#BlogAction14 #Oct16, 2014: #Inequality

Oct15

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I’m taking part in the Oct. 16, 2014 Blog Action Day activities. The theme for this year is “#Inequality.” Anyone familiar with my blog will recognize that I don’t usually write about politics, but for this post I’m making an exception. Inequality is a theme I hold pretty tightly to my chest, it constricts my heart painfully and chokes off my air, leaving me speechless, angry, depressed, and torn by a whirlwind of sorrowful thoughts.

At the bottom of this post I’ve embedded a YouTube video that broke my heart with no hope of repair. I’ve never seen a better champion for the Palestinian cause. The injustice that the Palestinians are suffering is so offensive that the weight of it is too much for the whole Earth to carry. Inequality is a gross underestimation of the situation. I’m not interested in arguing politics, just sharing my broken heart. Please watch the entire video. My poem is dedicated to the little Palestinian girl you will see in the last few minutes. My loving and beloved husband, Mohamed, wrote the translation in Arabic.

She Was Born In The Respite Between Intifadas

She was born in the respite between intifadas,
كانت مولوده في الهدن بين انتفاضه واخري
Surrounded by toys, and dolls, and sunglasses.
محاطه باللعب والعرايس والنظارات الشمسيه
Adored by her family, she listened, entranced,
محاطه بحب اسرتها تسمع وتتامل
But as she learned to speak, no one spoke of the past –
ولكن عندما كانت تتعلم الكلام لم يحدثها احد عن الماضي
When the sky rained bullets from huge clouds of gas
وعندما امطرت السماء الرصاص من سحاب الفسفور الكثيف
Belching ballistic missiles, spewing blood and death.
يتجشاء الصواريخ الباليستيه يتقياالدم والموت

So she learned to walk, and then went off to school.
عندها تعلمت المشي وبعدها ذهبت للمدرسه
Oblivious to everything, she danced upon the rubble,
دون ان تعلم كل شي رقصت علي حطام الابنيه
Playing with her dolls in places full of danger.
تلعب بعرائسها في اماكن مشحونه بالخطر
She brought such beauty to the place,
اضافت مسحة الجمال علي المكان
They didn’t dream of waking her.
جعلت حلم ايقاظها مستحيل

And so the rains awakened her, when the next storm arrived.
عندئذ ايقظها المطر عندما وصلتها عاصفة المطر التاليه
It didn’t take her life, but it took a very long time,
لم تاخذ روحها ولكن اخذت الكثير من عمرها
Finding her balance, and regaining her strength,
حتى تجد توازنها و وتستعيد قوتها
After the desperate separation of school from education –
بعد ياس افتراق المدرسه من التعليم
Of childhood from race; of neighborhood from faith –
والطفل من جنسه ومجتمع من عقيدته
Of hypocrisy from hate; of fantasy from fate.
والنفاق من الكراهيه واحلام اليقظه من القدر
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© 2014 Aisha & Mohamed Abdelhamid

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◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ Here is the YouTube Video ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆


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◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ Two other recent posts I’ve written about Egypt fall under the theme of #Inequality, and you may like to see them, too:

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● PhotoPoem: Doing The Dishes

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● PhotoPoem: Leaving The Market

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Don’t miss out on all the great bloggers taking part in #BlogActionDay14 <– Click on the link OR join us on twitter at #inequality or @blogactionday12

(Top Image Source and Impartial Historical Palestinian-Israeli Crisis Resource: www.vox.com)
;^)

34 thoughts on “#BlogAction14 #Oct16, 2014: #Inequality”

  1. The poem was enough to set my tears flowing Aisha.. I have had glimpses of such horror’s and suffering of children in the name of war. And so I dare not click the video in case the images I see haunt me.. for I Feel them so much.. I wake at night often and send out my thoughts across the globe to the pockets so many young and innocents are suffering at this moment.. Through the acts of Terrorism and those who think they own Land.. and can obliterate others in their path like insects under foot… Its beyond me…

    So I join you in your sadness Aisha.. and pray for the suffering to end.. As I also give of my Gratitude to have been born where I am and my family is not suffering the horrors these little ones are.

    Oh so much has to change and I get so so sad just thinking about it all.. xxx

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    • You are the dearest soul, sweet Sue! I understand this about you already, and would not want to haunt you so sadly by watching the video, it makes me keen with grief, it’s terribly heart-wrenching. But it’s also so important for these videos to be available. People must see the crimes humanity is guilty of, otherwise we will not estimate the horrors to the degree it requires to end them. Sweeping the crimes under the rug only makes it easier to perpetrate more crimes, unfortunately.
      Thank you, Dearheart, for your lovely and merciful prayers, I send mine out with yours, and pray for less broken hearts in the world, too! ♥♥♥;^)

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      • Yes I so understand your thinking Aisha and agree people should be made aware how we are creating so much suffering.. I once watch in an Arab city I forget where.. Where a young boy of around 6 or 7 was caught steeling food as he and his family were hungry.. A group of men videoed how they punished him.. They held his arm as they drove a 2 ton 4×4 over his arm.. I still see that image some 6 yrs later and his awful scream.. So I try my best if I know before hand it is going to be upsetting….
        Even now it brings the tears.. ❤

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  2. Like you I tend to shy away from political, or inflamatory type stuff for fear that it might only engender more hatred and at the same time I always try to look at both sides or the bigger picture historically knowing how much propoganda is out there in the media from all sides. I usually don’t watch these videos for that reason but I see it in print and I understand your viewpoint too being so close to what is happening. It is painful to see children who grow up in suffering and war and in bias and hatred too. And I don’t know how I would feel because I’m not there. I can only pray or speak for peace. When will it all end?. I hate self serving governments, and also organizations that promote violence and hatred. When will it all end!! Let the children be children, grow up, love and play and go to school.
    Who is working to bring us together!!? Who on all the sides is standing up for peace. Who is reaching out past the injustices, FEAR and hatred to make a difference. I wish I wish!! When will it all end!
    Good food for thought Aisha!

