that's one thing we have to say has made it possible for those who control information to be put in their place. Social media has cornered the mainstream media to a very large extent, and people all around the world, we've seen this in the past couple of months, people all around the world are breaking away from the mainstream media..."

"...So, materialism on the one hand among these groupies in the world and sectarianism on the other hand, that particular area, and MECCA right now is enjoying the confiscation of Bani Saud that has been going on for the past century. Confiscation; they've confiscated MECCA...no one's able to address this issue when there are 2 billion Muslims who are...they're not rationally reaching this conclusion - if they did, I wouldn't be giving this presentation but deep down emotionally, they are yearning for the day when MECCA IS FREE. No, this thing is...Look. Look. If. Let me put it this way. Let's say we liberated Palestine; Insha Allah, it's going to be Iiberated. I don't have any doubt about that. Liberated Palestine. How about all of the other Muslim issues in the world? You take the Muslims, the Rohingya Muslims. You take the Muslims in China. You take the Muslims in Russia. You take the Muslims as minority communities around the world. You take the Muslims in Kashmir. You take the Muslims in India. You take the Muslims in the Philippines. You take the Muslims in Thailand. You take Muslims all over the place. You take all of that...What do you think is going to happen? When we liberate Palestine. So, you think, Oh, everything is done. You say, Ah, now we've accomplished everything and we're on our way to freedom and independence and everything. No. It's not going to work that way. Actually, if that happens to a lot of...if these people stay in control, these illegitimate rulers stay in control in Muslim countries and stay there, they're going to say, You see, we liberated Palestine...We have no more problems. It's done; finished. That's what happens. That's what will happen. And we can't permit that to happen. So, the first step in the right direction is accurate information, proper knowledge, contextualization of the information that has come to us from ALLAH and the teachings of HIS PROPHET..."

"...When MECCA disappeared as a base for Muslims, as a reference for Muslims, as a pacesetter for Muslims...When MECCA disappeared, then all of a sudden, we had all of these nation states imposed on us. The Euro-American centuries intruded into our lands via colonialism, and imperialism, and Zionism, and they imposed on us these nation states. That was done. Remember, that was done. When MECCA was not sidelined, we didn't have...A Muslim could go anywhere in the Muslim realm without, you know, having to show a passport or an identity card or anything. A Muslim wanted to travel from Jakarta...He wanted to go to MECCA, he didn't need any permission. He didn't need any visa. If he had the wherewithal, if he had, you know, whatever it takes...if he was in good health and he had the money to spend, he could go to MECCA, and he could come back. He could live in MECCA if he wanted. That's how MECCA was. MECCA was a melting *** of the Muslims of the world because there were no such things as these nation state barriers. And thus, will be the case, when MECCA is repositioned. MECCA, itself is just, you know, a geography. It's US. When WE become the moving parts of MECCA, then all of these boundaries are going to go. The political boundaries. Economic boundaries. Now, when it comes to languages, and races, and colors, and you know, these things. (QURAN read). From ALLAH's demonstration of HIS prevalent power is the differences that we have in language and in colors...that's, you know, the will of ALLAH in which we were born. Those are going to stay with us, but they're not going to be divisive. No one's going to be discriminated against because they were born into a certain language group or because they were born with a certain skin color. When MECCA becomes MECCA, that's gonna go. It won't exist any longer, but now, that, you know, they've reduced MECCA to, you know, a Muslim has to go through a course of procedures to be able...at the end, if he's lucky, he can make it to MECCA to go to... Where did it come from that any Muslim in the world needs permission to go to MECCA? That itself tells you something is wrong; I, a Muslim - I need permission to go to MECCA? You got to be kidding me! What's going on?! Where did this...How did this happen?”

