Nahida Izzat – Alice in Holy-Land
By Nahida Izzat • May 14th, 2008 at 8:00 • Category: Children's Corner, Features, Israel, Music, Poetry, Events, Palestine, Somoud: Arab Voices of Resistance, Zionism
Alice was falling up, then rising down
With a quantum leap, transcending
Into a parallel universe
Were every thing is upside down
And nothing is what it seems to be
In a forgotten land, once called Palestine
In this land of wonders, Alice saw
Murderers get Nobel peace prizes
Thieves are the guardians
Of peace and security
War criminals are the law
In this land of faith, Alice saw
Strangers claiming that
God gave them every thing
For they are the chosen
Above all others
Despite the fact: most of them
Don’t even believe in God
In this land of pain, Alice saw
Olive trees uprooted for having roots in the past
Farmers beaten for harvesting their crops
Men shot for wanting to pray
Women imprisoned for having a family
Children killed for going to school
Babies gassed for… being
In this land, of sorrow
Alice saw people in refugee camps
With large rustic keys around their necks
Gazing away in despair
At beautiful, invisible homes in the distance
With no keyholes, no doors, not even walls
In this land of history
Alice saw signs for peace
That only led to war and terror
Road maps, but no roads
Security zones, with no security
Miles long checkpoints, where nothing is checked
In this land of paradox
Alice saw a queen of hearts
Leading an army with hearts of stone
Yet Alice picked up stones
With tender hearts
Stones with tongues
That can dance and even sing
And through the rabbit hole
Alice came out again,
Disorientated and bewildered
Alice was in Holy-land
She went, she saw, she understood
Nahida Izzat is a Jerusalem born - Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 40 years. She was forced to leave her homeland, Palestine, at the age of seven during the six-day war. Nahida is mathematician by profession, a mother of 3 children by career, an artist by hobby, and a returned-refugee to a free Palestine by optimism, hopes and anticipation.
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'Alice saw a queen of hearts
Leading an army with hearts of stone
Yet Alice picked up stones
With tender hearts'
Amazing reflection..
Thank you
[...] no doors, not even wallsIn this land of history Alice saw signs for peaceThat only led to war anhttp://palestinethinktank.com/2008/05/14/nahida-izzat-alice-in-holy-land/YouTube – War vs peacethere are more solutions then bombs, in the `60 they used flowers, and in this [...]