Friday, November 23, 2012

Mahmoud Darwish and the killings in Gaza

Al Jazeera (here) and the Palestine Chronicle (here) report that Palestinians continue to be killed by Israeli forces despite the supposed ceasefire in Gaza. 
One adult has been killed and 10 teenagers wounded as Israeli soldiers, stationed at the border line between Khan Younis and Israel, opened fire on them, medical sources say
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the teenagers entered the disputed area of the "buffer zone", which is 300m along all the Gaza-Israel border, south east of the Gaza Strip.
This comes on top of the 139 Palestinians killed during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, including 34 children and 3 Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli bombs

The words of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish come to mind.
Think of Others
by Mahmoud Darwish

As you prepare your breakfast – think of others.
Don’t forget to feed the pigeons.
As you conduct your wars – think of others.
Don’t forget those who want peace.
As you pay your water bill – think of others.
Think of those who only have clouds to drink from.
As you go home, your own home – think of others – don’t forget those who live in tents.
As you sleep and count the planets, think of others – there are people who have no place to sleep.
As you liberate yourself with metaphors think of others – those who have lost their right to speak.
And as you think of distant others – think of yourself and say “I wish I were a candle in the darkness.” 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello Anonymous, Thanks for your inquiry. That line is in a poem titled "The essence of the poem" which appears on page 130 of Darwish's book of Diaries which is titled A River Dies of Thirst. The edition I have (in Australia) was published in 2009
good luck finding it
Colin Penter
October 29, 2013 at 4:14 PM
Thank u for the reply made tome for question on locaing a quote by Darwish