"So that people cannot express their aspirations by watching what is unfolding in the real world. We have people who are very evil. Evil is a real thing in the world. You know, they said, 7.10 was like 911 which means that what happened in Gaza is similar to what happened in New York. And we knew what happened in New York brought about two major, among other things, two major wars, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. That happened in the aftermath of 911. What are we going to expect to happen in the aftermath of 7.10 in the world?! I think in the past, yesterday and today, some high ranking Yahudi officials are here in Washington, D.C. They’re discussing stuff. They don’t come here just to talk small stuff. But whatever they have, ALLAH IS THE BEST OF PLANNERS, and Insha Allah, you know, there will be a breakthrough, and we will see, eventually, the Muslims of the world will see that the ruling classes of the world belong to each other and the peoples of the world belong to each other. The ruling classes are not united because of their religion or their ideology. They are united because of their tyranny and oppression and so the peoples of the world should be united by their suffering and do away with the oligarchs and the tyrannical ruling classes all around."

-IMAM MUHAMMAD AL-ASI
This is not a scene from a movie
The children of heaven don't find a safe haven
Art the Clown terrifies and hurts them and they have to endure
Before death,  they remember death

Fortunately, you're  not in any combat
You fall asleep
You want a life that will be always happy

Brutality, hatred and violence will never dissipate
Sadness inside my heart
Palestinian children falling apart
And sadness deep inside my heart
And this constant battle
Of evil and hatred is tearing me apart
But I'll continue to fight
For freedom and justice
And find moments of light.
My Heart ❤️
Wear those four colors
to shout what my heart speaks,
Free Palestine Right Now

Wear those four colors
because the martyrs' whisper,
We pray for you with them in mind

Wear those four colors
considering its peoples' unfathomable suffering
keeps us wearing them until there is peace

Wear those four colors
so we move forward boldly
in unison with God's message

Wear those four colors
whose beautiful compatibility reaches out and grabs us
reminding you and I that we are one

Wear those four colors
as not to overlook
that the oppressed is counting on us

Wear those four colors
to gorgeously show the world that AL HAMDULILAH,
We Stand With Palestine

By: Najwa Kareem
*I have published this poem I wrote on 9/5/24 on this site in memory and in mourning of the one year anniversary of the genocide in Palestine by terrorist Israel following the 'Hamas' October 7 attack in Israel.'

An invading thought on the evening of 9/3/24 that initiated the first verse of this poem was inspired by Laila Nahidian, a young lady of Gen Z who chooses to be a voice for the oppressed people of Palestine and does so publicly giving me a reason to keep the flame of my belief that hope lies in the young people alive. I believe considerable progress will be made by their significant contributions. AL HAMDULILAH, Laila, you and others like yourself are an inspiration :)

Laila is a role model in this way. Her parents, Mehdi N. and Atefeh R. are also role models whose many significant contributions to the cause will live on much beyond their years on this planet Earth. Often, the impact of positive influence of positive role models on others shows and continues after the positive role models have passed on. Laila and her parents are members of a revolution for fundamental change, for positive change to achieve justice for all, world peace, and a better world.
On November 5th, election day in the USA
You were taken by surprise, a testimony of America's fall forward demise

By the gruesome, hate filled attacks both verbal and physical,
the cameras showed civility, morality, and class are what she lacks

Pushed aggressively, swung at, hit, and even knocked to the ground
by Holland's blistering, demonic, uncontrollable winds and sound

Put your hands on my family again
Put your hands on my friends to try to vicariously win
And a jacket will show up
By any means necessary flowing over in a cup

GOD has asked me to remind you lovingly
that HE'S observing you sacrificing willfully
HE is your shelter, and HE is your protector

When the unpredictable, randomly appearing bitter cold front takes a jab,
wrap yourself in the jacket given to you and fear not,
don't hide away in a DMV cab  
No giving up, no surrendering, no exiting allowed
if you're on HIS Potomac River front boat living for the oppressed out loud

I have heard your heart's plea
Oh, dear GOD, Have a jacket on me
Oh, dear Kibbutzim leaders, Hazami and Atefeh,
"Have a jacket on me"
and wear it close to continue your efforts to set Palestine free

By: Najwa Kareem
For Hazami Barmada's Instagram: @hazami
For Atefeh Rokhvand's Instagram: @rokhville

On November 5th, Hazami wrote on her Instagram: "Absolutely terrifying the amount of hate, assault, harassment and bullying one receives from simply saying: honor and respect humanity and the rule of law. On Election Day 2024 we stood in a silent demonstration at voting sites in MD, VA and DC. We were met with physical violence, verbal threats, and rage. Thankfully the police were there to help protect our first amendment rights each time they were called (which was a lot — 12 times total just in DC and VA). Sadly, most of the harassment was from people who wore #democrat pins proudly and from actual volunteers of the Democratic Party.

