Candles Light

On the mounds of injustice,
Upon the hilltops of Palestine,
Rest the souls of our children lost in the intifada.

Their souls guard the gates of our people's palace,
The soil of our ancestry.

The fabric of our flag is soaked in the tears wept,
By those they have left behind.

In pursuit of freedom, justice and liberation,
They died.

They could not rob them of their spirits,
With the might of their occupation.

They cannot burn the script of our fate,
With their torch of brutality.

They cannot plague our lives,
with the disease of their hatred.

Nor will they bind our hopes,
with their ropes of oppression.

They cannot crush our resistance,
They cannot weaken our struggle.
For our land,
For our opportunity,
For our people.

As we stand at the crossroads of peace,
lined with the tombstones of innocence.
We mourn their loss
and celebrate their memory.

The candles burn in memory of your lives,
In honor of your sacrifices,
And as a symbol of our hope.

As a people committed,
As a people united,
As a people empowered,
In pursuit of liberty.

Let the light reveal the truth,
And let the truth set us free.

Poem #5: Memory of Palestine
By: Jennifer Ayoub

Palestine, you, once a land so beautiful and sacred
Are now so lost.
A land where farmers tilled the soil fertile.
Row after row of olive trees, 500 years old, once carefully planted,
That dotted the land are now cut down and gone,
Made into profits for the rich settlers of "Eretz"-Land of Israel.

Palestine, a land where there was once equality and freedom
Where Palestinians and Jews could work together, pray together, and
Live together.
Where Palestinian children could go to school, have dreams, work, and
Save money so someday their children too, might see the land and live.
Palestine, where there was once an oasis of water and resources enough
For everyone to share.

A place where "Yahweh," "God" and "Allah" dwelled in one place.

Now your beauty has been stolen,
Denigrated and denied.
"A place or people that never existed,"they said.
"A land for a people for a people without the land."
An innocence destroyed,
Houses destroyed,
Children, mothers, families
Forced to flee or murdered.
(Ethnic cleansing it's called.)
Destroy the evidence,
And you have nothing to hide.
Imprison a people,
Take away their rights,
Force them to live under the hand,
And when they resist or rise up,
Shoot them down.
Political prisoners,
Whose freedom was suddenly taken away,
Bound in chains,
And thrown in jail. Whose sight was blindfolded from the world.
( Whose sight was blindfolded? Ours or theirs?)

Where foreign settlers became the inhabitants,
And the inhabitants became known as the foreign settlers.
Where activists fighting for justice, freedom, and peace are labeled
"Dangerous." And the Israeli soldier is labeled as brave.

Erase the memory.
"Palestine will be no more," you say.
But I say Palestine will live on,
Palestine will be free.
The memory of Palestine will never be forgotten.
It shall be passed down
From generation to generation
So that all its traditions and ways
Will be known and etched
In their minds, hearts, and souls
Of those living, breathing, and carrying
The memory of Palestine.