THE SUM OF ALL WAR CRIMES
think of others
Think Of Others by Mahmoud Darwish
As you prepare your breakfast, think of others
(do not forget the pigeon’s food).
As you conduct your wars, think of others
(do not forget those who seek peace).
As you pay your water bill, think of others
(those who are nursed by clouds).
As you return home, to your home, think of others
(do not forget the people of the camps).
As you sleep and count the stars, think of others
(those who have nowhere to sleep).
As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others
(those who have lost the right to speak).
As you think of others far away, think of yourself
(say: “If only I were a candle in the dark”). Translation by Mohammed Shaheen
Only a lost world could ignore outrageous, genocidal war crimes that were unleashed with Israel’s mutilation and erasure of civilians in Palestine. And upon first reflection, opinion is struck by the monstrous pleasure and grim homicidal forethought that Israeli leaders have revealed by their own words and press releases. Regarding the worst deeds they do, however cruel and full of malice, there is very little in which they find shame.
With arrogant will power they stop at no crime: the fact that they tortured so many prisoners is not too much, an obscene determination to starve helpless Palestinian civilians is not too much, the fire bombing of women and children sleeping in tents is not too much, either; moreover—when small children and infants are coldly picked off by their snipers—it passes as nothing too bizaare or horrible because these criminals hold themselves to be the victims.
What the Israeli government did was to prohibit the presence of any foreign journalist in the war zone. A reported 212 journalists have been killed at the hands of this expansionist, apartheid, settler-colonial state, with no serious objection ever raised by the US administration that routinely supports this savage nation. With diplomatic cover and the blessing of its sponsors, the starvation and famine that’s ravaging the most vulnerable civilians: women, children, and elderly Palestinians in Gaza is allowed to proceed.. Basic needs, delivery of food and other humanitarian goods, is obstructed or slowed to a trickle by the outlaw government of Israel.
It’s become obvious that international law has fallen and is met with ridicule and contempt in the Zionist state.
Not because she’s unhurt.
But because she refuses to fall apart.
Because she knows her children need her calm more than her cries.
Because in a world that has turned its back, a mother cannot afford to.
This is not just strength.
This is sacred.
This is resistance wrapped in a beige hijab and blood.
This is motherhood in Gaza: raw, resilient and radiant.
She is the headline that never gets printed.
She is the scream that never makes it into breaking news.
Americans have more sources today that reveal the bloody crimes; but even channels like those must be found by people who are interested enough to look for them. There must be responsibility. An opportunity has come to us provided that we listen to broken voices and respect their grief and testimony.
Violence begets violence, and lawlessness begets more lawlessness. And while genocide has certainly drawn a worldwide audience to consider the sum of all war crimes, a decision rests with us. Dear God let us think of others.