It is shocking how scary civic engagement is to people who want to coerce people by fear into voting certain ways. #democracy thrives with an active civil society. The democrat volunteers repeatedly told us that we were responsible if Trump wins the elections— literally. 8 of us on the curb. It was us that was responsible— not the policies of the woman running for office. SMH 🤦🏻‍♀️"
Did I see you wearing a Prada outfit while your boyfriend held his phone snapping away playing photographer?

Didn't we watch you on your Instagram post waving in front of Taj Mahal?

Don't you often drive slow in your Porsche as you enter the parking lot of car shows?

Is it not so that you often wear sweatshirts with your alma mater's name on the front and on the back read, Graduated in 2021 with an M.D.?

Why haven't I seen you, you who broadcast most things, in a pic making Yemeni desserts and then offering them to children in the community who are hungry reminding them that their family in Yemen are hungry too and are beyond desperately in need of food?

What's the reason you haven't taken purchased copies of THE ASCENDANT QURAN authored by Muhammad al-Asi to a few local communities in America to pass out as gifts to single mothers colored black who know that they are oppressed or are interested in learning that they are, desire help, and are appreciative of it (the most oppressed person in the USA is the Black woman though the corrupt ones in power and many Black men don't want you and I to know this very fact; they don't want it to be disseminated, don't want it to be common knowledge in societies and in the world for some very specific reasons; they keep it under the rug and make you and I believe via a number of ways that it is the Black man) who could certainly benefit from reading it and learning from her GOD to help her better cope with and navigate the harsh reality of and daily sufferings in her life?

How come you music artists and performers who write lyrics and sing or rap for audiences publicly have not released a song about Palestine or Lebanon?

Where's your YouTube on your YouTube channel that regularly showcases many of your personal happenings, personal outings, personal likes with a talk about the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and what chief contributions we can make to end it?

If you show off for your friends, why aren't you showing off for the oppressed?

If you show off for strangers, why aren't you showing off for the oppressed?

If you show off for your colleagues, why aren't you showing off for the oppressed?

Show off for the oppressed so that the oppressed know and their oppressors know that the oppressed must be freed immediately, before I can say again,

"Show off for the oppressed."

By: Najwa Kareem
12/10/24
This poem was written early this morning after reciting BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM before starting. My desire and eagerness to begin writing combined with my desire not to do anything requiring rigorous output as I was fatigued from the day prior, combined with not wanting to put forth the effort to communicate from the heart or sincerely (because this is the only way I want to do it) with ALLAH was intercepted by my remembrance of the reminder to his audience from Imam Muhammad al-Asi during one of his brilliant presentations that we are to begin everything by saying BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM because we want ALLAH to be present, to be there to assist us. I immediately did or with no further delay, I did what I was supposed to do; a concrete example of the power of having accurate information to use or to apply to everyday, real-life situations.

12/11/24
International Human Rights Day was yesterday, December 10th!! A special shout out to Chris! Unlike many, he has/you've shown me and the oppressed he cares/you care about and are fighting for, are a consistent, dedicated advocate for, are praying for as he/you did yesterday evening with others what humanity is and he has/you've shown me and the oppressed what wanting to honor the human rights of others looks like. "We do what we can in different ways," he/you said to me yesterday. Thanks very much to him/Thanks very much Chris for showing off [and showing up ;)] for the oppressed!!

When writing this poem yesterday, I did not know that it was International Human Rights Day. It's interesting that ALLAH helped me to desire writing a poem about something significant yesterday, helped me generate thoughts, and would guide my mind and my hand to write such a fitting for the day poem. ALLAH works with us and through us in amazing ways.
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