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    • Wonderful to have you join me in the food for thought, dearest Cybele! Yes, there is so much propaganda in the media that the truth is very difficult for those with no background. It is just a terrible situation, with no apparent solution, so monstrously depressing. And we all have some piece of our heart wrapped around the issue, it’s so central to world events. Makes it even more difficult to resolve because of so many divergent interests involved.

      But I have a beautiful story to share with you, if you are interested in the collaborative efforts of Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians striving for peaceful relations with each other, and working to resolve their environmental crises amidst this backdrop of war and horror. They are truly enlightened heroes! Read this great story:
      http://edenkeeper.org/2014/09/11/israel-palestine-jordan-river-water-crisis/

      Thanks so much for visiting and sharing with me, Cybele, it really means a lot to me! ♥♥♥ ;^)

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  3. What a beautiful sorrowful poem, Aisha… It’s late and I’m off to bed, but tomorrow when I have more time I’ll watch the video… It’s so sad… If we only understood we are all connected our world would be a much better place… If we did things out of love instead of hatred, there wouldn’t be any war over territory, race, religion, politics, or any other kind of war… It would be non-existence… Much love…

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    • Much love to you, too, Lor, thank you so much for your beautiful encouragement and compassion. I totally agree with you. Maybe because I’m writing more on this topic these days over at Edenkeeper.org I feel there really is a reason to be optimistic about change coming… although it’s happening slowly, it is visible – hearts and minds are changing, at very high levels where it will make a difference to everyone down the chain. We can’t stop pushing for peace from the ground floor up, especially now!

      I wrote an #inequality article for edenkeeper’s participation in #blogaction14, too, in case you’d like some more proof of positive change in another heartbreaking corner of the earth:

      How Religious Inequality Can Harm Health and Environment
      http://edenkeeper.org/2014/10/16/religious-inequality-health-environment/

      Once we start joining hands in peace and dialogue, it’s (God willing) much more difficult to take up arms against each other!!
      Love and hugs and happy weekend!
      ♥♥♥;^)
      Aisha

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  4. Thank you Aisha for sharing such a touching poem and words with us. The travesty of children in wartime is so awful that many bloggers shy away from discussing it. I appreciate the strength it must have taken for you to post this and send you many hugs along with the children of wartime xo Blessings.

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    • Blessings to you, too, dear Christy, it’s true, this is a very touchy and difficult subject. I wrote the poem a few months ago, and Mohamed translated it for me, but I didn’t think I would post it until this blog action day event came up and it was the best opportunity to share my heartbreak over this terrible inequality. Thanks so much for your sweet compassion and friendship!♥♥♥;^)

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    • It’s so true, you are so right, the whole sweet idea of childhood is lost there, unfortunately. We can only pray for improvement, God willing, soon! Thanks so much for visiting me here!♥♥♥;^)

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    • That’s the truth, it is definitely both confusing & painful, Juliann. Thank you so much for visiting me here, and for sharing this with me, we must hope for much better treatment for all people everywhere! ♥♥♥;^)

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  9. I don’t know where to begin in expressing what I feel about this. It promotes a feeling of helplessness in me that the fate of the world lies in the hands of those in power, and that much of the time their ears are sealed and their hearts hardened to reason.

    In the early seventies, when I was at technical college, there were Israeli and Palestinian students, and also Northern and Southern Irish ones. We were always having bomb threats, but we never knew which conflict it was related to. It was a very multicultural college and there were a lot of youngsters sent to this country (UK), partly to keep them safe and partly because our education was good. I felt privileged to meet and befriend so many people from different cultures and religions, but now it makes me so sad to realise that lots of them returned home and may not be alive today, or maybe their children and grandchildren are suffering like the ones in the video.

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    • Thank you so much, Sarah, for sharing your thoughts and memories. I agree, it’s so sad to think of the very different realities that occupy the lives of others far away, and it makes it more real when we meet these people in person, for example in school. It’s really great, tho, that there are wonderful multicultural places where we can meet, we need more of that! Conflict between humans will probably never end, but I feel humans have improved over the ages, don’t you? I think media, for all it’s imperfections has helped hold a mirror up to our bad behaviors and has helped us correct quite a bit of injustice that was always present before the days of cameras and the internet.
      God willing, I hope this continues, and gains more momentum as we care more nowadays about social justice!
      Thanks again for visiting me here! ♥♥♥;^)

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  12. It just so sad. Always happen to third country, people always try to make themself raising even more money, they compete that much to get a “standard” life, that way they don’t care anymore with the surrounding. And politic just do exactly like that.
    Thanks for the beautiful poem:)

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