Palestine Think Tank

(art: Arab Woman by Shepard Fairey)
Dignity, my sisters and brothers demand it, so hand it to them now.
Soldiers with big guns pointed at our little ones
At our women and men again and again.
They shout and they berate, humiliate and hate
At Al Aqsa and Allenby Gate
While the old stand and wait.
 
“You’re dirty! Drink your piss! Dance to [...]

Let's talk
Let's negotiate
Let's have a conference, a summit, a debate
A multifaith dialogue to eliminate hate
They'll call us men of peace
And after our love fest
We can issue a joint release
Of how we talk
Let's talk
But not about ethnic cleansing
Forget Dier Yassin
Don't speak of apartheid
Or the destruction of Jennin
Be blind to the pain in Gaza
The hunger, the disease
The [...]

Every time I think of 9/11
I see burning flesh dripping off the bones of Iraqi children in Fallujah
Now Gaza
I tend to memorialize the forgotten
The collateral damage eclipsing our unpunished crimes
Maybe it’s because I’m a numbers guy
Because if I had a dollar for every time an Iraqi died since 2003 
I’d be a millionaire
And don’t get me [...]

The United States and other Western powers have for some time been pushing Saudi Arabia to make more gestures toward Israel. More recently, the crown prince of Bahrain urged greater communication with Israel and joint steps from Arab states to revive the peace process.
Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, the custodian of its two [...]

A poem to think about on this day when many around the world reflect about the meaning of Divinity and Resurrection from Death. In a world where the life of an innocent child is no longer sacred, nothing in the world is. Poet, playwright and human rights advocate asks us what a life is worth in this world that is God Forsaken, where young men boast of their killing 'finesse' and men and women are killed for a symbol that is bereft of meaning. This poem was found by Adib S Kawar, who translated it into Arabic. It was also translated into Hebrew by human rights advocate and family therapist Avigail Abarbanel. Mary Rizzo translated it into Italian, other languages are on the way at www.tlaxcala.es

See this video written by a Palestinian child and recited by another one. It is heartbreaking to know that the innocence of these children and all their joy is destroyed by the evilness of military occupation. Let's not let this child or any child die, of sadness, hunger or any other reason. Let's Free Palestine, Free Children and Free ourselves now before it is too late.

Our beloved brother in the struggle and dear friend Adib lost a precious member of his family last week. We join his family in condolences and publish this beautiful poem in loving memory of another Palestinian who died without seeing his homeland once again. (artwork by Ben Heine)
"In the memory of my brother Elias who [...]

This tremendous curse against the murderers of Gaza was written by New York born poet Jack Hirschman, who has spent a life on the barricades against the establishment, and whose work is a unique blend of Marxism and Jewish mysticism.
Jack Hirschman is the best known alternative poet of the United States. Unlike his beat generation [...]

I never knew death until I saw the bombing of a refugee camp
Craters filled with disfigured ankles and splattered torsos
But no sign of a face, the only impression a fading scream
I never understood pain
Until a seven-year-old girl clutched my hand
Stared up at me with soft brown eyes, waiting for answers
But I didn't have any
I had [...]

Women hang out the wash
As I stand on the lip edge
Of the hotel roof breathing frost
In the cold night air
Under a Jerusalem sky
A midnight blue dome
Punctured with bullet hole
Stars watch as the drama unfolds
As women hang out their clothes
Peering up into the vast expanse
Eternity waits, lingers, is
Weighing in on the passage
Of time fraught with dangers
We [...]